Dogue de Bordeaux nutrition: calories, bloat and the heart

The Dogue de Bordeaux is a heavy dog with a short life. The American Kennel Club puts males at 110 lb (50 kg) and up and females at 99 lb (45 kg) and up, and gives a life expectancy of 5 to 8 years. In an analysis of more than 5,000 deaths recorded by English veterinary practices, the Dogue de Bordeaux and the Great Dane were the shortest-lived breeds, and heavier dogs lived shorter lives overall. Diet cannot change that inheritance. It can keep the dog lean, lower its risk of bloat and avoid feeding choices that load the joints or heart.

Calorie needs for a giant dog

Energy needs rise more slowly than body weight, so a 55 kg dog does not need eleven times what a 5 kg dog eats. The Merck Veterinary Manual calculates the resting energy requirement (RER) as 70 multiplied by body weight in kilograms raised to the power 0.75. Daily needs are that figure times a factor: 1.8 for an intact adult, 1.6 for a neutered adult and 1.4 for an adult that gains weight easily.

Worked through for adult weights typical of the breed, rounded to the nearest 10 kcal:

These are starting points. Merck notes that one dog may need as much as 30% more or less than another of the same weight. Many adult Dogues de Bordeaux are not especially active, so the lower columns often fit better than the higher ones. Weigh the dog monthly and score its body condition by feel: ribs easy to find under a thin layer of fat, a visible waist from above. Loose skin and a heavy frame can hide several kilograms of gain.

Slow growth for puppies

A Dogue de Bordeaux puppy puts on tens of kilograms in its first year, and fast growth strains developing joints. Feed a food labeled complete and balanced for growth of large-size dogs, in measured meals rather than a bowl left full all day. Do not add calcium to a complete puppy food. Merck warns that excess calcium (above 3% of dry matter) worsens osteochondrosis in fast-growing large-breed puppies, and a complete food already contains what the puppy needs.

Aim for a lean puppy rather than a heavy one. Weigh every couple of weeks and ask the vet at each visit whether the body condition is right.

The heart

Heart disease in the breed takes more than one form. At two UK referral hospitals, 17 of 64 Dogues de Bordeaux sent for cardiac investigation had congenital heart disease, and atrial fibrillation, an irregular and often fast heart rhythm, was recorded in 39%. Among the dogs without congenital disease or tumors, atrial fibrillation often came with weak contraction of the heart muscle. An online survey of owners covering 278 dogs found that 17 of the 55 dogs that had died did so suddenly and unexpectedly. The authors could not say whether heart disease caused those deaths, but think the link deserves study.

No diet prevents an inherited heart defect or rhythm disorder. What feeding can do is limited and practical:

• Keep the dog lean, which matters for the heart as much as for the joints.
• Choose food carefully if heart disease is already known. Salt, taurine and fish oil supplements are sometimes part of a cardiologist's plan for a particular dog, with doses set for that dog. They are not general preventives.
• Ask for a heart check. A murmur heard in a puppy, fainting, breathlessness or poor exercise tolerance at any age should lead to a cardiac workup, usually an ultrasound scan and an ECG.

Grain-free diets come up often with heart disease. In 2018 the US Food and Drug Administration began looking into reports of dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs eating foods, many labeled grain-free, with peas, lentils, other legumes or potatoes high in the ingredient list. The FDA's last update, in December 2022, said case reports alone do not establish that the foods cause the disease, and that it would not publish further updates until there was meaningful new science. The question is unresolved. For a breed that already has heart problems, a food whose main ingredients are not peas, lentils or potatoes sidesteps it while it stays open.

Bloat and how feeding affects it

Gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV) happens when the stomach fills with gas and twists, cutting off its blood supply. It kills within hours without surgery. Large, deep-chested dogs carry the highest risk. Signs are a swollen, tight belly, retching that brings nothing up, drooling, restlessness and weakness, and a dog showing them needs an emergency clinic at once, not a morning appointment.

The best evidence on feeding and GDV comes from two US studies of large and giant breeds (the Dogue de Bordeaux was not one of the breeds followed, but it has a similar deep-chested build). In a prospective study of 1,637 dogs, fast eating, older age, a close relative that had bloated and a raised food bowl all increased the risk. About half of GDV cases in the giant breeds were attributed to the raised bowl. A second study looking at dry food labels found that foods with an oil or fat among the first four ingredients were linked to 2.4 times the risk. The number of cereal or soy ingredients made no difference.

That translates into a routine:

• Feed from a bowl on the floor.
• Slow down a fast eater with a slow-feeder bowl or by scattering kibble over a wide tray.
• Read the ingredient list and prefer dry foods without a fat or oil in the first four places.
• Split the day's food into two or three meals, and keep play and hard exercise away from mealtimes. Both are standard advice, although they have less research behind them than the points above.

The head, the jaw and mealtimes

The breed's broad, undershot jaw and heavy lips change how it eats. Some dogs struggle to pick up very small kibble and swallow more of it whole. A giant-breed kibble with larger pieces is easier to grip. A wide, shallow bowl lets the dog reach food without jamming its face into a narrow rim. Neither should be a raised bowl.

Food and water collect in the lips and skin folds around the mouth. Wipe the folds after meals and dry them; damp folds are prone to skin infection. The survey mentioned above found that owners had taken 22.7% of dogs to a vet for chronic skin disease, the most common problem reported. A mat under the bowls keeps drool and water off the floor.

Skin and paw pads

Hyperkeratosis is an overgrowth of keratin that leaves the paw pads or nose thick, dry and cracked, and sometimes sore. It has several causes, some inherited and some acquired through infection, injury or other skin disease, so a vet should identify the cause before it is treated. Management is mainly local: trimming overgrown pad tissue and applying softening balms or prescription products as advised.

Diet claims for hyperkeratosis run ahead of the evidence. Evidence that zinc, vitamin A, biotin or fish oil supplements improve it in dogs already eating a complete diet is limited, and zinc and vitamin A are both harmful in excess. Supplements of either belong in a vet's plan, not added on spec. A complete food with adequate fat is enough for most dogs' skin.

Feeding across a short life

With a life expectancy of 5 to 8 years, a Dogue de Bordeaux reaches the later part of its life at an age when many breeds are still in their prime. That compresses the usual timeline. Weight gain from slowing down arrives sooner, and so do the stiff joints that make extra weight harder to carry. In the owner survey, lameness had sent 15.5% of dogs to the vet.

• Stay lean all through life. Less weight means less load on sore joints and less tissue for the heart to supply.
• Review portions at each life change: the end of growth, neutering, and the first signs of slowing down.
• Ask the vet about joint diets or supplements once stiffness appears. The evidence varies a good deal from product to product, and pain relief and weight control come first.
• Book checkups at least once a year from early adulthood, with weight, body condition and heart listened to at each one.

Sources

1. Dogue de Bordeaux dog breed information. American Kennel Club.
2. Longevity and mortality of owned dogs in England. The Veterinary Journal, 2013.
3. Nutritional requirements of small animals. Merck Veterinary Manual.
4. Phenotypic description of cardiac findings in a population of Dogue de Bordeaux with an emphasis on atrial fibrillation. The Veterinary Journal, 2018.
5. An online health survey of Dogue de Bordeaux owners and breeders with special emphasis on cardiac disease. The Veterinary Journal, 2018.
6. FDA investigation into potential link between certain diets and canine dilated cardiomyopathy. US Food and Drug Administration.
7. Non-dietary risk factors for gastric dilatation-volvulus in large and giant breed dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2000.
8. The effect of ingredients in dry dog foods on the risk of gastric dilatation-volvulus in dogs. Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association, 2006.