What To Feed An English Mastiff – The Mastiff Feeding Guide
Are you soon looking to welcome an English Mastiff into your home but aren’t sure how much these giant pooches eat? Welcome to our advice page on English Mastiff feeding.
At times it may feel like your Mastiff is a bottomless pit that just continues to grow. But it’s not just the food quantity you need to watch out for. Food quality is an extremely important area, and one that has seen significant innovation and investment in recent years.
Then there’s questions around the budget. Pet food in general has increased in price recently, there are many premium options on the market but can we get equally nutritious versions ourselves, simply by being more savvy?
Like many dogs, the Mastiff is food driven. You’ll notice this as you start to encounter slobber puddles emerging everytime you pull something out of the fridge… Food plays a large role in their mental stimulation, so why not optimise this for maximum enjoyment.
In our Mastiff feeding guide, we’ll get to the bottom of how much you should be feeding your Mastiff from puppy to adult. We’ll touch on diet types, food quality as well as many other tips for keeping your companion in tip top shape.
General English Mastiff Feeding Guidelines
The English Mastiff diet will vary depending on their gender, age, size and metabolism. It should also be said that their unique personality may also play a role. Do you have a pup that had to out compete its siblings for food? This behaviour may carry over into adolescence and beyond.
In general:
1
Mastiff puppies need a high protein intake
This is to help support their large muscle groups. The puppy can be fed up to 4 times a day.
2
Changing Nutritional Profile
The nutritional profile of your Mastiffs diet can change as they go through the growth phases. This typically settles as they enter adulthood.
3
They Eat A Lot …
An adult English Mastiff can eat up to 1.2 kg of food a day. Many choose to separate this into 2-3 meal times. This helps limit potential for gastric bloat, which is a health problem that can plague many types of Mastiff.
4
Diet Types
Types of diet vary due to owners values, financial budgets and general education around the different types of dog food on the market. Many find that eliminating foods with excessive preservatives, high grain and cereal content can help reduce inflammatory markers, producing better outcomes for energy and longevity.
What Food Should English Mastiffs Eat?
English Mastiffs should eat a diet that is largely based around protein. This means that the majority of their calories should come from meat based products such as chicken, beef, lamb and turkey. This should allow them a solid intake of protein, micronutrients and a diverse amino-acid profile.
Alongside this, owners should ensure that their Mastiffs are getting a dose of healthy fats, alongside omega3. This can help keep their coats and skin in good condition, hormonal development as well as help keep their joints supple. Owners can add in fish such as salmon to help with this.
Lastly, the carbohydrate content of your Mastiffs diet should help ensure that there is an element of fibre, although this should be limited to around 5% as excess fibre can lead to detrimental health outcomes for the breed. These days, many owners are moving away from grain based carbohydrate sources and instead looking to source it from slightly starchy carbs such as peas or carrots.
There are many different options for dog food currently on the market. Many owners are now opting for more natural feeding such as the raw diet, which consists largely of muscle flesh, organs, bone marrow and a small serving of fibre. This way of feeding enriches a dog’s eating experience and is exceptionally nutritious. There are a bunch of new companies in this space which offer raw diet feeding pouches on subscription. These are convenient, but can be expensive.
Time permitting, owners may get more bang for their buck by sourcing raw ingredients themselves. We advise that owners select from high welfare meats, organic if possible.
Outside of this, there is also a growing trend in feeding dogs human grade cooked food. Companies such as Butternut box are specialising in sourcing high quality ingredients, tailored to your dog breed, size and age. This is also a subscription model, which some busy customers love for its convenience. Again, many owners can source the ingredients from super-markets are batch prepare food to a similar standard.
Lastly, old school traditional wet and dry dog food (kibble) options are still plentiful. These are typically more budget friendly. However, we do recommend that owners read the ingredients lists carefully. Try to source options that aren’t loaded with additives, preservatives, grain and gluten rich. Your pooches’ health will thank you for it.
