Any dog gurus out there? My 9 month old Bullmastiff stopped eating.. Please help!!

[FUPAGUNT]

Ok a little background on Jed..

He came to our home around 4 months of age. We started him on Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy and he was doing great with it for about 4 months. Gobbled it right up at every meal.. About a month ago I noticed his stool was real loose, so I brought a stool sample to the vet because I was concerned. The sample came back negative of everything and I asked the vet if he could have developed an allergy to the food or something. He recommended trying something new so I switched over to Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy chicken flavor. I bought a small 5lb bag to see if he liked it, and he gobbled it right up. I noticed his stool was regualr again so I figured it must have been the food. I went and bought a large bag of the Ultra and now he won't go near it. The only way he will eat it is if I put some of that Iams gravy stuff on it, and even then he wont eat it all just what the gravy is touching. I dont like giving him the gravy, so I decided to try switching up the food again. I bought a small bag of the Nutro Puppy Lamb flavored, and he wouldnt go near it. I took that back and exchanged it for a TOTW Pacific Stream Puppy, again he wont touch it.. I took that back and tried a small bag of TOTW High Prairie, different flavor same story!! I decided to go back to the Nutro Ultra for now, and am continuing to use the Iams gravy for now.

Has anyone ever ran into this problem? Any suggestions on what I should do?? Ive been considering going to a RAW diet if he doesnt start eating regularly soon. I do alot of fishing on the Florida coast and I always have filets in the freezer. Would they suffice or should I give him whole fish.. I will try anything I know hes got to be starving.... Thanks for any help in advance!!

 

[M.O.A.]

Our yellow lab practically runs on boiled chicken and rice. It's cheap, easy, vet recommended and they love it. I suspect he would eat dog food right before he starved to death. Fish and rice is another good option. They need the rice apparently according to Dr. Braden. 1.75 cups twice a day for our 80 lb lab. We started him at the quantity for dry food and cut back untill his weight stabilized. Side benefit is zero shedding.

 

[FUPAGUNT]

Is he a puppy or adult?

 

[robert49r]

Has he completely stopped eating and if so how long has it been?

My bullmastiff was very picky when he was younger and would go a day or two sometimes just eating very little. He is 18 months old right now. From my own research and talking to numerous vets I have been told that blue buffalo can actually upset the dogs stomach which leads to a loose stool. When I first got mine he wouldn't eat kibble. I started him on a little bit of the RAW diet. There are a couple websites, usually breeder websites, out there that have different takes and recipes for the RAW diet. He is no longer on the RAW diet however. If Jed is anything like Ares, your going to have to cook that fish. I couldn't get him to eat raw fish. He didn't like the texture.
I feed him a cheaper food now and he loves it. I know the research says it is not as good as the more expensive ones but he eats it a lot better. I tried everything from blue buffalo to origins.


One thing that I have learned about Bullmastiffs (this is my second male) they are stubborn. If he is just being picky then your going to have to wait him out. Ares did that, when he got hungry enough he would eat. It took awhile but I broke him and now he eats 7 cups a day.

If you are going to try the RAW diet I would advise staying away from pork. Most dogs do not do well with pork. Also when introducing it to him make the portions small so his body can get used to it. If you throw him a but hunk of meat and he is not used to it, he will spray a big hunk on your wall. Trial and error taught me that. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. I am no expert but I have had two of them and also feed the RAW diet.

Hope this helps...

 

[M.O.A.]

Our lab is an adult now. He developed intermittent colitis as a puppy so we just kept him on the diet to eliminate the possibility of it coming back.

 

[FrankT]

Trust me on this, leave a quality feed available that you know is good for him, he will eat before he starves to death. Train the dog, stop letting the dog train you.

 

[Zeroed in]

If your dogs intestines aren't flipped, try putting it on a schedule, 1-cup twice daily at 7am and 3pm or there about....Once the appetite returns, feed it only what it will eat within 5 minutes, or until it walks away. Take the remaining and put it away. If the dog eats it all up within 5 minutes or faster, put a glass full more and adjust for the intake. If your dog is inactive, on the 2nd feeding, feed it 1/2 of what you fed it at 7am.... if it's an active dog, feed it the same amount as it gets at 7am, or what it will eat within 5 minutes...

 

[FUPAGUNT]

Upon further review, I think he is just being a pain in the butt!! I walked in from cleaning the pool tonight to my wife hand feeding him, and he was gobbling it right up. After quickly putting a stop to that, he walked in the room my sister is staying in and started eating her pups food!!

I will be taking another stool sample to the vet tomorrow, to see if he may of came in contact with a parasite or something since his last visit. If it comes back clean again, I will know he is just doing it for attention.

 

[FUPAGUNT]

Has he completely stopped eating and if so how long has it been?

My bullmastiff was very picky when he was younger and would go a day or two sometimes just eating very little. He is 18 months old right now. From my own research and talking to numerous vets I have been told that blue buffalo can actually upset the dogs stomach which leads to a loose stool. When I first got mine he wouldn't eat kibble. I started him on a little bit of the RAW diet. There are a couple websites, usually breeder websites, out there that have different takes and recipes for the RAW diet. He is no longer on the RAW diet however. If Jed is anything like Ares, your going to have to cook that fish. I couldn't get him to eat raw fish. He didn't like the texture.
I feed him a cheaper food now and he loves it. I know the research says it is not as good as the more expensive ones but he eats it a lot better. I tried everything from blue buffalo to origins.


One thing that I have learned about Bullmastiffs (this is my second male) they are stubborn. If he is just being picky then your going to have to wait him out. Ares did that, when he got hungry enough he would eat. It took awhile but I broke him and now he eats 7 cups a day.

If you are going to try the RAW diet I would advise staying away from pork. Most dogs do not do well with pork. Also when introducing it to him make the portions small so his body can get used to it. If you throw him a but hunk of meat and he is not used to it, he will spray a big hunk on your wall. Trial and error taught me that. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. I am no expert but I have had two of them and also feed the RAW diet.

Hope this helps...

Thanks for the tips man! This is my first MAstiff so Im sure you will be getting a PM from me in the near future haha

 

[maxfold]

Have you thought about where he is eating not what ? Something different