Skinny Dog

[rickyspringer 15]

Right all I have a youngster who is at the leggy stage, he's about 8 months old now, he's a Spaniel, but his stature is very poor- looks whippet like, rangy legs and very slim backend,

 

need to sort this out as had a few comments that he looks too much underweight, especially stood next to my older more solid built bitch.

 

He was wormed yesterday so see how that goes, started to feed little and often, with a better high protein feed!

 

Now I want more advice on bulking him up, what foods are good - any methods which help with dogs holding there weight.

 

And Raw bones ruled out, he has previously been on the BARF but his stomach couldn't handle it and was waking up to mess after mess at night!

 

I wanna sort the problem out, but he could just be at that phase where he is all height and no weight,

 

Look forward to your replies.

[ferreter.al 22]

what about minced chicked for dogs.i feed it to my lurchur but not spaniels,i dont have problems with their weight.i would try that mixed with a decent quality mixer.the really high protien foods arnt always the way to go.not good for them unless they are getting worked hard on a regular basis.mates terrier got a bit wild on it.hope this helps mate.atvb with your pup

[HEDS 0]

Right all I have a youngster who is at the leggy stage, he's about 8 months old now, he's a Spaniel, but his stature is very poor- looks whippet like, rangy legs and very slim backend,

 

need to sort this out as had a few comments that he looks too much underweight, especially stood next to my older more solid built bitch.

 

He was wormed yesterday so see how that goes, started to feed little and often, with a better high protein feed!

 

Now I want more advice on bulking him up, what foods are good - any methods which help with dogs holding there weight.

 

And Raw bones ruled out, he has previously been on the BARF but his stomach couldn't handle it and was waking up to mess after mess at night!

 

I wanna sort the problem out, but he could just be at that phase where he is all height and no weight,

 

Look forward to your replies.

 

I dont feed high protein feed [ i find that most of the protein gets scraped like slurry off the kennel floor] just something between 18 and 22% protein

During the shooting season when the dogs are most active - mine tend to get a little skinny - i buy frozen tripe chunks and put a handfull on top of their feed 3 times a week , it does bulk them up. But is very temporary - they will literally lose this bulk in two hard days work. It doesnt seem to upset their stomachs either. maybe this would work for you?

Good luck!

Edited February 17, 2010 by HEDS

[Cold Ethyl 63]

Start adding a tin of sardine or pilchards or an egg in his dinner alternate it each day this has made my foster Kev put weight on steadily.He looks great now up the protein of his food as well and give vit b to increase his appetite

[Guest jt750]

Might help if you say what he's been fed on and how much ? ...at 8 months i would imagine twice a day and as much as he can eat ...maybe still 3 times if he has a poor appetite

And as you say at 8 months they can still look skinny ..a sausage roll on 4 matchsticks

[skycat 6,174]

There is also the question of temperament: a highly strung, very active, and possibly nervous dog will find it hard to put on weight. Not saying that your's is any of the above, but a lost of Spaniels are very hyper active. A friend of mine has one that looks as though she was crossed with a Whippet: until she was 4 years old she looked half starved, though in very good health and great running condition, if she'd been a lurcher! LOL she just did a lot of running and could never keep any weight on no matter how much she ate, and good food at that.

 

If the dog scoured when fed raw food I'd suggest that there might be a digestive problem? Most dogs fed on raw food firm up very quickly and its usually the best cure for loose bowels: what type of raw food did you feed your dog on when you tried this? And how long did you try it for?

[sandymere 8,263]

If there are no underlying healh problems then its down to calories, ie if you feed more than are needed the excess will be stored as fat, if less than needed then body fat and and lean tissue will be burnt as fuel, so increase calories to increase weight. As fat has around double the calores pound for pond as protein or carbs then increaseing the fat content will increase calories without adding to much bulk to the meals.Plus protein to restore lean tissue and carbs as an alternate energy source. I'd try adding a little fatty butchers waste to the diet and see if it's tolerated or a table spoon of veg oil but whatever you use start with a little mixed with the normal diet. As mentioned above oily fish or cooked eggs etc are also good additions if not over done.

Good luck s

[rickyspringer 15]

thanks for the responses,

 

I think the reasons for him being skinny is the phase he is at, very much like a sausage roll on 4 matchsticks, secondly I think that it may be due to the winter lots of dogs lose that bit of weight in the winter, thirdly he is extremely active.

 

He is a great eater, I have up'd his intake of 4 meals a day now, I regularly include bits & bobs in his diets, tripe, eggs any left overs.

 

Skycat his stools are extremly firm, on the raw and now, I must admit that he did have loose ones when he was younger but that was due to far too much tripe,wasn't including enough bone within his diet. SO THAT WAS MY FAULT.

 

He was on the RAW from when I had him til about a month ago, carcasses,big meaty bones,heart,liver-kidneys and tripe. HIS diet was strictly RAW, but now his diet is mostly a working dog complete feed with the odd bit of raw.

 

The issue when he was on the BARF was that his stools weren't loose, it was that there was so much of it mate, the dogs are kennelled in the day but come in when the house is settled at early evening, I was waking up to a kitchen full of shi*e, good solid ones due to the bone, and the smell was difficult to get rid of, aswell as getting up at regurlar intervals in the night to stop any accidents. He is fully house trained aswell, just that he was doing his business loads with the raw feed. It was a difficult situation aswell as being unfair on myself haha aswell as the kids and family.

 

All them isssues are sorted now due to going on a complete feed, he just looks poor, big skinny long legs and not filling out, I might have to lump that thats the phase he is at or the stature of him,

 

I don't like my dogs looking shi*e though, and he does when stood next to my bitch,

 

Hope thats cleared all your questions up and give you a little more info, just want to get a bit of bulk into him, so any recommendations will be appreciated.

[rickyspringer 15]

sandymere thats the response I was after

 

its so simple its unreal, I will simply include more fat into his diet, I do include veg fat as its gives the dogs a nice coat,

 

Thanks mate.

[waidmann 105]

if the only problem was the ammount of stool with the raw diet then you need to find a happy medium between raw and kibbel.

sounds easier than it is i know.i give eggs,fish,offcuts of rabbit/geese etc(cooked) a bit of all sorts really.if the terrier and staffy seem to be a bit podgy then the lurcher gets his alone.this works for us.

as above a good mix of fats,carbs ,proteins and veg

hope it works out for you.

atb

[Wild_and_Irish 11]

I know a fella who gets beef fat from butchers when a dog isn't doing well on dry food, much like you described.

[Guest eddie 1]

hi mate, i,ve got a 10 year old lab which i use for beating and picking up, doesn't matter what i feed him he never puts on weight,wormed regularly, vets, makes no difference he,s a very nervous dog, fire works, lorries going past when out walking will make him cower,but has never been gun shy i know of a Shepard at a local shoot with a collie just the same problem, regards feeding forget about raw feed there,s plenty of time later a dog at 8 months old he is still a pup, stick with complete puppy food the best you can buy keep him on this, changing dogs food will always make him loose,

[shepp 2,285]

Strange he shits like an alsation on raw meat, most dogs hardly go due to the high concentration of digestable material.

[shepp 2,285]

Strange he shits like an alsation on raw meat, most dogs hardly go due to the high concentration of digestable material.

[twosey 0]

Have you thought about food intolerances? My lurcher looked emaciated until i put him on raw diet, it was not perfect for him either so tried him back on complete and he lost weight again. I then put him on a gluten/wheat free complete (wagg @2.20 for a 2kg bag, cheaper than some of the top end branded ones and fine for my dog) and he is doing absolutely fine now. Just a suggestion you could look into?

Dewi