I have an 18 month old Lab bitch who I just cant get weight on.
Tried pro plan lamb & rice and seen a wee bit of difference in her weight after about 6 weeks but not a hell of a lot.
It did firm her stools up a bit tho.
Has anyone got any tips to try and get weight on.  I am guessing she is about 22 kgs and ideally I'd like her up to at least 25kgs.

Add green tripe to her food?

Does she actually need to gain weight? Can you see her ribs and her backbone? So many labs you see about are far too hefty that it's almost assumed to be normal! I know a castrated working lab who is in perfect weight at 25kg - it could be (obviously I haven't seen her!) that your girl is naturally meant to be a lighter weight, which will be far healthier for her in the long run.

She is working strain and I like a lean dog but she looks like a cruelty case. Ribby and hippy!

I feed tripe in in winter as I get it whole and the thought of it in summer isnt appealing.  Will start tripe again soon but certainly didnt make her gain any weight last winter.

We had one of those, Lab who wouldn't put on weight and took him years to fill out. Bless him RIP..

Anyway what i have found to work is raw breast of lamb. I know someone with a different breed of gundog who feeds a small amount everyday in the dogs dinner to keep some weight on.
You can get some cheap in most supermarkets and some butchers sell it. I cut it up and freeze in small bags.

I've found both Royal Canin and SupaDog to add lots of weight. I have a dog that loses weight very easily and also looks like a cruelty case, I put him on SupaDog for a month and he gained the necessary weight, then I put him back on his normal food and just made sure he got good quantities of that and he's kept the weight on.

I have found bionic biotic and proplan adult lamb and rice has worked for me or hills natures best.

I have found bionic biotic and proplan adult lamb and rice has worked for me or hills natures best.

She maybe just a lean bitch..who will mature as she gets older,she is only 18months old so still only a baby.

One of my goldens has only just matured at nearly 3yrs old...i was worried that she was never going to put weight on...but now she looks fantastic...filled out lovely....she was just late to mature in body and mind.

Tried Bionic Biotic too but it ran through her even introducing it half a teaspoon at a time.
She is still young so hopefully she starts to gain soon.

Try adding a little minced raw lamb to her diet. You can get it from most pet shops that sell frozen meat. It is higher in fat than tripe and will help body her up and add some interest to her meals. I feed a variety of raw meats and use lamb to put weight on. Pets at Home do all sorts of frozen foods, minced fish, lamb, tripe, rabbit, turkey etc.. but the lamb is best for weight gain. If you have a pet butcher you can get lamb breast fairly cheaply and use instead. Try adding a small amount at a time as not all dogs can cope with the higher fat content!
Merlot at the moment has put herself on a diet....."No I don't want that!...or that!!" bit of a false pregnancy I think !!! still she needed to loose a few pounds so at least I don't feel bad for putting her on a diet !!
Aileen

I am off into civilisation later today so will hopefully find a pet centre to get some lamb mince.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

Mine are on raw with a few kibble meals per week.  I generally buy pet mince which comes frozen in blocks but I find it handy to have a few bags of free flow mince too.  It's useful to top up meals without splitting blocks.

I've just bought some lamb mince on special offer at Lidl. I wish I could remember how much it was - more expensive than pet mince but cheaper than usual and well worth it to put some extra weight on.  My gun dog was with us in Scotland a week or so ago and as a result of lots of walking he looks like an underfed refugee :)

Breast of lamb is a particular favourite too - I'm off to get some more later...

Lidl store just opened about 10 miles from me so will be going in past to check for mince then there is a Pets at Home about 10 miles further on to get some blocks.
Was just going to stick to her Pro Plan and add some raw mince and hopefully she gains a wee bit of weight.  Not ready for work this year so will give her another year to get in shape.
Glad I'm not the only person with a skinny lab.  Her Mum and half brother are very similar but manage to keep a bit more condition on even in the kennels but turn into fat pigs living in the house. 
Dogs!  Wouldnt be without them tho!

> Was just going to stick to her Pro Plan and add some raw mince

I keep the dry food and raw meals separate.  I understand it's not a good idea to feed them together - I know there is some science behind it but I'm not sure of the reasons.

If you're keeping a predominantly dry diet then some breast of lamb fed at lunchtime or after a walk has a recreational element to it.  It's quite a dry cut so not too messy, has a little bone and a lot of chew so good fun for your dog too.

You'll get it pretty cheap from a butchers but you might need to elbow the older generation out of the way at the counter.  The last time I bought some a little old lady was outraged I was intending to feed it to the dog and gave me chapter and verse about how she uses it and how we youngsters don't know what to do with our butchers.  She had a very good point!

Havent met the local butcher yet but wont be going if I'll be getting assaulted by OAP's!
I have read somewhere before about feeding raw and complete seperate but like you the techie stuff evades me.
I feed her twice a day so will do raw in morning and complete at night then.
If that doesnt work I will just have to have a skinny dog.  

> You'll get it pretty cheap from a butchers but you might need to elbow the older generation out of the way at the counter.  The last time I bought some a little old lady was outraged I was intending to feed it to the dog and gave me chapter and verse about how she uses it and how we youngsters don't know what to do with our butchers.  She had a very good point!

Made me laugh as my hubby buys it for himself and the dogs just may get a bit.

> I keep the dry food and raw meals separate.  I understand it's not a good idea to feed them together - I know there is some science behind it but I'm not sure of the reasons.

The science behind it (I think it's more theory rather than actually tried & tested scientific fact ?) is that the raw & the kibble digest at different rates, for some reason this is apparently dangerous, but I can't recall why.
However, I feed raw tripe & complete in the same bowl, at the same time and have never had any problems, also his stools point to the fact that all food digests at the same time, otherwise there would be sloppy dollops from the complete & firm pellets from the tripe, but he produces stools of an even consistency :)

one of my bitches was like that, i know what you mean about the cruelty case look lol. and strangely did very well showing her. it all changed after her 1st season weight came on at last.

> also his stools point to the fact that all food digests at the same time, otherwise there would be sloppy dollops from the complete & firm pellets from the tripe,

Don't you just love the way dog people speak so eloquently about poo?

Sorry mastifflover!  :-)  Love the description!  :-)

Rather than adding mince why not just feed an active food and if necessary add a little sunflower oil to the kibble - much less hassle and makes sure that there's enough energy going in - if you're feeding a good kibble then there'll already be enough protein in it.