Putting Weight On A Dog

[moko81]

Will no doubt be howled down about this but in my eyes, THE best dry food for putting on weight is either Great Barko or Uncle Albers. Australian-made....list meat as the first ingredient.

Do you mix any raw meat with either of those dry foods? We have tried quite a few of the premium dry foods (eukanuba, royal canin, science diet & now proplan)

Our dogs love the Pro plan performance which we were put onto by friends, but unfortunately at the mo' our pockets ain't liking it

Have been looking for a cheaper alternative which we can also mix semi lean meat with it, but not sure whom to ask, would really love more advice.

[ellz]

Do you mix any raw meat with either of those dry foods? We have tried quite a few of the premium dry foods (eukanuba, royal canin, science diet & now proplan)

Our dogs love the Pro plan performance which we were put onto by friends, but unfortunately at the mo' our pockets ain't liking it

Have been looking for a cheaper alternative which we can also mix semi lean meat with it, but not sure whom to ask, would really love more advice.

Yes. My dogs get a good quality mince and/or raw meaty bones on a regular basis as well as table scraps, veges and other goodies from time to time as well....sardines, cottage cheese, yoghurt etc.

[Guest Ams]

You could always just feed smaller meals more often. This allows the body to uptake more of the nutrients and less gets "wasted".

If you feed four to six meals a day and just sneak a quarter of a cup more food each time it equates to heaps more food but the body is more able to absorb rather than eliminate.

Another suggestion would be to add some Science AD or equivalent food to the diet. It is super packed with protein for dogs recovering from surgery, etc. I had a bitch who was highly stressed and never stopped moving. To all intents and purposes she was anorexic. By using the AD food I was able to gradually increase her food intake (by slowing adding kibble to the AD) to the point that she went from 14kg to 19kg. I then cut back the number of tins of AD I needed to maintain her at that weight. It is not cheap but is protein not fat.

[whippets]

We just use a complete food. Artemis Osopure Power. The whippets do well on that formula. 30% protein and 20% fat.

I was using the regular formula but we were having trouble keeping the condition on our dogs. It started to work out quite expensive when I had to feed up to 3x the recommended serve for their weight/age.

I don't have the time or motivation to go the BARF route of play "chef". I'm happy with what they are on so I'm sticking with it, as do most other people with their chosen dog food regime. It it works why change it?

I used THIS website when I was researching dog food. It's quite comical how some of the "premium" dog foods have only a 1 star rating (which is right down the bottom). People should give more credit to the marketing department of a company rather than the dog food quality assurance area .