Your New Puppy will need a few things.
Here are a few things I have used and that have worked for me.
MANNERS!!! Are a MUST!!!! No one wants a large dog jumping on them and it is dangerous to small children. I do NOT allow my dogs to jump or even take their front feet off the ground. We call it the "Four on the Floor" Rule. I do not allow my dogs to put their front feet on the furniture either. :( Just when you are ready to go to town you get a muddy wet paw on your clean jeans/slacks. "no thank you". We teach puppy to keep their "four on the floor" by squeezing front paws if they come off the ground. A good firm squeeze will do. You know you are squeezing firm/hard enough when your puppy/dog rethinks their behavior. I do not say a word (your words mean little to excited puppy) I just give them immediate consequence. If you do this correctly you can even retrain old dogs. :) If you do not you are probably rewarding your dog for their behavior (jumping) and teaching them you really want them to jump on you. At least that is the message you are sending them by giving them attention, even negative attention, when they do this. I have seen many training programs that teach puppy to "shake" you are only teaching puppy to use front feet on you (against you!) to get their way. I highly discourage this until puppy is much old and well in hand if you want to teach this command. Same goes for barking. Bullmastiff rarely bark without a cause. If you encourage your Bullmastiff to bark/make noise/complain at you, You are inadvertently teaching your bullmastiff to back talk and sass you. Ask me how I know!
The Three Lessons Every Dog Needs to Know EXCELLENT short page every new puppy owner needs to read.
42 inch Wire Crate with divider so crate grows with puppy.
I do not like plastic crate. The wire is nice and open as Bullies get hot in the summer.
There are many ways to crate train. please use common since here. Your puppy CAN NOT "hold it" more than 2 - 3 hours in the day time. If you leave puppy locked up in crate without breaks they ONLY thing you are teaching them is to pee/poop in crate. Puppy should be able to "hold it" all night but when they wake up in the morning and get up they are ready to pee Immediately! Good by sleeping in on Sat/Sunday. :)
Crate training link. http://leerburg.com/housebrk.htm
Secure fence yard with shade: I do not like the "invisible fences" just read this article about Rusus. They sometimes go haywire in the rain and will not stop shocking dog and can cause deep burns and wounds and you are torturing your beloved pet for hours.
Please do not leave puppy out side alone when young. You must go out with puppy to teach him/her to do "their business". I can not stress this enough. Pushing puppy out door they will only 'hold it' until back inside and pee in your floor. Go out WITH THEM and give the treat for doing their business!
Bullmastiff MUST have shade or they WILL DIE in heat!! Short nosed dogs ( brachycephalic breeds) can not cool themselves like regular dogs, even if they have shade if they start running or fence fighting for very long in hot weather say July/Aug and they get really hot sometimes they can not cool themselves back down even in the shade, they can over heat and go into heat exhaustion and yes they can die. IF your dog's temperature gets over 107 they are unable to cool themselves and will go into heat exhaustion and die. If you can get them into cool/cold water and bring temps down that is good if not the ONLY way to save dog is blood transfusion. SO Remember An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!!
2 Stainless steal bowls if you put them side by side you will end up with food in water bowl. Plastic can cause pimples from bacteria growth in the plastic.
Pretty ears: here is how to tape your puppies ears if need be (they begin to fly sometimes when they teeth) If left untaped your dog will not have a lovely head because his/her ears will not lay properly flat against the head. Taping bullmastiff ears video or they could end up looking like this
Collar. I like web collars. Leather is fine but dogs really don't appreciate wide collars. 14 - 20 inch should last about 2 months on new puppy then you need to move up to 20 - 24 and for big boys you will need to move up to 26 - 27 inch. Unless your dog gets to be 29 inches tall he should not need a 29 inch collar UNLESS you have him OVERWEIGHT!
Check collar as it might need adjusted as much as every week when puppy is growing. If collar gets too tight it can cut into skin and cause scars.
I personal do not like harnesses. Dogs do not either. they are uncomfortable. and pinch and bid. Just teach your dog to walk well on leash. :+}
PLEASE put ID tag on collar with YOUR Info! . Mine reads: Help me! 479-582-5606
Please Do NOT use a chain on your puppy. This is only for training once they get about 5 or more months old. Here is good link for leash training. www.perfectpaws.com/pup7.html
At 4-6 month old you can move to a "pinch" or Training collar when on walks or training THEN TAKE IT OFF!. these are used to keep dog from dragging your down the street NOT for forward movement. I need to get some video links or entire page on leash training. Look for that soon. As many puppies as I leash train in a year.