English Mastiff Feeding Amounts
Adult English Mastiffs can reach an exceptionally large weight, sometimes around the 100-120kg mark. Unless you have an unlikely case of Zorba dog on your hands, then it’s likely that your Mastiff is going to need somewhere around the 3,500 calories per day mark (for a male) and around 2,800-3,000 for a female.
With that said, there are a variety of reasons that may impact the amount of food your Mastiff requires. Such as:
- Age
- Gender
- Pregnancy
- Health
- Activity level
- Allergies
- Size
- Metabolism
That amount of calories may seem like a lot, but owners need to consider the amount of energy required to fuel the dense muscle and bone structure of the English Mastiff.
The feeding amounts for the English Mastiff require a constant balancing act. The breed is prone to lounge around, this laziness is common amongst the breed. The breed can also develop a host of joint complaints and overheating issues due to too much exercise.
As mentioned earlier, an adult English Mastiff can consume around 1.2kg of food a day, split into 2-3 meals. Ideally, you should be looking to assess its energy levels in comparison to the amount of activity in their day to day lives. Overfeeding may also lead to other more serious health conditions such as obesity, gastric intestinal issues and other inflammatory diseases.
As your English Mastiff ages, owners should ensure that the quality of their food is kept to a high standard. The dog’s ability to absorb micronutrients, amino-acids and healthy fats as it ages may become more difficult. If this is the case, it might be advisable to revisit their macro groups and see if you need to increase protein or healthy fat consumption.
English Mastiff Feeding Schedule
It’s common to stick to a feeding schedule of twice a day. This usually consists of a meal for breakfast and dinner, although some owners (with time on their hands) may choose for three smaller meals.
Spreading out meal times helps to ensure balanced energy levels throughout the entire day. It also ensures that the dog doesn’t scoff down one large meal in the evening which can help trigger gut health issues such as bloat. Contrary to this, some owners have adopted fasting periods for dogs. This may work well for other breeds, but is not something that we would suggest for Mastiffs due to their tendency for bloating.
Establishing a feeding schedule helps build a healthy routine for your puppy, long into adulthood. This is an essential component of behavioural training and leadership from an early age. Once adopted, it can also help establish a layer of psychological safety for the Mastiff, which is known to be more sensitive than other breeds.
English Mastiff Feeding Guidelines for Puppies
The English Mastiff puppy is a bundle of goofy joy! However, when it comes to feeding principles, their needs are somewhat different.
The English Mastiff puppy is energetic, excited and active. Their nutritional and dietary needs in this phase need to be in harmony with their desire to play and explore.
As we know, the English Mastiff grows at an exceptional rate for anything up to three years. Typically the puppy requires a large protein intake to help its muscles and bones grow. There also has to be adequate calories from healthy fats such as salmon to ensure good brain, skin and hormonal development. Finally, their energy requirements may need more carbohydrates to ensure they have enough fuel.
There is so much change during the first 9-12 months of English Mastiff ownership that owners need to pay excellent attention to their ever changing physical needs of their pooch. Emphasis should be placed on high quality ingredients to ensure that the puppy has the necessary building blocks for development and longevity.
What Should You Feed English Mastiff Puppies?
English Mastiff puppies require a large amount of protein to help their muscle development throughout puppyhood. Alongside this, the puppy needs ingredients sourced from healthy fats and carbohydrate sources, preferably excluding grain.
The following advice is applicable to feeding English Mastiff puppies:
1
A diet where the protein intake consists of at least 25%
Some owners will tweak this depending on what diet they use to nurture their Mastiff. The foods should be meat based so that the adequate bio-availability is absorbed through the amino-acid profile. Animal products such as beef, chicken, lamb, turkey are all good options.
2
A Mastiff puppy is energetic
This means it needs an adequate intake of carbohydrates in its earlier months. There are many options of kibble on the market, we like to recommend that owners choose options that are low to zero in additives and preservatives. Owners can also consider eliminating grain based carbs to help limit inflammation.
3
Don’t cheap out on minerals and vitamins
Developing pups need a healthy intake of omega3, calcium alongside other essentials. These can come in the form of supplements, but also alongside real food ingredients such as beef and salmon.
