Can't Put Weigt on my GSP

[angmazz78]

I have an 8 month old male GSP who I feed Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy food. He gets 6 cups a day between equal am and pm meals. It seems like more than enough food as sometimes he isin't even that interested in the evening meal but I can see way more ribs than I would like. He has been a picky eater so I am hesitant to start switching foods but maybe a richer mix?

[ezzy333]

At eight months don't worry about it. You should see his ribs if he is in good shape. Do you remember the difference in how you looked as a teenager compared to when you are 40 or 50. Young dogs should be on the thinside while they are growing and more active than they will be later.

Ezzy

[aylaschamp]

I'm in the same boat as you. The only thing I can feed my male and not see points is a food called Extreme dog fuel. When I run out and feed the same food as the other dogs he drops weight in a snap. One week of this stuff puts it back on and hypes him up. I am in no way affiliated with this food and I'm not sure if there's anything different but it works for Leo. Like Ezzy said, ribs aren't the key factor. If his spine and points are showing I worry.

[Benny]

I see a few on my gal when she's curled up. Is that bad?
We've switched her to pro-plan high performance and she's got nothing but energy on our runs and mini-hunts out to the wildlife refuge. I just want to make sure she's healthy, though.

[littlehunterkennels]

When I need to get weight on a dog I give them goats milk, it is very healthy and is rich in buttermilk. You can also give him eggs and oatmeal, this will also help with the weight, and are easy to find an dogs like them.

[ezzy333]

Just to set the record straight, goats milk is a wonderful feed for many animals,especially the baby ones. But it is high in milk solids and not buttermilk. Buttermilk is whats left after you make butter but you need a lot of butterfat in the milk to make it.

I don't like to feed whole eggs as the albumen in the egg white is harmfull to the coat. Its the fat in the egg yolk that helps and they are great also. I've never fed oatmeal for weight gain but it is a good feed so I suppose it might help. All oatmeal is just dehulled oats that have been run through a roller mill and crushed flat. It is a great first feed for puppies.

Ezzy

[High Roll-N-Angel]

Add vegetable/corn or fish oil. We've done that to help add weight to our horses and dogs, when needed. It works very well, and helps make for a nicer coat too.

[aylaschamp]

Corn is one thing I have to watch out for in a few of my dogs. I've had a few that had bad reactions to any feed with corn, in any form, in them. Oatmeal? What benefit is it? I wouldn't think a dog could digest it well enough to get the few nutrients out of it that there are. With a pup you walk a fine line on too much protein and to little. Either way, over or under, you can cause damage to the dog. The feed I mentioned in the last post I made above comes really close to being way too high for a pup. For picky eaters I use a small amount of bacon drippings to encourage them. It also helps with a shiny coat.

[ezzy333]

Corn, dehulled oats, wheat, are excellent providers of the carbs that a dog needs, specially a puppy. Corn has the added advantage of providing a source of protien and fat. Plus it is easily digestable. Any or all of the grains play an important part in animal nutrition with basically only true carnivores not using them
such as cats. Oatmeal is a very easily digested source of protien and carbs that is used in most baby animals first feed.

Any time I need to add weight to a dog I used a spoonful or two of corn or whatever oil on top of their feed. Raised the caloeies without making the dog eat more.

Ezzy

[takalimit]

Raw Chicken......I hear it what they give resuce dogs. I treat my two dogs to some raw chicken breast trimmings frequently. I have no problems with weight on either one. Sometimes I fear that my lab is not eating enough. He just doesn't eat much or all of his feedings.

However, energy is not a problem and he is in excellent condition. No spine or points. He is two years old and givesw the puppy a run for his money.

I have only had the second dog for a few weeks, but he seems to do fine also.

[bwjohn]

Try looking at the kcal per cup of food of what you are feeding and compare dog foods that way. Some foods will have as much as twice the amount of kcal per cup of food than others. Then when your dog is getting his 5 or 6 cups, he is actually getting twice the amount of kcal. When trying to add weight it is all about getting more kcal. That could more simple than trying to add all of the external things that have been suggested. Not that those will not work, but it may be more simple this way.

Most websites will post that info, if you can not find it on the bag. You may also find that you can feed him/her less food, so even if the food that you pick is more expensive, it might last longer than the other food.

Brandon

[ezzy333]

What bwjohn is saying is true but remember Kcals per cup has little bearing on the kcals per lb due to completely different form of the different feeds. If you are feeding an expanded food then 6 cups of that may only be 4 cups of a pelleted food but with each you might only be feeding half a pound or the exac t same amount of feed. Most companies use that Kcal/cup as and advertising point instead of stating Kcal's/lb which would tell us what we need to know.