Bed: Keep them out of yours!! I use several different kinds. when puppy is so small I only use a bathroom mat, as one side is backed with a non slip coating and it washes easy! If you buys puppy some huge soft bed they are only going to use it as a bathroom. sorry.
I get dog bed at Sams or Pet Smart or on line. I've even made a few. Your choices are many. We also use the Kuranda dog beds in the house and the kennel. I order from Kuranda.com as they support shelters and donate beds to help dogs get up off the concert floor.
Bath: to bath or not to bath, that is the question. Bathing your new puppy will stress them. Not good. Use recipe below in spray bottle instead. If you are bathing more than once a month your dog will shed Much more. Bullies are not given to shedding. Be sure and rinse well or shampoo left on skin will irritate skin and cause problems. personally I do not bath useless we are going to dog show. I do wipe off muddy paws with wet rag if needed.
I use 1/2 Listerine mouth wash and 1/2 water is spray bottle and just spay and wipe.
Things to Chew: chewing is a must for teething puppies. www.canismajor.com/dog/teeth.html
You can find most of these things at your locale Pet Store (just remember do NOT take your puppy to Pet Store or dog park until they are over 16 wks and finished with all vaccinations).
Yak Milk i LOVE THESE! called Yak Milk Cheese chews but they are really hard and last a long time.
Split ELK Antlers (never deer antler) I rub cream cheese or peanut butter into it hours of chewing!
Bullie Sticks Link
Porky Puffed Noses Link
Real Hambone or Knuckle Bones RAW must be RAW NOT packaged from pet store!
Greenie - ck size you will need. (some people do not use greenie anymore after the trouble they have had)
I like Wolf Wish bone by Nylabone
Puppy Fish is also good (and expense) must get Large - Nylabone
Kong toy ( i did have an adult dog ingest half of one of these was sick for months until he threw it up)
Flexible Bones are okay mine have not used them that much.
Cows ears called Green Cow Ears (NOT pig ears they are too greasy)
I don't really like the pressed bones they are more apt to just get soft and choke puppy.
Bullie stick are expense but they love them!! Remember they must digest and poop them out SO not more than one a day if that.
Hooves are nice when they get a little older if they really like to chew. Be sure and take hooves away from dog/puppy once they wear them down small enough to ingest so you are not cutting them out of stomach later. I've only had to do this once but it was very pricey!
I don't like anything that is pressed together or twisted together or anything with knot at end. :(
ALWAYS watch your puppy with chews as I have had even larger dogs get a large raw hide good and soft 1/2 in and 1/2 out of throat and they could have chocked TO DEATH if I would not have pulled it out. they do love their chews and mine get them almost every day - just watch them.
Treats are optional. Great for training. please nothing with preservatives or fake food color. very bad. NOT cheap milk bones. pleases folks!! you might as well feed paste!
IF you give puppy to many treats he/she will poop in house/crate as you will cause loose stool.
I like fresh treats NOT packaged as packaged is full of preservatives. :( And with dogs dying yes dying from treats made in China. just think Fresh real like cheese sticks raw meat. here is treat that is dried hearts and LOVE and most always have some in my pocket of course I'm always training! and chewy carries these freeze dried liver called "Pure Bites" love this product also!
A treat should ALWAYS be earned! A treat can be a tiny piece of hard cheese or pop corn or meat. A treat is not a meal! Avoid cheap "milk bones" all they are is white flour and food color. NOT good for your bullmastiff puppy/dog. On that note NEVER give white/wheat bread to your dog. It could kill them by causing too much gas in gut. Yes! This does happened. IF you think your dog has gastric torsion gut you only have about 30 minutes to get them on operating table. IF you think your puppy/dog has twisted gut do NOT hesitate to take them to vet immediately - better wrong then have a dead dog. More reading on that subject
www.canismajor.com/dog/bloat.html
Food for Dog/Puppy DON'T FEED YOUR DOG PUPPY FOOD!!!!! I can't say this enough. and people wonder why their dog is fat!! one or two bags are enough for great start.
Feeding RAW (what we do) This is link to Ebook for $8.95 that explains it all.
The ONLY Kibble we can recommend is the Life's Abundance Link here. We feed mostly the All Life Stages. You will not find this in any stores. You order on line it comes right to your door. This food is so superior you do not NEED to fed nearly as much! Please do not over feed your bullmastiff puppy.
