How To Help Dogs Gain Weight.

[boxmeupboxer]

Hi everyone,

I am wondering if anyone can please advise me on how help my 2yr old female boxer gain some weight?

She has been on the thin side ever since I picked her up from the breeder, so I am desperate.

She has been to 3 different vets (just for various opinions)

Blood tests - Clear

No worms

Generally fit and healthy just ghastly thin.

She weighs 23kgs but looks terrible, we can see her ribs and backbone.

I have tried MANY, MANY different types of foods, diets etc etc She's not fussy as such, just a small eater.

So I am hoping there maybe some form of a supplement that may help, as well as high fat, protein diet.

Do you think de-sexing her will help?

I have come across k9mega Dog Vitamins-Supplements which sounds really good but it’s from the states and I’m sure there would have to be something very similar available in Australia, I just can’t seem to find anything, ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

[sheena]

Hi everyone,

I am wondering if anyone can please advise me on how help my 2yr old female boxer gain some weight?

She has been on the thin side ever since I picked her up from the breeder, so I am desperate.

She has been to 3 different vets (just for various opinions)

Blood tests - Clear

No worms

Generally fit and healthy just ghastly thin.

She weighs 23kgs but looks terrible, we can see her ribs and backbone.

I have tried MANY, MANY different types of foods, diets etc etc She's not fussy as such, just a small eater.

So I am hoping there maybe some form of a supplement that may help, as well as high fat, protein diet.

Do you think de-sexing her will help?

I have come across k9mega Dog Vitamins-Supplements which sounds really good but it’s from the states and I’m sure there would have to be something very similar available in Australia, I just can’t seem to find anything, ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

What do you feed her now??? Desexing might help...you wouldn't want an entire girl any way, as you wouldn't be breeding or showing with her obviously

[Danois]

Have you tried a performance food like Eagle Pack Power or a grain free food like Canidae.

Is she a nervous/ anxious/ busy dog?

Otherwise using chicken carcasses and lamb flaps works as well as making porridge with water in the microwave and then adding rice milk to make slushy and cool it down. Parmesan cheese/ normal cheese and full fat cottage cheese and yoghurt on food can help too.

[Rebanne]

lamb flaps and porridge are my weight adding foods as well.

Also try a working dog formula and get a good blended oil with the 3 omega's to add to her food. Sometimes dogs just don't eat the volume we want too so adding the omega oil gets the fat content of the food up with out making the meal larger.

Spaying may help but if you don't want her desexed don't do it just for the weight angle as there is no way to know if it will make a difference.

What does the breeder say and how long have you had her?

[trinabean]

Have you tried a performance food like Eagle Pack Power or a grain free food like Canidae.

Is she a nervous/ anxious/ busy dog?

Otherwise using chicken carcasses and lamb flaps works as well as making porridge with water in the microwave and then adding rice milk to make slushy and cool it down. Parmesan cheese/ normal cheese and full fat cottage cheese and yoghurt on food can help too.

As the owner of another skinny boxer, I feel your pain Boxmeupboxer.

My boy hovers around 25kg, no matter how much good food I shovel into him. He is quite ribby and is a small eater too. I've bolded the things in Danois's post that I currently add to his diet to encourage him to eat more. I think there has been a small improvement in my dog since adding more chicken frames to his diet. He gets one most days in addition to his normal diet.

Good luck. :)

[boxmeupboxer]

Trinabean - Thanks for your response, this has helped and I will try the things you have mentioned.

Rebanne - I am def going to try the lamb flaps and porridge, thanks for that advice. Will it matter if the flaps are cooked or raw?

Spaying may help but if you don't want her desexed don't do it just for the weight angle as there is no way to know if it will make a difference.

Thanks for your honesty, I really appreciate it.

I have had her since she was 12 weeks old and she’s 26 months now.

Danios -

Have you tried a performance food like Eagle Pack Power or a grain free food like Canidae.

Is she a nervous/ anxious/ busy dog?

Otherwise using chicken carcasses and lamb flaps works as well as making porridge with water in the microwave and then adding rice milk to make slushy and cool it down. Parmesan cheese/ normal cheese and full fat cottage cheese and yoghurt on food can help too.

Hi Danios, No I have not tried Eagle pack power or grain free food, so I appreciate those suggestions, thanks very much.

She can be an anxious girl at times, she is always on the go when she’s awake but will still have a couple of sleeps through the day.

