The Best Dog Food for Mastiffs (2022 Review)

Balanced Nutrition for Adult Mastiffs 

The ingredient list on the Blue Buffalo Wilderness range begins with a real meat, followed by a meat meal, which accounts for its high protein. This recipe contains 32%, but others range between 26 and 32%. 

Sweet potatoes, carrots, cranberries, and blueberries add a lovely array of vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants. 

The 13% fat in this recipe should be adequate for the average Mastiff. The other recipes are roughly the same. Taurine, glucosamine and chondroitin, EPA, and L-carnitine round it out for heart and joint health. 

It comes in a variety of flavors for large breed dogs, which are great for giant breeds like a Mastiff too. If your Mastiff is a picky eater, you can go for the red meat Rocky Mountain recipe, the large breed Salmon, or even a Healthy Weight recipe. 

Be warned, though – if your big fluff is sensitive to chicken, all of these kibbles contain chicken in the form of chicken meal.

Highly Nutritious 

There are two recipes: chicken and lamb. 

If your giant breed doesn’t deal well with chicken, the lamb flavor has 22% protein and 12% fat, enough for a moderately active English Mastiff to live and lumber around comfortably! The chicken recipe has 23% protein and 13% fat, containing both real deboned chicken and chicken meal. 

Both of them have a variety of fruits and vegetables, some of them highly nutritious superfoods. These bring a range of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals to your dog’s diet. 

You should know that this isn’t a grain-free dry dog food. It contains brown rice, white rice, and barley, but no corn, wheat, or soy. 

Unlike most dog foods within its price range, it also has glucosamine and chondroitin for strong bones and joints, added vitamins A and E, and L-carnitine for energy regulation.

Everything a Growing Large, Giant Breed Puppy Needs 

There’s no doubt that a large breed puppy needs slightly different nutrition to a smaller one. Orijen is what’s known as “biologically appropriate” dog food, meaning it’s made with stuff that pups would eat in the wild. 

The ingredient list is superb, consisting of multiple proteins, some muscle meat and some organ meat. Organ meat is wonderfully full of amino acids, boosting the immune system. It also contributes to a rather high protein content, at 38%. Your puppy needs to be active! 

A perfect 1,2:1 calcium/phosphorus ratio will help your puppy grow up at the right pace. EPA and DHA will  give their brain and eye tissue a boost as it develops. Glucosamine and chondroitin give those bones and joints the best start in life. 

It’s also grain-free, and hgh-quality fruits and vegetables increase the vitamins and minerals content.

Nutrition for Active Seniors 

The fat count is slightly lowered, while the protein count remains high. This is great for keeping seniors from becoming rolly-polly, but still retaining lean muscle mass. 

Gluten-free grains like brown rice, white rice, and oatmeal provide a decent amount of fiber and Diamond Naturals’ special K9 Strain probiotics soothe the stomach in case of age-related sensitivities. There are no grains containing gluten, so you won’t find corn, wheat, or soy. 

Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids keep your aging English Mastiff’s skin and coat health where it needs to be. Taurine and L-carnitine keep seniors’ hearts strong. 

Another big pro is that there are fewer calories per cup in this dog food (318). For seniors, this is great as it means there’s less chance of overeating and gaining weight, which could contribute to serious health conditions.

Extra Calories, Extra Moisture 

This organic, dehydrated dog food is unusual. It’s not a crunchy kibble. Instead, it’s a smooth, porridge-like meal, filled with nutrition and water. 

Three different flavors allows even dogs with sensitivities to find something they like. This is the whole grain version, but you can buy grain free too. 

This dog food is classified as human grade, which shows just what high quality it is! All you need to do is add water, and your dog will have a delicious meal, and some extra water in their diet. 

No supplements are added, except taurine. This will strengthen your dog’s heart, but if you’re using this food exclusively and not simply adding it to your dog’s kibble, you’ll need to buy separate supplements.

Well-Rounded Nutrition Minus Joint Supplements 

Taste of the Wild grain-free dry dog food contains helpful supplements for a dog that’s already on joint supplements. 

The protein and fat counts are great for a large breed adult. They’ll be more than enough to give them energy and keep that impressive muscle mass. 

It’s a bonus that the ingredients in Taste of the Wild are high-quality and easily digestible, like salmon, sweet potatoes, and fish meal. Fruits like blueberries and raspberries add antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals without adding calories. 

There’s some taurine in there for heart health, Omegas for a skin and coat boost, probiotics and chelated minerals for easier digestion, and a whole lot of goodness. As long as you give your dog something to keep their joints strong, Taste of the Wild dog food would be a good choice!

Made for Large and Giant Breed Nutritional Needs 

It can be hard to find a dog food specifically for giant breed puppies or adults. This one, as their very name suggests, is made just for them. 

They understand that dog food for a giant or large breed dog doesn’t need higher protein and fat. This brand is lower in protein content and fat, but both should be alright for a Mastiff who gets relaxed exercise. 

It’s made using chicken meal, easily digested veggies like sweet potatoes, and superfood fruits like blueberries and cranberries. 

You’ll also find joint supplements to keep them strong and flexible, and slightly lower than average Omega fatty acids.

Great for All Life Stages 

Generally, we don’t recommend feeding giant breeds a dog  food for all life stages, as many of them miss important age-specific nutrients. Not this one, though! 

It’s grain-free, has a great protein content, is moderately high in fat, and contains all the additions an English Mastiff may need, at all life stages! 

As well as having multiple proteins and easy-to-digest carbs in its main ingredients, joint supplements, good levels of Omega fatty acids, a perfect calcium/phosphorus ratio, and EPA and DHA… There are also 5 healthy, grain-free, limited ingredient flavors for you (or your dog) to choose from. 

Ingredients like sweet potatoes, pumpkin, cranberries, and kelp give your Mastiff a digestive boost.

Weight Management for Big Dogs 

The protein sits at 24% in this food, while the fat level is low at 9%. These types of foods work by reducing the fat count, forcing your dog’s body to burn its own, for fuel. 

If you feel this is too low for your dog, you can try Eagle Pack Large/Giant Breed dry dog food. It’s a little higher in fat but around the same for everything else. 

There’s no real meat in this dry food, but pork meal, turkey meal, and chicken meal feature. There also aren’t as many veggies, and no fruits in this dry dog food, unfortunately. 

Omegas and glucosamine round this food off to make sure your giant breed isn’t missing anything.

Low in Sodium, High in Taurine 

One of the most important things in a heart health food is the sodium content. This one contains 60mg sodium per 100 calories. That’s a great low sodium count. 

Along with guaranteed levels of taurine, this makes Wellness dry dog food great for hounds like Mastiffs. 

Other plusses include being fairly high in calories per cup to cater to a Mastiff appetite, has three high-quality protein recipes, good Omegas, and joint supplements. 

Be aware, though, that the whitefish recipe has no glucosamine in it!