Help/advice Needed

[AshNSugar]

hey all,

I'm hoping that someone may be able to help me or give me some advice on my German Shepherd. No matter what i do i cant keep weight on her.

She is 20 months old this month and isnt de-sexed she is up to date on all vaccinations worming and flea treatment and is fed 4 cups of biscuits and half a 1.2kg tin of dog food and i sometimes cook up a casserole with kangaroo meat and vegies with rice and or pasta. We live on a 5 acre property and she runs around a great deal (which i think may be contributing to her not putting weight on).

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Gretel]

What sort of dry food are you feeding her? I'd give away the canned stuff.....

[persephone]

Hi, Ash&sugar.Canned food is mostly water, usually.. I don't think it will put weight on.

Check the ingredients on the dry food bag- what % fat is there?

Kangaroo is LEAN meat

dogs don't need rice/pasta.

If she is just young and fit and active- she just needs better quality food, with an increased fat content.Possibly two meals a day..she needs quality, not quantity ;)

Good meat for weightgain is lamb flap, or brisket, beef offcuts/brisket, or a good pet mince..this usually has bone and fat.

This is just a starter comment- there are folks on here who are VERY knowledgable on diet

[Nekhbet]

you need to change to quality not quantity

- look for a dry food that has no wheat and the first ingredient is meat

- throw away the cans they are empty rubbish and simply run the dog through

- dont cook meat! It's a dog! As persephone said, lamb flaps, fattier cuts from the butcher are a better idea as roo, rabbit etc are all virtually fat free

- I use the rice/vege diet for weight loss! A good dry and raw meaty fatty offcuts from the butcher will get the weight on

saving that, many shepherds go through a lean period. My previous shepherd was a shocker it took so much maintenance to keep the weight on even with Royal Canin and meat scraps!

[poodlefan]

I'd be feeding as people are suggesting.. better quality with higher fat content. No canned food.

A working dog or performance formula kibble will have a higher fat content than others. Buy the best you can afford.

Fattier meat like lamb, chicken (wings are great raw) or beef will help too.

Dogs get their longer term energy from fat, not carbs so you need to up the fat.

[WreckitWhippet]

My Pointers run and run and then run some more.

We keep weight on them by feeding chicken wings and lamb flaps as their basic meet and we feed Royal Canin as their dry. I've also found that Optimum Puppy dry ( chicken ) works a treat.

[Dogsfevr]

Also some GSD have food absorption issues ,you can feed the best food & without a supplement it will make no difference.

Some bitches whom arent spayed can also be pains to maintain weight due to hormones.

I had a bitch (showdog) who was such one child & after battling afor over a year decided to spay her & she put weight on instantly.

Her seasons where not regular.

Does she get the runs ??

When changing her diet do so slow & steady.

Also what did her breeder suggest you feed.

As you live country im presuming you may use supermarket brands??

[sandra64]

I feed mine minced chicken or i buy a bulk pieces of blade from the butcher and mix with vets all natural . raw bones they love lamb flaps and lamb necks . mine dont get tin food at all. reading up on the Barf diet is very helpfull. mine are kelpies and run all day, but dont have a problem packing on muscle

[AshNSugar]

Thanks for all the advice i will try her on the lamb flaps and so forth.

with the dry food im feeding her what i can afford atm as im out of work due to medical reasons. Are super coat biscuits any good?? if not what are some good brands of biscuits to feed??

I've never had this problem with previous shepherds i have owned.

I would like to maybe breed her in the future thats why i havent had her spayed

[Nekhbet]

if you want to breed her then you better get cash together for hip and elbow scores, a couple of thousand in the bank for emergencies she might need during pregnancy or birth (you know how much a cesarian costs?) plus paying for the food, medical bills and time off for the puppies.

if your GSD is NOT on full register pedigree and you do not have a kennel name and breeder registration then do not breed your dog. If you cannot afford to feed you cannot afford to breed more shepherds into an already overloaded system.

Supercoat is probably too low in what she needs. If you cannot afford anything more then at least bump up the raw food content and look into BARF feeding.