Gun Dog Forum

Ive been feeding "Blue Wilderness puppy food" But the vet keeps telling me my dog needs to gane wait. Im feeding 1 and a half cups 2 times a day. So 3 cups daily
This food is big money and we dont mind spending it but my brittany is still so skinny.
I am open to changing food.
What is your thought on the high price foods vers say Pro Plan?

Why does your vet think your pup needs to gain weight? I'm always suspicious of people's opinions on my dog's weight, even vets. People are used to seeing obese dogs, so much so that an athletic one looks funny. Personally, I think you should see at least a couple ribs on shorthaired dogs and if you can't feel the ribs on a longhaired dog you got a fat one.

Google "satin balls". They put on weight fast and you wouldn't need to change food.

DogNewbie wrote:Why does your vet think your pup needs to gain weight? I'm always suspicious of people's opinions on my dog's weight, even vets. People are used to seeing obese dogs, so much so that an athletic one looks funny. Personally, I think you should see at least a couple ribs on shorthaired dogs and if you can't feel the ribs on a longhaired dog you got a fat one.

Well that is what im looking for but I can see most of his ribs.
it looks like there is just skin over bone.

Brazosvalleyvizslas wrote:Google "satin balls". They put on weight fast and you wouldn't need to change food.

Have you made these. Looks good but I dont know what my dog would do. Kind of odd to feed him people food.

some pups look very skinny .
my SM is 11 months old, i feed him 3 cups of canidae als daily and he is just filling out .
he looked very boney up until now.

I checked out the specs on your puppy food. It is a little lower in fat content than i like for an active dog(36% protein/16% fat). The protein content is excellent. Most puppy foods that I have used and most adult performance foods have 20% fat and 30% protein.

If it were my dog, I would add some pure fat to the dog's diet and see what happens.

A simple, inexpensive solution would be to add a tablespoon or two of corn oil or bacon grease or leaf lard to the dog's daily ration. The drawback may be some loose stools for a while, so start off with small additiions. Another inexpensive solution which can be used long term...is to get some raw beef fat from your supermarket, dice it up into little chunks and freeze it in 1/4# baggies. Thaw and mix about 1/2 a baggie in with the puppy food. again start off with small additions and build...to avoid loose stools.

Dogs can not only tolerate, but can absolutely thrive on a diet that is high enough in fat to clog a human's arteries closed. Up to 50% fat in a dog's diet is not a problem.

BTW, I run pointers. if I can see the rise and fall of the dog's ribse from a few feet away, that is fine. if I can see more than just the last couple ribs from across the yard...that is too thin for me.

i have a 13 month old gyp that is eating me out of house and home right now and is still on the thin side...but she is incredibly athletic and she is NEVER still. I fully expect her to settle down somewhat within the next year and for her food intake to slow down as she matures. Yours probably will too.


RayG

I would find a feed that is cheaper and feed more of it rather than having to fix something to add to a food. there are two ways to go, either feed more of what you are using or find a feed that provided more calories or is affordable so you can feed more. A pup uses a lot of calories while he is a teen ager and it wouldn't be unusual for a pup that age to eat 4 cups a day or so. It will only last for a short time while he is growing and active.

It just never made sense to me to spend money on a feed that doesn't provide enough to keep your dog in condition and then haave to buy and prepare something else to do the job. Satinballs do work for a quick short time gain but no way as a regular diet.

Ezzy

You don't mention how old your puppy is, that said puppies should not be kept purposefully lean (nor should they be obese). From your description your pup is to skinny and you should listen to your vet
(Iassume the pups has been wormed recently). Certainly there are vets who not being familiar with trial/hunting dogs would think they are underweight but when it comes to puppies seeing ribs is not an indicator of being in condition, pups are developing the skeletal structure that will carry them for life, now is not the time to short them on nourishment. I have two pointer pups that are 5 months old and each gets 6 cups of pro-plan a day and because of their activity level I can still see the outline of ribs, my older pointers that are trial ready get anywhere from 4-6 cups a day based upon the individual dog. I suspect that someone convinced you to purchase a high priced dog food with the promise of having to feed less and it's not working as planned, I'd give the pup as much as he/she will eat in 5 minutes time (twice a day) and see how they progress (and I'd switch foods but that's just my personal prejudice).

