Weight Gain

[JulesP]

If you are looking to put weight on a dog would you let it eat as much as it wanted or would you regulate the food intake?

Amber just scoffed 1kg of chopped steak plus a quarter of a cup of Holistic Lamb and Rice. I didn't mean for her to have so much meat but ummm I put the meat container on the ground whilst feeding the other 2 dogs and then got distracted, lol. It was interesting that she ate it all as she usually only eats tiny amounts.

Food allergies combined with fussiness combined with hormone issues meant she lost a heap of weight. I've been doing an elimination diet with her.

[OSoSwift]

Hmm a hard one.

I guess it would also depend on breed as there is no way I would let say a Dobe eat all it wanted as blaot would be a huge worry.

For a BC though if she is underweight and hungry I would feed her. If she can comfortable eat a larger amount (but not a huge sillyamount) let her, but I would also offer food twice or three times daily so that she sould hopefully eat a bit less but get more over the day if that makes sense.

[JulesP]

She gets 2 feeds a day. I tried a lunchtime feed but she would often refuse that.

[poodlefan]

I would regulate the food intake, increasing the percentage of fat and protein in the diet.

Probably the easiest way would be to switch normal kibble to a power or performance variety.

For a raw fed dog, I'd be switching to fattier meats and increasing the meat component of the diet.

[dancinbcs]

If you are looking to put weight on a dog would you let it eat as much as it wanted or would you regulate the food intake?

Amber just scoffed 1kg of chopped steak plus a quarter of a cup of Holistic Lamb and Rice. I didn't mean for her to have so much meat but ummm I put the meat container on the ground whilst feeding the other 2 dogs and then got distracted, lol. It was interesting that she ate it all as she usually only eats tiny amounts.

Food allergies combined with fussiness combined with hormone issues meant she lost a heap of weight. I've been doing an elimination diet with her.

If you let her eat as much as she wants she will probably turn her nose up at the next meal or two, so probably better to regulate but increase her calories with more fat in the diet. Cheese can be helpful in increasing weight as can fattier meat cuts like lamb flaps.

1kg isn't a huge amount for a Border. I have know them to eat a 5 kg bag of meat, a boiler full of stew, complete with the wooden spoon that was in it, a whole large bottle of cod liver oil , just to name a few things. Thank god they are not a breed prone to bloat.

[JulesP]

She ate a decent sized dinner and had quite a decent amount of training treats (4legs) but would not eat this morning. God it drives me mad. For some reason animals not eating always totally flips me out.