4
Use healthy treats
Treats are an essential component of positive reinforcement for training and socialisation. However, too many can lead to unnecessary weight gain and other issues. Owners should be careful to read the ingredients listed on packaging to ensure that the treats aren’t loaded with too many preservatives, colourings, sugars and other nasties.
5
Fresh, clean and mineral enriched water
Although this may become another expense, owners can look to add more mineral content to normal tap water. Additionally, if you have a means of filtering water whilst re-mineralising, then you’re sure to offer your companion a decent water supply.
Mastiff Feeding Amounts For Puppies
As ever, you’ll need to keep a watchful eye on the food amounts as your puppy grows. I’m often left shocked at how quickly the quantities increase to match a puppy’s growing needs. Of course, the same variables apply here such as age, sex, metabolism, personality, etc.
| Age | Frequency | Grams (g) |
| 8 – 12 Weeks | 3 – 4 | 130g |
| 12 – 16 Weeks | 3 – 4 | 180g |
| 4 – 6 Months | 2 – 3 | 360g |
| 6 – 18 Months | 2 | 550g |
As an owner I would also suggest that you consider what types of foods are heavily contributing to the meal grammage. It’s easy to pile in a tonne of kibble and say that “I’m feeding the correct quantities”. However, you’ll likely be neglecting your dog’s nutritional needs.
Instead, use “grams” as a rough guide. You should easily be able to tell if you’re over or underfeeding your pooch due to their pre & post meal behaviour as well as their overall physique.
Mastiff Feeding Schedule For Puppies
Many qualified vets will recommend feeding your puppy multiple smaller meals throughout the day to help with their development. As your puppy starts to mature, the meal frequency becomes less and the food quantity per meal becomes more.
What’s for certain is that your puppy will likely be doing a lot of playing and running in this phase of its life. Feeding your puppy multiple small meals throughout the day is a great way to cater for their energy requirements at this young age.
A simple multiple feeding cycle for early puppyhood is:
- 8:00am – a small breakfast
- 12:00pm – a small lunch
- 3:00pm – a small afternoon meal
- 7:00pm – a evening meal time
Once again, 3-4 times should be adequate for your young pup. Please pay close attention to over or underfeeding.
My English Mastiff Puppy Won’t Eat
Although our Mastiff feeding guide can help guide you on how to structure your feeding, there are some areas that are better left to a specialist vet. So what to do if your Mastiff puppy won’t eat?
Obviously this can cause a lot of distress for owner and puppy alike. The issue may be due to a variety of reasons such as anxiety or other health concerns such as gastric bloat. Ultimately you should visit a trusted vet to help diagnose the problem. If you notice this happening, don’t leave it too long before calling to book a visit.
Other Helpful tips for Mastiff feeding
1
Give the right number of treats
Treats are an important part of positive reinforcement training. However, be careful not to over indulge.
2
Place multiple bowls of water around the house
Mastiff feeding isn’t just about food. Water intake is critical for Mastiffs as they are prone to overheating which can cause many further health problems later in life.
3
Avoid inflammatory foods
Day to day Mastiff feeding should not use foods with excessive preservatives and additives and minimise grain and gluten intake. This may however be hard to eliminate entirely.
4
Deworming
Ensure your puppy is taking its worming medication according to the recommended schedule.
English Mastiff Feeding Guidelines…Final Thoughts
The English Mastiff is one of the largest breeds in the canine world. Its unique history has led to a world famous heritage, famous for its humungousness.
Though this dog is intimidating to some, they’re mostly a gentle giant, often referred to as watchful and stoic. However, all that size needs adequate fuel.
This is why diet is so important to Mastiff feeding. It’s absolutely critical when it comes to supporting your dog’s long term health. Supporting large muscle growth and healthy bone development is not cheap compared to many other breeds. The Mastiff can consume up to 1.2kg of food a day, with more calories than many humans.
Many owners are now moving to ingredients that eliminate inflammatory markers. This has been triggered by an increase in education around the common health concerns that face the breed. Typically real, single ingredient foods are best. A diet rich in protein is necessary, especially as a puppy. Owners also need to ensure that essential fats and carbs are introduced to help with healthy hormone function.