I find the Satin Balls interesting.

Would they be a proper thing to feed a dog during the hunting season when weight lose is common?

The dag was tested for warms last week and he was fine. He is 21 weeks old.
I should be fine with Pro Plan right?
I dont know why we choose a food that cost $$$.
I think Ill up it to 4 cups a day and see what that gets me.

He is running on 2 pigeons a day in 12in of snow hard. Then walking on the paths home. We are out walking and working for no less then a hour a day.
And he is crazy in the evening at home. Having fun with his toys and my 8 year old son.

Brazosvalleyvizslas wrote:Google "satin balls". They put on weight fast and you wouldn't need to change food.

Hey Hey, This aint that kind of forum!!!

Ruffshooter wrote:

Brazosvalleyvizslas wrote:Google "satin balls". They put on weight fast and you wouldn't need to change food.

Hey Hey, This aint that kind of forum!!!

That's funny. They do work and I know several Pro's who use them during trial season. They are especially good for extended hints or trials where you run more than one stake per day.

+2 on adding oil. I give 2 tablespoons of used canola oil to Sam's Club Lamb and Rice with good results. A 40 pound dog gets two cups a day.

I also have to ask ..What shape is your dog in as yes many vets think an atheltic dog in physical form is to thin specially when all they have to compare to is the couch potato pet that is brought in all day long to their office.
It is hard to really say with out seeing the dog if it really is to thin or just a gangly pup growing up that is atheltic

RayGubernat wrote:I checked out the specs on your puppy food. It is a little lower in fat content than i like for an active dog(36% protein/16% fat). The protein content is excellent. Most puppy foods that I have used and most adult performance foods have 20% fat and 30% protein.

If it were my dog, I would add some pure fat to the dog's diet and see what happens.

A simple, inexpensive solution would be to add a tablespoon or two of corn oil or bacon grease or leaf lard to the dog's daily ration. The drawback may be some loose stools for a while, so start off with small additiions. Another inexpensive solution which can be used long term...is to get some raw beef fat from your supermarket, dice it up into little chunks and freeze it in 1/4# baggies. Thaw and mix about 1/2 a baggie in with the puppy food. again start off with small additions and build...to avoid loose stools.

Dogs can not only tolerate, but can absolutely thrive on a diet that is high enough in fat to clog a human's arteries closed. Up to 50% fat in a dog's diet is not a problem.

BTW, I run pointers. if I can see the rise and fall of the dog's ribse from a few feet away, that is fine. if I can see more than just the last couple ribs from across the yard...that is too thin for me.

i have a 13 month old gyp that is eating me out of house and home right now and is still on the thin side...but she is incredibly athletic and she is NEVER still. I fully expect her to settle down somewhat within the next year and for her food intake to slow down as she matures. Yours probably will too.


RayG

Very interesting. Thanks for posting, didnt realize that that about a dogs fat intake.

A $2.30lb food like that should work well on its own. I don't see the logic in adding stuff to something so expensive.

jeffkrop wrote:

DogNewbie wrote:Why does your vet think your pup needs to gain weight? I'm always suspicious of people's opinions on my dog's weight, even vets. People are used to seeing obese dogs, so much so that an athletic one looks funny. Personally, I think you should see at least a couple ribs on shorthaired dogs and if you can't feel the ribs on a longhaired dog you got a fat one.

Well that is what im looking for but I can see most of his ribs.
it looks like there is just skin over bone.

I'd go with your gut. Sounds like the pup needs a little meat on its bones. Just wanted to make sure you weren't bringing this up because others thought your pup was too skinny. I get that all the time and it sure gets old fast.