I will start adding some of those high fat cheeses to her diet also and hope it helps, it all makes sense.

Is the rice milk higher in fat than normal full cream cow’s milk?

Thanks very much for your help.

ETA: I noticed everyone mentioned chicken carcasses; apart from the obvious is there much nutritional difference between these and chicken necks?

Both our girls get necks on a regular basis.

Edited June 9, 2012 by boxmeupboxer

[Little Gifts]

I have a shar pei foster boy here. He came to me quite malnourished and lacking in life. He went straight on Black Hawk Holistic kibble (but has also had Candidae grain free kibble) and was eating a cup of that every 2 hours for the first couple of days. He still needs 3 feeds a day 2 months later to keep him feeling and looking healthy and with the one cup of kibble each meal he gets either a couple of dessert spoons of greek yoghurt, half a tin of sardines or 3 chicken necks on top. I can't believe how much he eats really but it is the quality that also seems to be so important for some dogs/breeds. He was being fed by his previous owner but it was takeaway scraps, tinned dog food and human snack food and he was just wasting away.

With other shar pei I have substituted a cup of kibble for a whole chicken carcass but this boy can't seem to eat anything big like that. A previous foster boy used to love his carcasses. It took him ages to eat it but he was oh so happy at the end! I don't know actual nurtitional differences but in this house a carcass is a whole meal while a couple of necks are generally fed on top of something else.

Do you feed more than once a day? You could also try that to see if it suits your girl better. My other dogs eat two meals - a token one for breakfast and the main meal at night.

[Rebanne]

flaps have to be raw! never ever any cooked bones and lamb flaps have bones in them.

[Danois]

I use rice milk as it does not have the lactose in it and yes I think it has a higher natural fat content.

I would also consider desexing. Once I took hormones out of my boy at 21 months (giant breed), the anxiousness reduced and the weight stayed on. I was feeding huge amounts of food - i.e 10 cups a day and he was so skinny.

The performance/ working foods may be what you need. Once weight stabilizes you actually need to feed less. I now feed about 4 cups a day.

[Dogsfevr]

When you say generally fit & healthy is there something that she suffers from.

Some skinny Boxers when feed up end up with the runs so feeding up needs to be monitored .

What exactly have you feed & quantity wise ??

We board a number of skinny boxers a number have done great on Royal Canin Boxer often its a malabsorption issue so things like thrive D can be helpful.

I do feed ice cream to any of mine that get skinny but they can stomach it .

I did have an entire bitch that after 2 years we decided to spay due to weight issues & once spayed she put on weight easy .

Also some young Boxers just take time to settle .

How many times a day do you feed her ??

Bowen massage can encourage appetite aswell

[darlingdog]

I get rescue pointers in from time to time....all of which have landed here skinny as...all ribs and backbone. I use fresh chicken wings,lamb flaps, yoghurt and Blackhawk kibble..supplemented throughout the day with satin balls given as treats. Very high calorie treats...they usually put on weight in no time even the fussy eaters.

[Alyra]

Have they tested for thyroid issues at all?

[Erny]

I agree with the testing for thyroid, at least from the pov of ruling it out as a possible culprit.

Personally I'd be careful about not going way over the top gung ho with picking all the fatty meats for your dog to eat - I think it can overload a system too much, so be careful about how you introduce it and how much you are feeding of it.

My boy is one of those lean dogs too. Sure - he has other issues, but 'lean' does run in his lineage. I found that he did put a bit more cover on his ribs around the time I began to include Coconut Oil into his eating regime. Introduce slowly, if you're going to try it, to let your dog's system get used to it. From what I read, understand and gather (I'm no canine nutritionist - only know what I feed my boy and what I've seen as a result), it is one of those 'good' fats, not the sort that loads the system and can cause harm.

I'd like to see a photo of this dog - one person's "skinny" is another person's "just right" (just as much as one person's "just right" is another person's "too fat", lol). Also, sometimes a dog can look skinnier than it is if it is sore in its abdomen and/or back, because of the way it holds itself it causes the ribs to protrude and stick out more, creating a false illusion of "skinny" when it might actually be not bad "lean".

My boy has a tendency to do that because of his digestive issues (i.e. hold himself so he can look skinny one day and quite good the next). When I'm not sure, I look at the hips - if they aren't protruding badly, then I tend to stop being concerned about piling the food in and actually look at giving his system a rest.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Erny