Much has been said/written and debated here. I have my own opinion as you will often find me cutting up a whole horse (that died from over eating usually) or cow (that got down trying to calf) (email for pix if you like) because my dogs enjoy raw meat and bones so much. Anything can be out of balance. If you only feed your puppy raw meat you would get him growing too fast. Very bad as this can be terrible on joints and cause structural damage, think about a wild dog. They do not have someone going to grocery to purchase them pure meat. They eat bones/fur/feather/gut/greens among other things (horse poop yummy my dogs love it!) So balance is the key here. We feed the BARF Diet: Bone and Raw Food diet along Life's Abundance All Stages You can feed raw for what you feed a high quality kibble. On that note Science Diet, Purina, or Pedigree are NOT a high quality dog food. Don't be fooled by false picture on the bag! .
Back to raw meat. Some people have said feeding raw causes the Mean Dog to come out in your pet. I have to laugh. Think about it this way. If ALL you ever ate was dry cereal how excited would you be to see your next bowl of............oh boy........dry cereal? If someone grilled you a big juicy T-bone steak wouldn't you fight to keep it all to yourself? So when feeding more than one dog you might want to separate dogs when feeding raw. All of my dogs take raw meat from my hands in a polite way. I do feed mine together if they are used to being together. Mommy spanks for fighting. And no one wants to get a swat from me!
Excellent web site to get you started! http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm
Feeding Raw. Raw Meaty Bones or Answers to Questions about feeding Raw or the Wellness Cafe`) there is so much out there you can do a little research yourself on feeding raw. You can grind carrots or greens in blender and pour over food. Puppies learn to like bananas, apples, pears, carrots (anything they see YOU eating) They don't like citrus fruit. Also Oatmeal, millet, rice, cheese are good.
Chicken quarters- raw only. Will sure put the weight on fast if dog needs help in this area.
NO: Raisins, grapes, nuts and dark Chocolate or anything with caffeine. on the short list of no-no. Shuts down kidneys (Dog dies eating raisins)
Cows milk. It's not poison but it does cause loose stool. I don't like it.
Avoid Corn in diet. Corn is used to fatten hogs and cattle (and some people wonder why their dogs are fat??? HELLO!) it has little place in dog food.
Soy is known to cause skin issues. so is corn. The only reason dog food company use Soy is it's Cheap. really it's awful for the dog's over all health.
Eggs: I really like eggs as the yoke is full of good fat. Destiny eats her eggs easy over in the morning. Raw Egg White are bad. Uses up the vitamin Biotin which feed skin tissue. So take the white off or cook it just a little to get the white done. I think eggs are very affordable for what they give you.
The more raw you feed your dog the more acid their stomach will be the easier to digest all foods. The more grain (dog food) you feed the more alkaline stomach will be, does not digest as well.
Dogs were created to eat the dead and dying. They have very short digestive track. Some bacteria will not hurt them. IF you have small children and your dogs eats lots of raw DO NOT ALLOW dog to lick children they can pass salmonella to children. this is the only draw back to feeding raw. But don't allow that to scare you away from a great diet and better health for your dog. Just wait a couple of hrs after feeding RAW for puppy/dog to play with children again. Personally mine will bury something and dig it up a wk later and eat it. Gross I know BUT mine are used to eating real raw food. We laugh when dog food company have to recall for Salmonella. A wk old buried chicken has plenty of "Sally" on it. IF your dogs are used to eating this way it does not effect them. If they are not it can be bad for them until their body adjusts.
Super Raw food is Green Tripe. I Do NOT like it canned. it kills everything good in there. frozen is the only way and there are only a few good sources to get it. The BEST on the market I have found www.GreenTripe.com (I get mine fresh but that is not available to most city folks) Some sources get if already spoiled and your dog will not enjoy it or benefit as much as nice fresh green tripe (cow guts) Mine go crazy for it. it is the prefect food. If your dog is having severe health issues I highly recommend only raw with lots of green tripe.
Just do a little research. MOST dog food out there is beyond trash while NOT being good for your dog is actually very bad for your dog. Companies spend millions trying to convince us not to feed our dogs REAL food. Like some how it's good enough for little Johnny but not good enough for Fido? hello people!! Don't believe the lie. Your dog can only make cell tissue out of what he/she eats. And we wonder why cancer in dogs is skyrocketing. If you only eat dead food how can you make healthy cell tissue? I'm surprised our dogs are living as long as they are.