Can you post some pictures? I am a first time GSP owner and she looks very skinny to me but I know she is suppose to be like this. Pictures will let some of these guys that have been working with dogs all their life, let you know their opinion. I fed my dog blue buffalo up until recently. She did well on it until she was at the trainer. She lost a lot of eight so he switched her to eukanuba premium performance and she started putting on weight. I was also looking at the higher fat content of diamonds high performance food. I also had to adjust her food with growth spurts. and at 21 weeks she was eating about 4 cups a day. I just kept feeding her the 4 cups until she would start gaining weight and then cut it back to 3 cups. Just my 2 cents.

John

jwnissen wrote:Can you post some pictures? I am a first time GSP owner and she looks very skinny to me but I know she is suppose to be like this. Pictures will let some of these guys that have been working with dogs all their life, let you know their opinion. I fed my dog blue buffalo up until recently. She did well on it until she was at the trainer. She lost a lot of eight so he switched her to eukanuba premium performance and she started putting on weight. I was also looking at the higher fat content of diamonds high performance food. I also had to adjust her food with growth spurts. and at 21 weeks she was eating about 4 cups a day. I just kept feeding her the 4 cups until she would start gaining weight and then cut it back to 3 cups. Just my 2 cents.

John

This is the way it should work and not what the bag says. Watch your dog and feed what is necessary to keep it in condition the best that you can. Sometimes you have to increase and othewrs may have to decrease and it never remains the same.

Ezzy

I believe ultracarry has a picture of his GSP Kimber in a thread somewhere on here. My GSPs and even my DD are on the lean side of skinny. I did recently change foods to one with a higher fat % and have found that now I feed less to my pup that had trouble maintaining weight. I agree with what was said about what most people think a dog should look like is is actually an overweight dog.

This is the thread I was refering too: viewtopic.php?f=88&t=35785&p=338897&hil ... og#p338897

ezzy333 wrote:

jwnissen wrote:Can you post some pictures? I am a first time GSP owner and she looks very skinny to me but I know she is suppose to be like this. Pictures will let some of these guys that have been working with dogs all their life, let you know their opinion. I fed my dog blue buffalo up until recently. She did well on it until she was at the trainer. She lost a lot of eight so he switched her to eukanuba premium performance and she started putting on weight. I was also looking at the higher fat content of diamonds high performance food. I also had to adjust her food with growth spurts. and at 21 weeks she was eating about 4 cups a day. I just kept feeding her the 4 cups until she would start gaining weight and then cut it back to 3 cups. Just my 2 cents.

John

This is the way it should work and not what the bag says. Watch your dog and feed what is necessary to keep it in condition the best that you can. Sometimes you have to increase and othewrs may have to decrease and it never remains the same.

Ezzy

Would you say there are exceptions to the rule though? My thought being that it may be better to feed the same amount of a food that will put on weight than just letting the dog gorge itself every meal?

If you are asking me, I'm not sure what you are referenceing with your question.

Ezzy

ezzy333 wrote:If you are asking me, I'm not sure what you are referenceing with your question.

Ezzy

I'm just wondering if there would ever be a situation where you wouldn't suggest simply increasing the amount of daily intake because you were concerned that amount would be too much? Perhaps if you were worried about bloat or something.

DogNewbie wrote:

ezzy333 wrote:If you are asking me, I'm not sure what you are referenceing with your question.

Ezzy

I'm just wondering if there would ever be a situation where you wouldn't suggest simply increasing the amount of daily intake because you were concerned that amount would be too much? Perhaps if you were worried about bloat or something.

8-10 cups a day is way too much in my opinion but I would feel comfortable feeding 4 - 6 a day. I would say go with your gut, if you are feeding more and the dog is not gaining weight, then there might be something wrong and you should see a vet. I would add a cup a day and wait a few days and see if there are any changes. Make gradual changes in the food until you start to see changes.

Any time you adjust the amount an animal ois eating you do it slowly and over time. You have to have time to see what is happening with your dog and also keep the digestive tract happy and healthy without throwing it all out of kilter. Don't need a dog with loose stools or upset system.

Ezzy