Weight Gain And Loss

[Esty]

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Grover is nearly two and has put a bit of weight on. Emmy is my recent addition, a stray who is pretty skinny and needs to add weight (but not get to Grover's size, obviously) (w00t) I can see all her ribs and her spine is like a dinosaur's back

Grover currently has JW and a bit of meat in two meals. I've cut down his portion sizes which I realised had been creeping up. He is now on the right amount but I was considering changing his food as both R and G's poo gets looser and looser as the day wears on (sorry for that info if you are eating :x ) so I was wondering if there might be another food which could stop this. I was thinking of Burns and wondered if anyone would recommend it for stopping 'the trots'. :b Gro also seems to get hungry and is the first to tell me when it's dinner time so I want something good that will fill him up but not add weight.

Emmy moved in a week and a half ago and would not touch kibble, only tinned meat, which she eats like she's never seen food before. I've been gradually adding a few biscuits and she likes them now but still has mostly tinned meat which I don't think is ideal at all. I've also been giving her pasta in the evenings. I've not seen any change in her weight and think there must be a better way to add weight, although obviously I don't want to change anything too quickly.

Both dogs (and Roscoe, who gets fed the same as Gro but doesn't put on weight) have lots of energy and stamina and seem otherwise healthy.

I have been considering giving them a meal of kibble each day and some raw for their other meal which I think may sort the 'waste' problem! Does anyone else combine complete and raw in this way?

So in a nutshell - how do I get Gro to lose weight but not be hungry, and how can I help Emmy put weight on sensibly? I am taking her to the vet today for a checkup so will ask her but I know people on here have a lot of experience in this field.

 

[olismum]

Our lurcher bitch is a whippet x and seems to keep weight on and put it on really quickly. If she seems really hungry on small portions of Skinners field and trial crunchy (protein 26% oil 12%) the i soak her food and split it into 3 meals a day. By soaking it it bulks up anmd they feel like they are eating more, this is also the reason i split into 3 meals as they can't normally eat two large meals of soaked food. Also by dividing the food into 3 meals they are grazing and eating little and often - exactly how they tell humans to eat to loose weight.

For poor little emmy our lurcher boy was a stray and came in at 13 kg he would only eat tinned meat too, we started mixing tinned food such as chappie, with some soaked and some dry biscuits and literally giving him 6 to 8 tiny meals all day. I tend to find if you give them a huge bowl it puts them off and by giving them a small amount at a time they seem to chomp it down. Green tripe is good for putting on weight too we give rice or pasta with our oli's meals as he is still hard to keep weight on as he is now a strong working dog and is on the same food as maisie. We found that skinners field and trial keeps the dogs healthy and poos are nice and firm. We also add sardines to olis tea 2 or 3 times a week, with some fesh chicken or mince every now and again.

Goats milk puts weight on the dogs well and have you tried scrambled egg (made with goats milk) for emmys breakfast?? Just a few ideas and remember putting it on slowly is so much better, and keep up her exercise, you will probably find that at the moment all the fat is turning into muscle rather than covering her ribs etc.

One more thing that i find helps is treats when you are out walking. Dogs like treats and you can increase her calorie intake easily. You don't even have to buy expensive treats for her, cook up some liver, sausage, chicken anything that she finds really tasty. Every few minutes stop and when Gro isnt looking give emmy a treat and reward her for eating it. Always reward her for eating her food too. She will learn quickly that if she eats her tea she gets a cuddle from mummy and will love it

Good luck

 

[k4tie-d]

lamb ribs a few times a week does it for my lot, only thing is they are really fatty so if they are not used to them you can end up with mega trots!! :x :x :x

i find chicken wings help with any runnyness, so my lot get a couple late afternoon ish

 

[eve]

Toddy was a bag of bones when he arrived too and had colitis. I fed him 3 times a day as he was only 7 months. I used Junnyfizz's recommendation of feeding 2% of the desired final bodyweight. It took a long time for him to start covering his bones. Everything he ate seemed to be burnt off in energy or put into a growing spurt. You do not say how old Emmy is but young whippets can look very ribby depending on their breeding. I had Toddy on James Wellbeloved fish and rice and his colitis eventually settled down. He is now on Beta sensitive which suits him well and the poo's are fine.

I have been hearing great things about 'Fish for dogs' and I am about to switch to that.

In 1 year, Toddy doubled his bodyweight and added an extra 2" in height. He is still a ribby looking dog but pure muscle. He burns a lot of calories and I do still feed him a little more than is recommended for his weight. He presently weighs 13KG and is 19". He is hugely active and I feed him 2% of 14KG final weight. He has been 13 KG for 4 months now so I am happy that while he continues to be so energetic I have found the right amount to feed. I really endorse Jinnyfizz's 2% rule.

With regard to Grovers weight. Just cut the food down a bit (I would think that the 2% rule would work in reverse too . Feed Grover 2% of your desired final body weight daily. It will take time, but kinder to do it gradually.

As for worrying about Grover feeling hungry, it is in a dogs nature to eat as much as they can get. He is not going to starve if you feed him less but will probably act like it (w00t) . He is obviously a master of the 'CON'. My dogs get raw carrot, a green bean or a bit of Cauliflower for extra treats if I am watching their weight.

I do not feed a BARF diet (my choice) but no doubt someone may advise you that it would help with the poo situation. I have been told that the 'Fish for dogs' produces less and firmer poo's.

