Best food for a Mastiff?

I have a 15 week old bull/neo mastiff and he has food allergies to grains such as cornmeal, rice and things of that nature. Right now we are feeding him Wellness brand White Fish and Sweet Potato formula and he seems to like it, but he has terrible gas. It's enough that sometimes I have to leave the room, lol. Any suggestions as to what to feed him?

We plan on putting him on a raw food diet after he's about a year old, we were going to start him on it after about 6 months or so, but due to a surgery he had a couple weeks back, we don't want to chance anything happening to him.

I think you have to watch giving him just any grain free food.........I think the protein levels are not right for a large breed pup.

Orijen has a grain free large breed puppy food

http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/puppyLargeIngredients.aspx

you can also add some enzymes to his food to help with the gas....

ACK! LOL.......I wasn't even thinking about that, LOL. I add fresh sweet potato to my dogs' food and it has reduced their gas (and the smell of their gas) a lot!

But I still don't think he should be eating a grain free adult food, especially being a large breed dog. He needs a lower protein food to grow at a slower/steady rate.

I could be mistaken............anyone else want to chime in here?

Coop's right. The pup needs a new food, not an adult food - that's bad for a puppy. Get a puppy food or an all life stages one. Good luck with finding one that works, I wouldn't even know where to begin. I ditto adding an enzyme/probiotic to the food, though, it works wonders.

Well, if you decide to use Innova, I wouldn't suggest using their Large Breed Puppy food, but to in fact use the Adult Food by all Innova feeding Newf owners on a Newf forum I went to.

The thread with the list of things the LBP food does not have enough of, but the adult food does, no longer exists on the Newf forum. However, I just wanted to point this out in case you decide to use Innova. It's a great food. I have no idea if they have the proper ingredients for your pup, but if they do I highly suggest it

I raised my Filas on Innova - switched to Innova EVO RM when they were out of the fast growing puppy stage

I wouldn't feed the Orijen puppy food... it's still 42% protein, which is pretty astronomical for a Mastiff.

Honestly, I would try feeding digestive enzymes or pumpkin, something to settle his tummy. If that doesn't help, I would experiment with different meat sources. It could be the fish that's upsetting his tummy, or the sweet potato, or even something way further down in the ingredients. Are you feeding Wellness Core? What types of grain is he allergic to, specifically? Does that include millet, oats, flaxseed, etc? A few Timberwolf formulas come to mind that he might do well on, Pinnacle, or there is even a Fish & Sweet Potato Natural Balance formula that might work better.

ETA: These are the ingredients for Wellness Fish & Sweet Potato...
Ingredients:
Whitefish, ground barley (dehulled), rye flour, menhaden fish meal, ground pearled barley, sweet potatoes, canola oil

Hmm... it could definitely be the barley or the rye flour that is giving him gas.

Oh, and throw some good yogurt in his bowl. Buttermilk is good if he likes it, too.

Just out of curiosity... Is there any proof that high protein hurts large breeds. Growing up I heard many respected breeders and dog people say you should never feed raw meat to dogs, and NEVER bones esp chicken...(raw or cooked)

I DO know of large breed people feeding raw diets and their dogs are just fine. (and Raw by dry weight is at LEAST 45% protein.. even if you are throwing in fruits and veggies)

Dekka, I've always wondered about that myself . . . and figured that if you give them plenty of nutrients for bone growth it's not a real issue. Protein/amino acids are the cellular building blocks, so having a good supply on hand always made good sense to me.

I know I started mine on EVO way before most would have.

^^^ Thought this tip deserved repeating so it doesn't get lost in the thread shuffle.

Cheyenne developed something of a sensitive stomach when she became geriatric ... no intestinal gas but lots of belching and a little barfing/spitting-up. Our holistic vet suggested good plain yogurt ... the kind with active cultures ... along with a little acidophilus powder.

Problem solved, no more sensitive tummy ... and no nasty drug side-effects either.

I've always thought that raw was 20-30% protein, and that the moisture and bone and fat accounted for the rest. Hmmmm.

I know of large breed people who feed raw to puppies, too. One Dane breeder in particular, who has great dogs.

I thought I remember reading somewhere that large breed dogs actually grow slower on raw?????? I may not be remembering that right... but I think that's it.

It might have been in one of my books... I'll check when I get home....

I found this diet for feeding puppies raw(which includes large breeds)... but I can't find anything that says the differences....

http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/puppy-raw-diet/

Ok, so I found where it says that the dogs grow slowly. She was referring to their diet(called the natural diet), which includes raw meat.

"Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog: Volume II" by Wendy Volhard and Kerry Brown, D.V.M

Page 21

Dogs drink more water on kibble. To compare you need to think dry weight. Raw diets are about 50% protein by DRY weight. Yes you are right went you add in the water. But if you feed a cup of high quality grain free kibble you will need to feed more than a cup of raw. Volume wise dogs eat less on kibble, but then have to drink more.