What to feed an 8 week old puppy

Hi

I have an eight week old mastiff puppy.
At the moment I am feeding her 4 times a day. I feed her a third of canned food with a handful of biscuits 3 times a day and 3 handfuls of biscuits once a day.
This sounds like too much food to me but she constantly whines for food.
Is this enough food for her or is it too much?

Didnt the breeder give you a diet sheet when you bought her?

As above, didn`t the breeder give you a diet sheet.

It will vary dependant on what foods you are actually feeding, the recommended quantities can have a large difference in them (generally, the better quality the food, the less you have to feed). For example, Fish4Dogs recommends an 8 week old, 5kg puppy should have around 192g grams of food a day. Whereas Iams say a 6kg pup should have 275g, and Pedigree say a dog with an adult weight of 45kg (highest their chart goes up to) needs 350g at 2 months old - so with a Mastiff, I'd imagine you'd need to feed even more!

Even in the same brand, quantity will vary from dog to dog as well, dependant on level of exercise, metabolism, etc.
I would suggest you stick to the recommended guideline and see if the dog stays a good weight. Reduce or increase dependant on body shape - if the ribs start to disappear under a layer of fat, reduce quantity. If bones become too prominent, increase quantity. Though do account for both puppy fat and the lean/lanky period they can go through when growing.

As said, the breeder should have provided a diet sheet.

If the pup`s crying for food, she`s hungry. It may be that the food you are giving her is poor quality or doesn`t have what she needs.
Use a good quality puppy food for large breeds and follow the guidelines.

I feed her pedigree cans and baxters biscuits. As she gets older I plan to give her meat and tripe and biscuits rather than the cans of food. Though I will wait until she is older to do this as I don't want to upset her tummy.
No I didn't get a diet sheet, I asked him what to feed her and he told me he fed her 3x a day a third of a can a time. But when I got her she kept crying for food so I increased it gradually to the above. She whines a littly for food in the evening but I don't give her anymore. She is quite a chunky girl and I don't want to make her obese. I can feel her ribs when I stroke her but I can't see them, so I'm assuming she is okay. Am going to pop to the vets today with her to get her weighed and get her jabs so will ask them too.

not the best quality of food so that maybe why its not filling her adequately, could you try to wean her to a more quality diet something without meat derivatives or cereal as the first ingredients, i like the look of applaws puppy it's reasonably priced and pretty good quality?

What's her poo like? It it's sloppy or in any way not properly formed and firm, she may be hungry because the food is passing through her too quickly for her to get any nutrtition from it.

Do you mean Bakers biscuits? I've never heard of Baxters. Pedigree is not that good and it might be worth changing her to Butchers Tripe as it's about the best quality at that price range and easy availability. To be honest, I'd gradually move her onto a good quality dry complete food with a bit of tinned food for taste if she likes. I know it may seem expensive paying £40 or over, but they are satisfied on less food than a cheaper one they can't assimilate, so it works out cheaper to feed them better food. Be aware that some puppy foods can be too high in protein for large/giant breed puppies and give them diahorrea. My Tibetan Mastiff was on adult food from about 14 weeks old because of this and he grew to be the same size as his littermates slowly and steadily (you don't want a mastiff growing too quickly). But you'll have to judge that one for yourself.

She's a mastiff puppy with a lot of growing to do, so she will eat a lot until she's fully grown. The recommendations don't mean an awful lot - count yourself lucky she's not a Tibetan Mastiff as my male used to eat so little as a pup I thought he'd never grow! He did grow beautifully, but not without me getting lots of grey hairs because he was hardly eating more than my shar-pei half his weight. The only way you can judge if she is getting enough is to look at her. Is she too thin? Is she fat and rolling? If so, adjust the amount of food. Bear in mind that for a mastiff puppy, being too heavy can do more damage than being a bit on the lean side, though a happy medium is what is best. You should be able to feel the ribs with gentle pressure of your hand, but not see them by eye at all stages of her life.

Pedigree is a poor quality food and `biscuits` have little food value. Use a proper puppy food.

A mastiff pup should not be eating regular puppy food, and definitely should be fed a high quality kibble. You want this pup to have the best possible start to life, and nutrition plays an important role in that.
Has your pup been checked for parasites? If for example she has a tapeworm, then she could be eating cup after cup, even of the good stuff, and still be hungry because the parasite is getting most of the food. I'd have that checked out asap to rule it out, but honestly I think it's just a matter of her being fed a low quality kibble at the moment.
Remember, we want to grow them slow and steady, so never over feed, never give calcium supplements, and watch the calcium/phosphorous levels in the food you choose. Congrats on your new pup by the way!