Introduce Yourself!

[Marco]

Hello, and welcome!!  Don't be shy and no need for anything fancy.  Just tell us who you are, and what brings you here.  We are happy to have you share with us!

[Lisa Tiro]

I think that is huge for 5 1/2 months. They should grow slow so as not to put too much weight on the joints. If you feed kibble make sure you feed him large breed puppy food. It doesn't have as many calories per cup as regular puppy food. Good luck!

[Jay Cohen]

Sounds large!  How big are his parents?  Are either a Clydesdale!

[ricky acosta]

The dads 180 and the moms around 135 if I remember correctly.

[Jay Cohen]

That is not unreasonable, sounds like your going to have a big dog. He could end up bigger than his dad!

[ricky acosta]

Hope so! My pack currently consists of a 2 year old wolfhyrbid named athena, and a 7 year pit/cane corso mix named zeus that we rescued. They have been great dogs, just ready to add another! We use biljac and have loved the food for the past couple years. However the more I look around it doesn't seem all that great in reviews. What's the verdict on boerboels as far as food, I know the raw is preferably but if I had to go with a dry food what is the reccomendation?

[Lisa Tiro]

I used to feed my Pit Bull Brandi (who is going to be 15 in September) and my BB Bella who passed away a few months ago that and read the same reviews as you did. I switched to the Kirkland lamb and rice at Cosco. It is made by Diamond Pet foods but got above average in the reviews. A  big 40 pound bag costs $30. My pup eats Precise Holistic Complete Large/Giant Breed Puppy food. I mix some soft food in with it. It is pricey $50 for the 30 pound bag but it got top reviews and has the perfect % of everything for slow healthy growth. My boy isn't going to be nearly as big as yours but he is nice and lean and very agile. He comes from David Harris and his dogs are working dogs and keeps them on the smaller size for health reasons and for working ability. I hope you have a big truck to transport that boy of yours. My Axel is probably between 90-100 pounds now and he is 8 months old and he takes up the whole back seat!

[Carrie Kruczek]

I'm avoiding anything manufactured by Diamond after this latest recall.  I was feeding Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul and had a recalled bag.  We've switched to Fromm for now, but Precise Holistic sounds good.  I'm looking for a new permanent food and I'll look into that.  Slow growth is so important with this breed.  We had a Wobbler's scare with Gage when he was under a year old, and the ortho vet stressed the huge importance of slowing their growth.  He said it would avoid many many joint problems.  Lisa...Axel might surprise you on size, Gage was in that range at that age and he is still very lean but well over 150 lbs!  Ricky...congrats on your new pup.  I used to feed raw, but switched to dry and I think if you choose carefully it's fine.  There's a good mastiff forum (Mastiffonlinecommunity) that has a lot of food recommendations for our king of dogs, you could check that out too. 

[ricky acosta]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. Ill be sure to post up better pics as soon as we get him. I'm no cesar milan but I do pretty well with training. Anything you guys suggest that's specific for the breed I.e. Trends, things to look out for etc training wise..?

[Lisa Tiro]

Yes, I agree Carrie on the Mastiff forum. They do a lot of research on what goes into dog foods and also the Great Dane Lady website does too. I don't blame you about Diamond but all of these large company owned foods have had this problem at some time or another. My state wasn't affected this time but I still returned it for another bag. Usually small family owned businesses are the way to go but they can be pricey. The only problem I have with kibble is after a while my dogs are sick of it and I practically have to jump through hoops to get them to eat it. I mix in soft food and sometimes bits of freeze dried liver.

[Marco]

Hello, and welcome to everyone who recently joined us!  Very excited to have you here sharing with us.  Ricky I noticed you asked about food recommendations.  Just to  let you know there is plenty of information here to help inform you on a better diet for your dog regardless if you feed raw or not.  We have sections on our site set up for such info, and discussion.  I will post some links below to help you get started, I encourage you to take a look when you have the time.  Good luck, and if you have any questions feel free to ask.  Our forum, and chat room are great places to do that if need be.

 

New Boerboel Owners  -  A great place to start if you are a new owner but also very helpful new or old.

Boerboel Diet Forum - Discussions that have been created on diet by members here.  Questions & Answers.

Diet Page -  Plenty of information on diet with guides, videos, and more. 

[Jay Cohen]

I'm spending a lot on food for Nike.  I was feeding Organic raw food for breakfast but at almost $7.00pound it was way to expensive.  I was using Castor & Pollax Organix for dinner.  I decided against continuing the raw due to health concerns about Nike having raw food in her mouth and transmitting it to me or my wife or kids and felt it not worth it- particularly since I can't find any documented medical studies proving any benefit.  So now in the interest of diversity I'm using three highly rated dry foods for dinner- the Organix, Blue Buffalo Salmon and Orijen 6 fish which I mix together.  For breakfast I feed organic chopped meat from Costco (about $4.50lb.)or organic chicken with a sweet potato and kefir organic yoghurt.  I have been using this site for advice:  http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/  I just went on the Great Dane Lady website while I looked for the address of Dog Food Advisor- she seems to have a lot of information I'm going to spend some time there.

[Lisa Tiro]

Jay, are you cooking the meats now? Or still feeding them to her raw? I heard that you shouldn't mix foods together because each one has specific percentages of what they need daily and if you mix them it messes that all up. idk, I think I read that on the Great Dane Lady's site. I don't know how accurate it is.