Ezzy

[bwjohn]

I think that I understand your point Ezzy, but if you are still comparing cup to cup wouldn't the comparison be fair? I do not see how the pellet size of the food would have any out come on the on the Kcal per cup. If that is the measurement that is used by the companies. Whenever I scoop out a cup of pro plan it will have x amount of calories per cup and when I scoop out diamond it will x amount of calories per cup as stated on each companies bag/website. Then the comparison is the same.

So, maybe I do not understand how they are different?

Brandon

[ezzy333]

Best explanation I can comeup with lets say we are going to feed a cup of popcorn. One compny sells it unpopped and another sells it popped. First company ads say 320 Kcals per cup but the second company would only have 20Kcals per cup. So we would have to feed a gallon of the popped corn to be the same as the cup of unpopped. But you would be feeding the exact same amount of feed feeding one cupped unpopped as you would be feeding 1 gallon of it popped. and in both cases you are feeding the same calories and the same weight. The label should read 320Kcals per lb on both bags but it will read completely different per cup. Where we get in trouble is we buy feed by the pound but then feed by the cup. You need to either stay with weight or volume measurements and not switch back and forth.

Another point is the waste or excrement from one cup of thew unpopped or the gallon of the popped would be almost the same with probably a little less from the gallon of popped.

Now are you more confused or did that help?

Ezzy

[Benny]

Yeah that sounds about right.

[littlehunterkennels]

Goats milk does have buttermilk in it, especially nubian milk. I have given my dogs raw goats milk and raw eggs for years to put weight on them and it has always worked well and I have never had a problem. I only give the milk when I am trying to put weight on them not all the time, and the eggs have never effected my dogs coats in a bad way. Corn is the worst thing to feed dogs because most dogs have bad allergies to corn and it is not easy for them to digest. I also give my dogs all raw meats, chicken , turkey, rabbit, deer, beef, lamb and they all do great on it. As long as the turkey and chicken is not cooked you can give them the bones and all.

[ezzy333]

littlehunterkennels,

You can feed what you like with no arguement from me. But the facts you just stated are not true and many come from old wives tales. Corn is and always has been a staple of a dogs diet and allegies to it are extremely rare. One of it's many properties is it's ease of digestion. Practically all allergies connected to food are to protiens and not the grain products. Its not my theory but is a well established fact that is the result of many tests over the years and from thousands of dogs being tested. Dogs allergies are much more apt to be from contact with substances that are inhaled than any other cause.

Go back and read what was posted and I don't think you will find where anyone stated goats milk has no butterfat. However it is quite low which is one of the properties that make it so healthful. Nubians do give a richer milk than the other breeds I believe but it is very high in milk solids and not butterfat. I doubt if you could even make butter from goats milk but it is good for cheese making, again because of the high level of solids. As far as the eggs go we have all fed them whole and have seen that they do some good it appears. But as I stated the yolks are what do the good things we see but the whites actually are a detriment. We all would get better results if you fed just the yolks.

The meat is good and dogs do like it and do well as long as you provide something else to balance the diet. You might be better off today to cook the meat to reduce the chances of picking up some of the bacteria and viruses that are prevelent in todays world.

I posted this to give you and any other people reading this some insight and not to tell you what or how to feed. That is your decision but I just don't want anyone to be misled when they read our discussions. Good luck with your dogs.

Ezzy

[Sharon]

Raw Chicken......I hear it what they give resuce dogs. I treat my two dogs to some raw chicken breast trimmings frequently. I have no problems with weight on either one. Sometimes I fear that my lab is not eating enough. He just doesn't eat much or all of his feedings.

However, energy is not a problem and he is in excellent condition. No spine or points. He is two years old and givesw the puppy a run for his money.

I have only had the second dog for a few weeks, but he seems to do fine also.

Raw meat ( also butcher bones), has the worry of salmonella etc. just as it does for us. If I'm giving meat, I'm cooking it first

[Chaingang]

Look into this for adding weight : http://theherbs.info/Pets/satinball.html

Works guaranteed. It's advertised for dog who won't eat, but works great for very thin dogs or those who have trouble maintaining a decent weight. Makes the coat as shiny as you'll every see. Just start slowly to get their systems used to it. I have in the past used this on extended hunting trips mixed in with their kibble.

[GsPJustin]

Try saying Unpopped popcorn 5 times fast... Go ahead I dare ya!