Kai is 20 months now and is what I would call typical working lines, he is just below breed average at 25" and is definitely one of the smaller, leaner sheps (just like his parents). He currently weighs 26.5 kilos and while he doesn't look excessively ribby or thin I do prefer him when he is about 27.5/28 kilos.

Problem being that I just can't seem to get the weight back on him after a couple of days of not eating before Xmas due to a cold (he was wormed about 2 months ago). He is a busy chap and is constantly on the go, I have tried upping his food (Burns dry) but he isn't really putting any on. Now I am probably being a hyperchondriac mother but does anyone have any tips for putting weight on a dog?

I've just spoken to the people who make the food that he is on and it's 330kcal/100 grams (he is getting 300 grams as per the recommendations on the bag) - does anyone know if that sounds low?

I've found a calorie counter for dogs. There is 2 calculators that differ in thier readings as they go by different formulars, it says on the link which one has been used by vets and which is closer to what dog food manufacturers use.

Actually I wouldn't put too much faith in those counters!! I've just put in Busters weight and I think if I fed him that amount of calories I would soon have a very fat dog!!! Looking at the formular it is far too basic, it doesn't take into account the fact that the smaller the dog, the more the energy requirements in relation to it's overall weight (the surface area:volume ratio effects heatloss, therfore the smaller the dog the more energy it uses keeping warm). I would guess at the counter giving too much food for large dogs and not enough for smaller dogs.

Adding tripe to each meal seems to be well used for getting a dogs weight up.

I'm not so sure about Burns. My friend was trying to put weight on her dog and switched to this brand of food and he rapidly started loosing weight.
What has worked for her as she still has a huge bag of this food left is getting raw lamb breast from the butcher and putting bits in the dinner each day - this has helped her a lot. It worked on my boy too.
Breast of Lamb is very slow releasing in energy, so great for dogs who need a little more coverage.

Another friend has a very high energy dog and he gives his breast of lamb almost daily otherwise there would be nothing left of his dog as she doesn't stop

Where can I get breast of lamb from?  In smallish quantities preferably as I don't have a huge freezer and can't contemplating barfing unfortunately due to the amount of time we spend away with the dogs in the summer.

ditto the lamb.  We used to walk with a woman with the fussiest shepherd I have ever seen in my life.  The owner started giving him minced lamb and it worked to put a bit of weight on him as he looked skeletal.

I found that if I tried to up the amount of burns my dog ate she got the runs.

which burns is he on ? my two are on burns, one of mine struggles keeping the weight on and I have him on burns active lamb 300g split between 2 meals I also add a bit of meat to keep him interested, he is nice and lean, too thin to show but not ribby or anything.

He's on the Chicken and Maize at the moment.  I am contemplating putting them all onto their Active as it has higher protein and calories, we normally do this during competition season anyway so I may just swap over early.

Lamb breast, and also Tripe is a good way to weight on dogs, also we feed our danes Sausage Rolls, and Pork pies when were away to keep there weight on, they can lose it so quickly.
But your butcher, if a kind person, may dice up lamb breast or cuts for you, and then cook it, or feed raw, also lamb ribs are quite good too.

I just go to my local butcher for breast of lamb, some may not have it so call before hand. They offer to chop it up for me, but due to the size of dog i have i give it to him whole and raw. Not only is it great for him to eat by adding weight but also cleans his teeth by the amount of chewing involved.

Do you give it on or off the bone (will be phoning the local butchers later one!)

Its on the bone what i get and also my friends.

Raw tripe, is excellent for putting weight on. You can buy it frozen in packs from Pets at Home if there is one near you.

I have a litter of 6 large breed puppies one of them seems to not be putting on as much weight as the rest she just looks a little thinner on the back end, they are now weaned fully off mum and are being fed mince and biscuits i tend to leave the biscuits down for them so they can eat them whenever but the mince is always gone in an instant they are 8 weeks old.  Any suggestions do you think it is because they have food with them all the time and therefore there is not the urgency to eat it at mealtimes so therefore they do not eat as much.

I currently feed my two british bulldogs wellbeloved ,can anyone recommend anything in addition to this to add weight to the dogs

Tripe seems to work, we use the frozen blocks, available at PAH.

Can this be added to the food at meal times or  given seperatly

Will this have any effect on there toilet for first time use

> Will this have any effect on there toilet for first time use

If anything it should only make thier 'toilet' a bit firmer.

just mix in with normal food. :-)

have you tried breast of lamb, it worked wonders on my fussy i dont want to eat anything daxi, i know he is a small dog but when i say i saw the difference in 2 days it was amazing, also my fussy yank he licks his bowl clean it 10 sec's flat were as it would take him an hour or so to decide to eat if he did!!!.
try it you will be amazed to

have got some breast of lamb as suggested, thought would give it a go as a couple of my english setters could do with an extra kilo or two they are good eaters. I have never in my many years of dogs fed lamb as I understood it to give them the runs!! what is your experience, about how much of the breast in ounces would you give per day, the boys weigh 30kg and 34kg cheers Di x

well it didnt give my yank a upset tummy, ive normally got to be careful what i feed him as it usually does, anyway i just give him some cut up small [ hes a lazy chewer] with a little laughing dog mixer and hes put on weight this last week i cant feel his ribs or backbone, also my little daxi im having to give him less as he will soon go over weight!!!. hope it works for your fur gang.
daxilady

Hi Jayne

I think Burns is a great food, but wouldn't choose it for putting weight on.  You could try Royal Canin GSD, it put condition on my lad, a bit too much really and I had to watch it. It is quite greasy for a dry food, so may be quite high in oils (can't remember), but they loved it and did fantastically on it.  However, have switched completely to BARF for the last few years.

Kat

Well on the advice of a few GSD people and you guys on here we have been supplementing his food with some breast of lamb (2/3 time week) and also full fat Goat's milk porridge for the last 3 weeks and he has put on 2 kilos.  He's now back up to a decent weight for him so he is going back onto 'regular' food now and we will see how he goes.  Interestingly the last week or so he has been a hyper little so and so, and I am going to watch with interest to see if this changes after going back onto his 'normal' diet just for interest.