8 Month Old Great Dane Male / Blue General and Appetite

Question
We brought Elmer home at 6 months at the end of January.  He is a delight.  We have some concerns, though, and seem to get conflicting advice on several topics.

First, feeding - the breeder recommended a diet of 2 cups Eagle Pack Giant Breed Puppy, mixed with 1 cup rice, mixed with 1 can Holistic Select twice a day.  This was fine until he developed a digestive problem which caused him to vomit and have the runs for several days.  Our vet gave him some meds for the diarhea and acid stomach, and a diet of 2 cans of Science Diet twice a day and nothing else.

He liked the Science Diet so well that he didn't seem to want to go back to his old diet.  As Science Diet has rice in it we decided on a combination of 1 large scoop (@1.5c) of the Eagle Pack, plus 1 can of Science Diet and 1 can of the Holistic Select twice a day leaving out the rice.  One of those meals includes 3 scoops of a breeder recommended supplement - Show Stopper.

He also gets @3 cookies after each walk (1st AM, mid-morn and/or mid-day, early evening, and bedtime).  Each walk lasts @20-30 min. with at least one taking us to a nearby park to play off leash in the tennis courts if they are unoccupied (neighborhood dog owners have adopted this area as a make shift dog park and there are often other dogs to play with).

It is becoming almost routine for him to refuse his breakfast.  And his dinner requires a fair amount of coaxing.

He also goes to doggy day care twice a week on average.  We try not to have him go 2 days in a row because he is soooooo pooped out.  On the days he goes to day care he gets his usual morning walk (5am), breakfast (6:15), we leave for daycare @7.  At day care they have them in free play for 2 hours in the am (starting @9), rest at mid day, I request that he get a mid-day walk with the idea of maintaining his house training, 2 hours of play in the afternoon (@2-4).  I pick him up @6 and we take a loop around the block in case he needs to take care of any business, then it's upstairs to rest before dinner at 7:00pm.  The handlers at day care are extremely fond of him and have nothing but praise for how he interacts with the other dogs, large and small.  Though they agree he is a great big goof, no candidate for the Royal Ballet company, and very much a puppy.

We live in a 4th floor walk up condo in a north side neighborhood of Chicago.

He is, as yet, unaltered.  [A whole other area of inquiry.]  He is sweet, affectionate, drools to make Niagra falls blush, especially after drinking, and can be quite pushy when he wants to play (using his nose as a battering ram in my tummy and butt - I turn my back and ignore him until he gives up; he does not use this technique with Poppa).

His water intake is almost as erratic as his food intake, but he always drinks a lot after eating. Averages 8+ cups / day.

He is learning his commands (sit, lay down, come, lets go, wait, leave it, drop it) - some better than others.  But true to his breed wants badly to please and sulks when he thinks he's in trouble.  Responds to politeness - "Go in your house." gets a woebegone look.  "Please go in your house." or "Go in your house, Please." gets him into his crate for the night.

BOTTOM LINE:  Is his refusing of @every 3rd meal something we should worry about?  Are we feeding him what he needs?

Second, Neutering - We have had 6 months, 9 months, 1 year, 18 months, and 2 years (18-24 mos being the breeder's strong recommendation) recommended to us.  We have searched the internet and no 2 experts seem to agree.  We are quite confused and concerned that we will either let it go too long or not long enough and never know until something goes wrong.  P.S. We don't know how long day care will accept him as an unaltered male.  Being still a puppy and not completely dropped (though more each day) it is not yet a problem for them.  And it is important that he be able to go to day care because we both work.  And only my fiance has the option to work from home a couple of days each week.

BOTTOM LINE:  We believe we want to neuter him at 12 mos (July of this year) and have his stomach tacked at the same time.  Is any of that a good idea?

Sorry if this is somewhat incoherent, but I'm trying to remember everything and still out of here to get him to day care and myself to work.  We absolutely adore our pup and would love to see him live a long health life, but are sometimes unsure if we are on track to help him do that.

Answer
Kim,

I am going to answer your questions, starting with the most important one first:

Neutering-he needs to be neutered as soon as possible...BEFORE 12 months of age. Once males start to come into sexual maturity, they have a tendency to being to show dominant behavior and even aggression towards other dogs, particularly males. Since I am assuming you want to keep letting him go to doggy daycare this is the biggest reason why he should be neutered now. With the longer waiting also comes future health problems as waiting can cause testicular cancer when he gets older. I would highly suggest you call your veterinarian right away and make an appointment.

Tacking the stomach-Although some people have been lead to believe that this prevents bloat, it is not entirely true. Dogs who have their stomachs tacked can be just as prone to bloat. It is a "preventative" surgery however I have known dogs to bloat who have had the gastropexy as well...It is your option to do it...however if something happens and your dog does bloat, you do have a little more time to get him to the vet, but it does not mean that he will not require a surgery. It may stop torsion but you will still have to take him in to be tubed...

Eating-If he is skipping meals, he may not be wanting the food because it is just not agreeing with his stomach so he does not want to eat the food that is upsetting him stomach. I would suggest that you try to give him a different brand of food. You should not be supplementing him with anything if you are feeding him a good food. High quality brands of food do not require supplementation. If you supplement too much you can also do damage to his bones and he can develop HOD among other things.

Water-You should not be giving him more then 3 bowls of water a day, this also sits in the stomach like food and he can bloat if there is not enough time in between for the food and water to settle.

I hope I answered some of your concerns, if you have anymore please let me know.