What Is A Holistic Diet?
A truly “complete and balanced diet” for your Mastiff is one which includes a variety of fresh, whole, chemical free, unprocessed food. 
In the wild, the undomesticated Mastiff on raw meats and predigested vegetables and grains. As long as these natural foods are plentiful, the mastiff usually enjoys a long and disease free life. This is because the natural diet contains live amino acids, lives enzymes and live probiotics; the food embodies a living energy of its own. These are the components missing from commercial pet foods. The food loses its life (life force) once it is cooked.
There are hundreds of pet foods on the U.S. and Canadian Market today. Each has a marketing strategy designed to convince you that its product is superior. Each assures you that they are providing your animal with “all the necessary vitamins and minerals” that comprise a “complete and balanced diet.” What they fail to tell you is that merely including vitamins and minerals into a blend of over cooked grain does not constitute an appropriate diet.
A holistic diet, (Greek holos; holistic-entire) therefore, is one that supports the entire animal by providing every natural component needed to nurture each internal biological system. The whole organism maintains a greater state of health when it is properly supported and balanced.
In Praise of Vitamin C
Vitamin C is very important to a dog that is under stress some dogs do not produce adequate amounts of vitamin C 
when stressed. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin used to promote for healthy teeth gums and bone development also Vitamin C strengthens all organic tissues. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL Vitamin C should always be used in the form of sodium or potassium ascorbate buffered with calcium because it is the most gentle form of vitamin C and produces less of an allergic reaction in dogs”.Vitamin C also speeds the healing process provides immunity to disease and helps bring down temperatures in a sick animal. Vitamin C Should always be used when on steroids and other medications Also Vitamin C helps the pH balance of the urinary tract which reduces the symptoms of cystitis and other bladder infections Vitamin C keeps the digestive system acidic and is a very potent blood detoxifier and diuretic and anti-fatigue vitamin and anti-oxidant. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that is absorbed completely by the body in about 8 to 12 hours. Overdoing vitamin C may cause diarrhea. Vitamin C helps in the digestion of other vitamins and minerals as well.
Why it is Important Not to Over Feed a Mastiff Puppy
Dogs do better with Beef and or Chicken. You only need to feed lamb and rice if your dog has allergies to Chicken or Beef. Also never ever free feed and don’t overfeed a young mastiff. What I mean by that is don’t have food out constantly for them to eat and don’t feed a young dog any more than 2-3 cups per feeding.
Why: What happens is the dog’s digestive system is always digesting food and it doesn’t give enough time for the animal to eliminate toxins and waste build up in the digestive tract.
Feed two small meals a day i.e. 2-3 cups per meal one in the morning and one a dinner time instead of one large meal and do not add real food to a puppies diet.
Why: You have less chance of getting bloat, your Mastiff will digest the food easier and by not overfeeding you reduce the chances of getting H.O.D. or rapid growth syndrome
One of the biggest mistakes a newbie makes with a mastiff puppy is overfeeding with a kibble to high in protein and that’s the fastest way to cripple your puppy.
For dry dog kibble, I like to use any of the Natural dibbles that have a shelf life of 6 months with an expiry date stamped on the bag.
Some of the better dibbles are Bill Jac, Innova, California Natural, Solid Gold, and a personal favorite is Candidate which has four different sources of protein and is made for all stages of life.
Why: kibble manufactures that have an expiry date stamped on the bag don’t use all the harmful preservatives.
I also add real food i.e. boiled down chicken, or beef, or deer, veggies, garlic, Yucca, sea meal and a small amount of bone meal to my kibble but I do not recommend adding anything to a mastiffs kibble until the age of at least ten months.
Why: You could end up with your puppy getting rapid growth syndrome or even H.O.D and seriously crippling your puppy.
So bottom line it is very important not to overfeed a puppy between the ages of 2 months to ten months.
Boxer Puppy with Rapid Growth Syndrome
To the left is a picture of a boxer puppy that was free feeding with puppy kibble.This puppy has rapid growth syndrome and the bones are growing to fast for the muscle tissue to keep up with which resulted in his bones curving. The recommendation was to restrict the diet with a low protein kibble twice a day.
The second picture is the same boxer puppy one month later. The boxer puppies diet was restricted to a low protein kibble twice a day.
Vitamin / Mineral Supplements For Adult Mastiffs Only
These dosages are recommended by Wendell Belfield, DVM, in “How to Have a Healthier Dog“, Doubleday, 198
Dog’s Weight 20 to 50, 50 to 100 pounds, 100+ pounds
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Real Food Diet For Adult Mastiffs Only
Adult Mastiff Growth Diet A
| Yields: 3-4 feedingsThis nutritional diet provides 25% protein,45% fat and a calcium ratio of 1.28:1 Directions:
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Mastiff Growth Diet B for Adult Mastiffs
| Yields: 3-4 feedingsDirections:
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Mastiff Growth Diet C for Adult Mastiffs
| Yields: 3-4 feedingsDirections:
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English Mastiff Power Balls for Adult Mastiffs
5 lbs. regular hamburger (RAW)
1 box Total cereal (or similar type)
2 cups Wheat Germ
3 cups oatmeal
12 eggs (I use the shell as well)
1 small jar Molasses (unsweetened)
2-3 cups of corn oil
- Mix all ingredients, adding more oatmeal if necessary for a drier texture.
- Roll into balls, the approximate size of a half a tennis ball.
- Place on cookie sheet and freeze.
- Place in individual baggies for each day’s meal.
Poultry and Brown Rice for Adult Mastiffs
10 pounds of boiled down Chicken
8 large eggs
8 liters of (overcooked to mush) Brown Rice
6 cups of pureed carrots
15 tablespoons of bone meal
6,000 milligrams of Vitamin C
4 cups of olive oil
1/2 pound of melted butter
2 fists of pureed Garlic
- In a large stock pot boil down the chicken until all the meat is off the bones.
- Remove all chicken bones and let cool.
- Bring 6 liters of water to a boil and add 1 liter of Brown rice.
- Turn the heat down and let simmer until rice is cooked to mush.
- Cool the rice and add in the remainder of the ingredients.
Salmon and Oats for Adult Mastiffs
1 boiled down (6-7 pounds) Chum or Pink Salmon
8 liters cooked oatmeal
5 cups pureed Kale
15 tablespoons of Bonemeal
6,000 mg Vitamin C
- In a large stock pot boil down the salmon and remove all the bones.
- Place the salmon to one side and let cool.
- Bring 6 liters of water to a boil and add 2 liters of oatmeal. Turn the heat down and simmer for 1/2 hour or until the oats become mush.
- Cool the oats and add all the ingredients.
- Divide food in freezer bags.
- Add two-four cups of Kibble to each meal.
- Yields About 8 feedings
Beef and Oats for Adult Mastiffs
8 liters cooked oatmeal
10 pounds regular hamburger
5 tins Salmon or mackerel packed in oil
5 cups carrots pureed in water
4 cups Pure Olive Oil
2 fists of garlic pureed in water
3,000 mg vitamin C
15 tablespoons of Bonemeal
- Bring 6 liters of water to a boil in a large
cooking pot. Add the oatmeal and turn down to simmer for 1/2 hour or until it becomes mush. - Add the hamburger to the hot mush if you want to slow cook the hamburger.
- Stir in the rest of the ingredients.
- Divide 12 meals into freezer bags and freeze right away.
- I like to add two cups of High-Quality Dog kibble to each serving.
- I like to feed twice a day. Fruit can be given throughout the day for snacks.
- Yields about 12 servings use two servings per day.
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