Labrardor's

[Nekhbet]

your dog doesnt need fruit and vegetables it needs meat added to its diet. Dogs are not goats, they need protein over carb/fibre sources. The fact I can clearly see your dogs entire shoulder blades through that thick lab coat means he's lacking in protein and just calories in general.

Edited April 16, 2011 by Nekhbet

[Janelle23]

i get what ur saying about the meat needing to be added to his diet but he also needs variety in his diet which is also what i am looking for. all dogs need variety whether it be in the form of excerise and food. if u read the above thread you would see that there was meat added in with the vegetables.

[aussielover]

i get what ur saying about the meat needing to be added to his diet but he also needs variety in his diet which is also what i am looking for. all dogs need variety whether it be in the form of excerise and food. if u read the above thread you would see that there was meat added in with the vegetables.

i think nekhbet just meant that if you're trying to make the dog gain weight, you are better off just giving lots of raw meaty bones and more dry food. then once you get to a weight you are happy with, you can add in the fruit and veges

Also, sardines, tuna and salmon in oil are good high protein foods and give them a nice shiny coat. Raw egg (inc the eggshell) is another great source of protein if you're looking for variety.

I only use the fruit and veges as a filler because I have a hungry greedy guts!

[Nekhbet]

Variety is not really that important - that is a human concept more then a canine one. My dogs get what is good for them and what their bodies need, not worrying that they're not having a varied enough diet. If the dog is at a steady weight and doest have health problems, awesome, chuck in a few things here and there, table scraps, wilted veges from the fridge etc. When you're aiming to gain muscle mass, or gain/lose weight you need to just worry about protein, fat and that the dog is getting the required vitamins/minerals and trace elements. In your dogs case either up the dry food to triple what he's eating, or get a good dry + meat if you want to do it that way.

http://www.vetsallnatural.com.au/

this is the easy way to feed if you want to move away from dry food and do 'home made' diets. The guesswork is taken out of it and there are guidelines to help you know how much to feed and he has articles on there to understand some basics about canine nutrition.

Your dog is not the first dog to look the way it does on supercoat. One of my clients dogs were just bone because the vet said they were apparently a good weight when in fact they had little muscle at all and little energy. Grains and fillers in dog food make dogs wobbly and fat, cheap protein sources and meat byproducts will not build quality muscle. If you want to change your dogs diet let your hands guide you, feel the dog - if it's fat and flabby, OK cut down the porky calories like fat, starchy carbs, oats, wheat etc. If the dog is too thin, up the calorie laden foods like fatty meat and add in things like oats etc. Too little muscle, add in some quality raw protein and slowly increasing regular exercise.

I'm sure you're learning feeding dogs isnt as easy as opening a bag of dry food anymore it can be a bit confusing but if you break it down logically like I said above you can't go too wrong.

Edited April 16, 2011 by Nekhbet

[Janelle23]

Have brought a good lot of meaty bones from local butcher this morn and have given him a bone this morning, am going to start to slowly introduce the Royal Cannin into his dry food next week, will add fortnightly pics on here to get help and advice and to show his progress.