Are the boys neutered? Toddy's colitis was aggravated by an inflamation of his prostrate gland as he approached maturity, This caused him to pass small poo's frequently and to strain, he would sometimes pass a bit of fresh blood. Neutering stopped this.

Do not worry too much about Emmy's weight. It is better that she gains weight gradually and she will probably turn the extra calories into muscle and energy first. One point tho' some dogs have an intolerance to pasta because it is made from wheat flour. Toddy cannot eat it without getting an upset stomach.

Hope things settle down.

 

[rls22]

A lot of really great advice from Eve there, so I will just add that Burns is notoriously bad for giving dogs the runs, so I would avoid it if I were you.

Fish 4 Dogs gets a big thumbs up from the Citycroft crew, so it might be worth having a look at that.

 

[Esty]

Thanks everyone ) Will definitely be looking into Fish4dogs as I've seen it mentioned a few times lately.

Eve, I think you are right about Gro being a con artist :thumbsup: Carrots for him when he whinges. He's a big dog (almost 22inches and from working lines on his Dad's side) and I reckon he should weigh about 16kg which is what Ros weighs. He's about a kilo/ kilo and half over.

I've also bought some goats milk for Emmy as I remember our boys loved it when they were pups. I may be brave enough to try eggs but I tried it once when R and G were little and the result shot out both ends so I vowed never to again...

Emmy is incredibly active now (she wasn't at first) and actually has good muscle but definitely needs a bit more fat, not least because she has a rib that sticks out a bit which could be prone to getting knocked/ scraped if she doesn't get at least a little layer of fat over it. She feels the cold a lot more easily than Ros (shouldn't compare her to Gro, as he has his fat suit on!) I think she's burning off a lot of nervous energy because she's still at that stage where she follows me around a lot in case I'm leaving She's not worryingly thin but the vet agrees she's underweight for her build size. Her appetite is great so I have no problems getting her to eat, I just want to make sure she's on whatever food will be best for her. She loves liver cake as much as my two so we always have some with us on walkies ) She's between 2 and 3 years old so not at the puppy stage like Toddy was. I think she's about 19 inches tts but she's long and not typical whippet girl build - we think she is about 1/8 saluki or 1/16th saluki. She looks like a big male whippet, slightly longer in the body with saluki eyes and ears and colouring. She is actually a stunning looking dog. I'll start a new thread and post some pics later

 

[Janimal]

The goats milk is really good and can be mixed with raw eggs too....or if you dont like the idead of the raw eggs...try scrambled eggs

or hard boiled eggs mashed up.... and the raw tripe I find to be the best for the weight gaining too. :thumbsup:

Im sure Emmy will fill out soon with a little extra in her diet .

 

[Whippets Rule]

A lot of really great advice from Eve there, so I will just add that Burns is notoriously bad for giving dogs the runs, so I would avoid it if I were you. Fish 4 Dogs gets a big thumbs up from the Citycroft crew, so it might be worth having a look at that.

LOL Burns had the opposite effect on my lot and they all developed constipation to the point of causing bleeding and when i contacted Burns, they said it is a known reaction for some dogs.....funny how differently foods can effect dogs eh!

we feed James wellbelolved mostly and chappie to the two poorly dogs and mine do fine on JWB without the runs at all..I've also tried chicken wings but my lot all got the runs from them too (w00t) .

I find the duck or fish JWB to be most popular with my lot but the lamb and the chicken make them ill.

 

[Whippets Rule]

The goats milk is really good and can be mixed with raw eggs too....or if you dont like the idead of the raw eggs...try scrambled eggsor hard boiled eggs mashed up.... and the raw tripe I find to be the best for the weight gaining too. :thumbsup:

Im sure Emmy will fill out soon with a little extra in her diet .

I agree about the raw tripe...when we used to foster, the skinny dogs were always given tripe and they soon put on some weight.

 

[fallenangel]

one of the tricks i found to get dogs to eat kibble is tined tomatos put a few spoonfulls on and let it sock and mix in well. all the fosters we have had that were fussy eatrs soon started eating kiddle well. our lad Noah was supposed to be a fussy eater and not eat any kibble at all but the tomato trick worked well now he doesnt have any on and if his teas late hes barking at me and tony to feed him and his weights come on a treet in the last few months hes put 4lb. My other lad is a complet opposit and puts weight on just looking at a bowl of food so hes had veg mixed in to fill his tum but keep his weight controled. it allso means both dogs have the same food one with veg so no messing about with differnt types for differnt dogs all the dogs have the same food with veg or not depedning on there weight. make sure emmys wormed so shes getting all the goodness from the food

 

[BeeJay]

Interesting reading.

I've had problems with feeding Burns as well. Hair falling out and bladder issues.

Also my dogs love tomatoes the juice or tomatoes added to their foods. Other than that I've found that if your dog will eat tripe then it's the best thing for putting weight on them. My very skinny deerhound wouldn't eat tripe. The only dog I've known that wouldn't eat it. Fatty lamb will also put on weight but you have to be careful cause it can cause an upset stomach.

 

[tinabow]

if you email fish for dogs

explain about your lad

they will send free samples out for you to try before buying big bags

i tried my old boy harley on it(he's 16)

when they first set up as there close to me which ment deliver was quick

dumplings put weight on

if you feed chappie he wont put weight on as it is manly cereal &water