hello, this is my first post, i just brought a 8 week DDB, its quite a stocky pup, i want to keep it this way, was hopeing anyone can give me advice on what food to give it, money is not an issue. so long as my dog gets the best food for it.

You should keep him on the food the breeder has supplied for a good few weeks before you think of changing. Dietry change can cause massive digestive upset.

There are a few DDB owners on here, im sure they will give you some advice as to whats the best food. Ive never owned a large breed, and wouldnt want to give bad advice.

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Hi Congrats on you little boy(soon to be big boy lol). Like Nonnie said I would keep things as they are for a few weeks. I would think seriously about the raw meat/barf diet. You will need to research it but this is by far the best in my opinion for your dog. My vet has said this is by far the best diet for them he says the added bonus is he has 10 year old dogs coming in with teeth like a 2 year old when they are on this diet. It is seriously worth considering. Someone on here fed his bulldog on this diet and he did brilliantly on it. I know a few people on here do this diet to. Have you got any pics

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cheers mate, i be uploading pics soon as i learn how too, i have fed it on hillz puppy large breed, he enjoys it, but someone told me to feed it royal canin for mastiffs good for thr groth and muscle, i dunno tho..... also should i leave it a bowl of water at night, since the weather is quite hot

Hey, don't know too much about nutrition in big dogs but I would definately stick to your breeders choice of food for a good few weeks. Definately make sure he always has water avaliable to him 24 hours a day, especially in this heat

Royal Canin is supposed to be good food but i'd still stick to your breeder's food for a while, and while he's still on that, you can be doing all the research possible ready for whatever you choose for him

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Just to add to the advice others have given, the aim with any medium to large sized dog should be to allow them to grow at a natural rate. Try and avoid too high a protein content in your dog food, the skeletal structure needs to grow at a normal pace rather than trying to boost growth; and keep the weight down, there should be a bit of puppy fat, but not so much as a pup is carrying extra weight round.

Both these can lead towards skeletal and joint problems with a dog as it develops, and it helps if you're aware so you can avoid them.

Good luck with your pup, I hope you'll post some pics

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Hiya congrats on the pup. I too am picking up my DDB pup this weekend. We've been advised by the breeder to keep out pup on a rawfood/biscuit diet. You can purchase frozen blocks of fresh raw natural meat for around 50p per Ib. It comes in many different flavours for variety and is 100% natural with no added rubbish.
Heres their website http://www.prizechoice.co.uk/

We will then be adding a very small amount of biscuits for the added nutriets and oils needed. This is one of the best diets for this kind of breed. Ive been doing a lot of research into it and can definatly see a difference between a dog who eats raw, and one that doesn't and its definatly for the better.
Cant wait to see pics!!!

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IF you bought your pup from a knowledgeable, caring and experienced breeder and you were impressed by the condition of their dogs, then I really can't understand why you would want to change from the food that they have recommended. But if you do decide to change the food, then please leave it for a little while - the pup is having to deal with a lot of changes and you'll do it no favours to change the food as well (unless it is being fed on complete rubbish!) Hills is fine, Royal Canin, James Wellbeloved, Arden Grange, Technical, Burns are all fine too. Some dogs do better on one than another.

And in answer to your second question about water - then a very definate YES - water should be available to dogs at all times, and is even more important if they are fed on a dry food and the weather is hot.