TonyDav

We need to re-home our pure bred Bullmastiff "Thor". He's a fantastic and loving dog, but we live in an estate with a number of other dogs. Our house doesn't have a fence so to date we've used an electronic collar. This has on the whole worked well but for the third time Thor has escaped and again had a run-in with another dog. I don't think I have an option now but to get rid of him. Obviously my preference is to re-home him and would be great if somewhere the kids could see him, but as long as it's to a good home it would be better than a trip to the vet. Thor's 5 years old, de-sexed, about 50kgs. We're in Kurrajong in Blue Mountains outside Richmond outside Sydney. Photo of the boy attached. Sorry not the best quality.

Sorry should have been clearer. By meat, I meant lamb necks and the like. Tom's site is here (although i'm sure you're aware of it): http://www.rawmeatybones.com/ At this stage I'm still intending to feed Thor at least 50% premium kibble. I think I'm just a bit surprised at his laid back approach to eating. My other two dogs (the border collie x kelpie in particular) would eat until they exploded. I've decided to just keep feeding him the kibble and if he doesn't eat it in about 15 mins remove. When he's hungry he bolts it down. And I agree, I don't want a fussy dog that I have to add something to his food to get him to eat it. tony

Yeah probably "numerous" is a bit of an exageration. I have tried 3 different types including the Diet Science sample pack in the 5 weeks we've had him. I do think he looks healthy based on my expectation for an adult dog and certainly the vet said he was looking good. I don't like overweight dogs and hence my dogs are all on the lean side. But I don't have much experience with how a BM puppy should look though and it just concerns me that he isn't eating enough. I'll go back to my usual feeding regime of giving him the food for 15 minutes and then removing. He's very happy with the raw meat and my long term intention is to move him onto this style of diet. I've long agreed with Tom Lonsdale's views and I'm a bit cynical about the reasons why vets promote dry food (that they sell of course). I was quite surprised to see a very dramatic brochure in the vets surgery "Don't feed bones to your dogs". I initially assumed it was talking about cooked bones, but no, any bones are now out! But back on topic, I'll keep a closer eye on exactly how much he's eating and stop worrying so much. I'm sure he's fine.

I have a 13 week old Bullmastiff puppy "Thor" who seems to be a very fussy eater. I'm not sure if this is normal with BM pups but can't remember this issue with any of our other pups. I've tried numerous dried puppy foods and although he seems happy at first he quickly loses interest in the food. I can sometimes coax him to eat more by staying with him, but he's a slow eater at best and I don't have time to spend 3 or 4 x 15 minutes with him every day watching him eat! He does love fresh meat and bones, but the vet has recommended feeding him at least half dry puppy food. FWIW the puppy foods he's tried are a mixture of premium and normal. At the moment he's on Nutro but really isn't liking it. If I mash up a boiled egg into it I can get him to eat a whole bowl but that's what it takes. I have a Diet Science sample and he seems to like it, but I don't know I want to take the risk of buying another bag - particularly with 10+kgs of Nutro sitting there at $120/bag! Appreciate any suggestions. He's a great pup and looks very good but I worry he's not eating enough. Tony