Good to know

This page is a collection of information we find useful about this breed. It is our experience and our opinions that are stated in the below - we don't claim to have found the onl way of doing this, we are just sharing what we feel works best for us and our dogues.
 

Food:
We began looking into other ways of feeding dogues after sadly loosing Capella at the tender age of 5 months. Although there was a genetic basis for her problems as well, we couldn't help noticing how UN-harmonious she grew. She was fed on Royal Canin Giant puppy food, recommended by vets, but as we later found out is far too high in both fat and protein for a fast growing puppy. We felt that she grew way too fast and very unsteadily too. All in all this was not good at all. When we got J'adore we decided to try BARF'ing and we were very impressed with how nicely she grew. Although she is a relatively big female she never at any point had any growing related problems (of course this diet was combined with moderate excercise).

After feeding our dogues according to the BARF principles for a couple of years we have switched back to kibble - mostly because it became too difficult to get enough variety and often ended up being very expensive. We use Royal Canin Giant adult to our dogues which works very well for them plus they get raw bones 2-3 times a week in stead of kibbles. We NEVER use Royal Canin Baby and Puppy though as they are very high in fat and protein which in our opinion speeds up the growth too much. We have seen that some dogues (especially puppies and young dogues) do better on kibbles with a lower percentage of protein in that case Science Hills (large breed adult) is a good choice with only 22 %.
 

Supplements:
Our dogues get a supplement of either salmon oil or mobility oil. The last can be bought at http://www.sonderskovmolle.dk/page.action?page=/Hund/Mobility_Oil

From time to time we also give supplements of glucosamin, condroiting and msm (for their joints).
 

Excercise:
Like all mastiff breeds  Dogue de Bordeauxs are very large dogs and have a lot of growing to do. Therefore they should not be "over-exercised" during the first year of life, and one should certainly avoid excessive weight-gain.

You may get very different advice from vets however the puppies that we keep for myself are always given 2 vaccinations during the first few months of life. Your puppy should be vaccinated at 12 weeks and then you should repeat the vaccination at 16 weeks. By the time your puppy is 18 weeks old he should be fully protected for the next 12 months from 3 very contagious and deadly diseases.

When taking your puppy for a walk for the first time after a full course of vaccinations, ensure the walk is for no more than 5 minutes. Your puppy is still very young and will tire quickly. We would recommend walking your puppy for about 10 minutes each day until about 7 or 8 months of age. After this time you may increase your puppy's walks to about 20 minutes. Due care should always be taken that the mastiff puppy is not "encouraged" to run and jump or navigate staircases around the home at any time during the first 12 months of life. They are growing rapidly and become very heavy dogs - such hard exercise will only serve to cause your puppy discomfort as the compounding weight becomes too much for his legs. This could possibly lead to permanent damage to immature bones and ligaments.

After the age of 12 months you puppy will have reached his/her maximum height and will then start to "widen" as they mature. From this point on it is ok to exercise your dog as often as the mood takes you. A note of caution here. It is always advisable that mastiffs (and deep-chested breeds in general) are not exercised one hour before or two hours after eating. Doing so can increase the incidence of "bloat" (Acute Gastric Dilation) which affects deep-chested breeds. It is caused by fermenting foods releasing gas into the stomach, which in most severe cases causes the stomach to twist. This condition is "very serious" and can prove fatal in many cases. I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is to seek immediate veterinary attention if you ever suspect bloat. Your dog should also not be exercised in the middle of the day during the summer months. This will cause unnecessary overheating and dehydration. Your dog will be much more comfortable if he/she is exercised in the mornings or evenings during the warmer months.
 

Health issues:

Hip and elbow Displaysia
This is a condition which affects can affect one or both hip joints. The growth of the muscle takes longer than that of the bone, thereby causing a pulling apart of the ball from the socket. Hip Displaysia (HD) can range from mild to severe culminating in a dislocated joint.

Causes:Inherited, rapid weight-gain in puppies, over-exercising puppies, trauma or rough play.
 

Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD)

This is a condition which usually affects the shoulder joints, but can also affect the stifle and hock joints. In OCD there is a disturbance of the maturing cartilage of the affected joint. The head of the bone and the affected cartilage are deprived of essential nutrients and the cartilage becomes thickened and the bone fails to mature properly, causing flattening. Age of onset is usually 4-9 months. Males appear to be affected more than females.

Cause: Inherited - the problem is accelerated by mineral over-supplementation and over nutrition. Trauma - i.e. over-exercising of puppies.

Diagnosis, Treatment & Prognosis: Xray should be taken and the puppy given complete rest or surgery. Following surgery the dog should make a full recovery.
 

Heart problems
...under construction

Skin problems
....under construction