Dogue De Bordeaux Health is not any easy subject. I remember when I was shopping for a dogue. I asked a friend of mines mother whom professionally breeds Bernese Mountain dogs what she thought of the Dogue De Bordeaux, she replied "Big dogs. lots of health problems".
Regardless of breed giant dogs need a special diet to support them as they grow as puppies and to sustain them as adults. I don't
know exact %'s of protein vs. crude fat etc. But I do know your vet and the people making and selling the food will. Talk to them,
think about what they tell you, read food labels and you should do alright. Also pay attention to your dogue, if they are overweight don't feed
them so much, if they refuse food it's probably for good reason.
Variety is the spice of life. It's my opinion that switching your dogues food is a good idea. Feeding a dogue the same food month in and month out
could be compared to a human eating meal replacement bars month in and month out. I feed my dogue a little bit of everything ( rice, veggies, dog food, beef, poultry, the occasional french fry )
and she loves me for it.
You are what you eat. There is a reason "cheap" dog food is so cheap. It's made with cheap ingredients. From personal experience
I can attest if you feed a dog cheap food they will act and SMELL cheap. Case in point when I was in college I lived with a Chesapeake bay
retriever named Noah. Noah ate cheap food, in fact that's all he did, with the rest of his time he slept next to bowl were ate the cheap food, the only time he would
move was to go out back and relive him self of the cheap food. On top of that he smelled so bad no one could stand to pet him. Later Noah's owner wised up
and bought some slightly more dignified dog food and Noah was changed for ever. Noah had energy a pleasant smell and an improved attitude. I'm not saying budget
$200 bucks monthly for dog food, but please do your dog and yourself a favor buy some decent food and realize if you buy a dog that will grow to weigh upwards
of 120 lbs they are going to eat a significant amount of food ( 5-6 + cups a day , you'll go through a big bag every 3 weeks to a month).
I feed my dogue a mixture of Solid Gold Wolf King Dry Dog Food and the scraps
of whatever I might be eating for lunch / dinner that day. I tried incorporating a raw meat diet with mixed results. At times my dogue seemed to respond very well
to the diet and other times not so well ( i.e. vomiting ). After a little research I'm not sure so I have decided to hold off on raw meat.
I think supplementation can be a scam. From Personal experience in the health and fitness world I know that the cost benefit ratio
of using supplements is fairly limited. It's my opinion that 98% of what goes in one end goes right out the other without really doing
much for the money. Furthermore, human health and performance supplementation is backed by clinical proof / data. I don't know for certain,
but the research I have done on canine supplementation doesn't have a hole lot of clinical study backing it. Instead it seems to rely on the consumer
assuming that if it works for humans it must work for canines. I'm no vet or md but I'd but money on that not being the case.
I tried giving my dogue de bordeaux chondroitin treats. That is until I realized It was going to cost me 20 bucks a week if I followed the dosage recommendations.
Was her performance or quality of life changed by the chondroitin stint? Not that I can tell. She still runs, jumps, and barks like she used to. Will not supplementing
her diet affect her joint health in old age? Maybe, Maybe not. But I'm not going to spend the $8000+ to roll the dice on it. There's just to many variables, if
chondroitin is effective on canines what dosage is best and how is it most effectively administered, not to mention that it may have different
effects on different breeds.
My belief is that if you have proper balanced nutrition you won't need supplementation. Sure there may be some benefits, but is it worth the extra $75+
a month to make you dog run the 100 yard dash .2 seconds faster? Supplements aren't miracle drugs, beware the placebo effect. I'm not saying don't supplement your dog if you feel it neccissary, just think. Anyinfo anyones has would be appreciated please send me any links to clinical evidence/studies on canine supplimentaion.