St. Bernard Puppy

[Holmesy]

The book "grow your pups with bones" by Dr Ian Billinghurst is a wonderful guide on how to get into feeding your pup a raw diet. I have both a Bullmastiff and Mastiff that I have raised using this book as a methodology. The bullmastiff is not exactly a giant pup, but my Mastiff, Alamo, is definitely a giant (currently 2 years old and 82kg). Reading this book was a real eye opener. The key to raising giant breed pups is to not let them grow too quickly. The rate at which their joints and bones grow means that if you grow them too fast, you're going to risk future joint problems. Even my vet recommended against using giant breed pup food because generally they have a much higher protein percentage in them compared to regular adult dry food. This might be ok for small or medium dogs, but for giant ones, you really really really need to not have them grow too fast. Their joints cannot support that kind of weight as they're growing.

That being said, making your own raw meals can be a chore in itself because it's not just throwing your dog a bone or chicken wings.. they do need vegetables mixed in too to get the right balance of vitamins and minerals.

Best of luck with your new pup :)

[Sagittarian]

It isn't protein that grows a pup too fast, it is calories. Sometimes higher protein dry foods have high calories as well, so it pays to properly read labels and evaluate ingredients. I've had no issues raising giant breed pups on raw, on Royal Canin Giant Junior or on a high protein grain free food (at different times). So often people advise to avoid dry food with protein above the 20's, yet will also suggest offering bones, meat, eggs, sardines etc without thought to the protein this will add.

Good book though.

Sags

The book "grow your pups with bones" by Dr Ian Billinghurst is a wonderful guide on how to get into feeding your pup a raw diet. I have both a Bullmastiff and Mastiff that I have raised using this book as a methodology. The bullmastiff is not exactly a giant pup, but my Mastiff, Alamo, is definitely a giant (currently 2 years old and 82kg). Reading this book was a real eye opener. The key to raising giant breed pups is to not let them grow too quickly. The rate at which their joints and bones grow means that if you grow them too fast, you're going to risk future joint problems. Even my vet recommended against using giant breed pup food because generally they have a much higher protein percentage in them compared to regular adult dry food. This might be ok for small or medium dogs, but for giant ones, you really really really need to not have them grow too fast. Their joints cannot support that kind of weight as they're growing.

That being said, making your own raw meals can be a chore in itself because it's not just throwing your dog a bone or chicken wings.. they do need vegetables mixed in too to get the right balance of vitamins and minerals.

Best of luck with your new pup :)

[Starkehre]

Hello RDS

I have a Saint Bernard, he is my third, wonderful breed you've chosen! Where is your puppy coming from?

For the first year of his life, I fed my boy Royal Canin Giant. This food is recommended by several highly respected Saint breeders. Others I know feed Pro Plan Large Breed and are also happy with that.

During his first year I introduced lots of raw foods and meaty bones, but the majority of his diet was the RC. Now he is 16 months old, most (but not nearly all) of his growth is done, and he gets more and more varied meals. The first 12-18 months of a Saint's growth is CRITICAL to obtaining a happy and healthy adult. After that, they continue to fill out until the age of 3-4 years.

I'd be inclined to follow what the breeder recommends, at least for the first year. Then if any issues arise, you can query them. I love raw feeding but in all my research, I am yet to come across a diet or menu plan designed for a giant breed puppy that I am completely happy with.

Good luck with your pup and please share photos :)

excellent post, cassie.

yes- a new pup is not the time to experiment ;) Your dog will have many years to enjoy the benefits of a raw diet ..those first few months will be best served by one of the suggested ready made foods , etc.

and - Vets are NOT dieticians - they are diagnosticians/surgeons ..and do very well at that :)

(plus many vets will "push" you to buy the food they get with deals from certain petfood companies )

I love feeding raw diets, big fan... but I am with others, I would not risk raising a large or giant breed on a raw diet. too easy to make mistakes, particularly if you are not an experienced raw feeder.

The vast majority of giant breed breeders I know would all use a quality commercial dry diet at least for the first 12 months. and many of them use adult food only.

Have a chat to your breeder about what you are intending on doing and ask her to explain why she feeds and recommends what she feeds.

It is wonderful that you have all the very best intentions for your new puppy and kudos to you for doing so much research. However, it is very very easy to muck up the growth of a larger breed of puppy feeding it raw. It is almost fool proof feeding a good quality commercial dry particularly if recommended by your breeder. You can switch to raw when the puppy is past the danger stages.

It comes down to risk evaluation and respecting your breeders' wishes.

Best of luck with everything. :)

[big_puppy]

After recently getting a saint pup and starting the barf diet ,

i find vets just push what ever food they stock!!! 

ive had 3 saints over the years, the 2 that were on commercial food had health problems. The one I did barf with I actually don't know how he needed up as I had to return him to breeder due to moving house. Then I was too embarrassed to ask about him later. I felt so bad I had to return him .

[Danois]

Hope you are all across the phosphorus and calcium ratios in your raw diet if you are feeding it to a giant breed puppy. 

 

I'd always raise a giant breed on an appropriate dry food until critical growth had finished and then move to raw. Only get one opportunity to get their growth right.