My friends 15 month old cocker spaniel (entire) has been fed on Burns (now trying Arden Grange).  He is in great condition coat wise, plenty of energy etc etc but is not putting on weight.  She is concerned that not only can she feel ribs but his hip feels a bit too prominent.  If she increases his food above the recommended quantities he just seems to have the runs and therefore not getting any benefit from the extra food.

Any suggestions for getting a bit more weight on him or why the extra causes him to get the runs?

Lambs breast mince is very good for putting weight on quickly cos its quite fatty. 

I have a working cocker of the same age who had, until recently, exactly the same problem - he looked like a toast rack for most of his first year and everyone would ask if we actually bothered to feed him.  We tried about six different foods, but he only thing that put weight on him was the Arden Grange Premium food, which is designed for working dogs (we did try the Burns high energy food for working dogs but that didn't put any weight on him at all).   We're still feeding him more than the suggested daily amount by about 50% though.  I did try giving him lamb breast, but it gave him really bad diarrohea. 

> My friends 15 month old cocker spaniel

My gundog went all Slinki Malinki at that age too so it could just be a phase.  In fact he didn't really start to fill out again til he was 2.

Arden Grange is great and although we are now on mostly raw I still feed this a few times a week.  If your friend really thinks she has a problem get the vet to look him over in case there is an underlying issue.  It may also be worth checking with the breeder - he/she may be able to reassure you that this is completely normal for her dogs.  Your breeder may also be able to give you a weight range so that you can double check how he's doing.

If more food is required then it may be worth feeding it in 3 meals rather than 2, a large bowl of dry kibble can outface even the hungriest dog sometimes.  (Must be a bit like chewing dry Weetabix!!).  I have a friend that swears by lamb breast and duck fat to put a little weight on and I've used lamb or fatty meat to good effect. HTH :)

I have a young collie bitch who sounds like your friend's cocker ... ribs and hips!  You'd swear she wasn't fed correctly from her feel, however, she's got a fabulous coat, her eyes are bright and she has enormous amounts of energy.  I have gone through a phase of trying to put weight on, and no matter how much food I give her it doesn't do the job ... she either gets squidgy poos (which to me indicates she's getting too much nosh), or she just leaves it in the bowl. I think if he's as healthy as he sounds, and is getting a decent food, then she shouldn't worry about it, better to be thin and healthy than fat and unhealthy.  You may find that he starts to fill out at 18 months +.  One of my bitches was fed on Burns mini bites from 8 weeks to 12 months, when she was put onto the adult food she actually ended up losing weight (following the recommended amounts) so I did have to adjust that for a little while to find the correct amount. 

> If she increases his food above the recommended quantities he just seems to have the runs and therefore not getting any benefit from the extra food.
>

This seems to be the case with the Burns based on messages on this forum.

I would be surprised if the Arden grange didn't get his weight up, especially if she used the Prestige initially.

I had that exact problem with Burns when Fagan was a youngster, he wouldnt put on weight and when I increased amounts it gave him the runs.  I put him back on it aged about 3 and he is doing great, has put on weight and has a fantastic coat - weird !

>> This seems to be the case with the Burns based on messages on this forum.
>
> I would be surprised if the Arden grange didn't get his weight up, especially if she used the Prestige initially.

I started my pup off on Burn's(she was fed on James Wellbeloved by the breeder) and she lost alarming amounts of weight so after a couple of weeks I switched her to Arden Grange and she started to put the weight back on after a few days.

>I started my pup off on Burn's(she was fed on James Wellbeloved by the breeder) and she lost alarming amounts of weight

Why did you not feed her what she was used to? The breeder obviously knew what suited - why did you change her diet? And when you realised you'd changed wrongly, why did you not go back to James Wellbeloved?

>> Why did you not feed her what she was used to? The breeder obviously knew what suited - why did you change her diet? And when you realised you'd changed wrongly, why did you not go back to James Wellbeloved?

She came with a small bag of James Wellbeloved so obviously I kept her on that for a couple of weeks-then someone I knew recommended Burns and yes hindsight is a wonderful thing and I shouldn't have changed her.My other dogs including my oldie were on Arden Grange at the time and doing well so I decided to change the pup to that.
The breeder doesn't actually normally feed James Wellbeloved but a cheaper brand,she said she just reared the pups on it as she felt it was easy for her puppy buyers to get(ie you can buy it in Pets at Home) and a fairly good quality food.She actually said she thinks Arden Grange is very good but a bit harder to get hold of for puppy buyers.

Thank you for all your replies.  She's been trying AG for a little while and already can see a difference. He's not on the Prestige but I have mentioned to her as an option.

Hopefully he'll just pack a little more round his hips and not baloon the other way now