Hi everyone, i went to crufts yesterday and had the most amazing time however when i was looking at the dobermans i have realised that mine is slightly underweight although she is fed the right amount infact i have put it up over time hoping that she might put on a bit of weight but no hope, of food has anyone any suggestions of good foods that will bulk her out and help her put some weight on as at the moment she is on royal canin sensitivity as she has a bit of a dodgey tummy. Is minced meat any good? any help would be much appreciated thanks.

Many showdogs are actually slightly heavier than ideal, so it's better to be guided by her own particular frame. Can you see her ribs or spine?

> although she is fed the right amount

Debatable statement!!  Right amount according to who?  The feed maufacturers?  All dogs are different, and my Border Collie is given 4 times the quantity of my Bearded Collies.  You need to find the right amount for your girl.

RC is a good feed, I would just add to it.  Is she wormed regularly?  If so, I would try adding tripe to her dinner twice a day.

I have Dobes and compared to dogs in the ring they would probably be looked upon as "underweight". I agree with JG, many in the ring are too heavy. My dogs are active and do agility and I wouldn't really want them any heavier. Lottie (7 1/2) is 30kg and Hattie (5) is 27.5kg. Hattie could do with a little more weight, maybe, but she is sooo active she just burns it off. I would rather they were a little under rather than over weight.

If your dog really is underweight you could try breast of lamb or tripe. A lot of Dobermann people feed "Duck" (http://www.berriewoodwholesale.co.uk/cgi-bin/sitewise.pl?act=det&pt=&p=292&id=berrie) and swear by it.

You could also try a higher meat content complete, she may be sensitive to the high grain content in many diets?

> when i was looking at the dobermans i have realised that mine is slightly underweight

Have your vet check her over if you are not sure. I do all I can to keep my dog on the lean side (he has elbow dysplasia) so he doesn't look as bulky as one would expect a Mastiff to look, but he is a healthy weight for his frame. I wont judge his weight by comparing him to other dogs :)

Yes you can see her ribs and her spine not terribly just i think a tad bit more than you should be able to. Im not just judging it on what i saw in the ring i thought it before i went there and it sort of just clarified it a bit more im not even saying she should necessarily be the same size as those dogs. Where the food amount is concerned i have gone by a bit of both manufacturers instructions and my own judgement as like you have said all dogs are different. She is wormed regularly and when i have taken her to the vets they have never really said to me that she is underweght the last time we were at the vets with her she weighed 23kg that was quite a long time ago though so she may or may not have put weight on from then. Pedlee i saw your two dobes on the champdogs competition they are lovely how old r they? they too look slightly more covered than what Lola (my doberman) does.
Thanks for all your help. I did look at the website you gave me and i am thinking of maybe trying that food with the royal canin she is already on as she must stick with the royal canin as it seems to be the only food that doesnt upset her tummy.

>Pedlee i saw your two dobes on the champdogs competition they are lovely how old r they?

Thanks rachie! Lottie is 7 1/2 and Hattie is nearly 5. It did take Hattie ages to put on weight and like I said she could probably do with a bit more, but some dogs are just that way. If I try too hard to up her food it just produces more poop at the other end, she is obviously absorbing as much as she can. She is much more highly strung than Lottie so a lot of it is nervous energy I think.

Have you tried Orijen (a high quality, 70% meat, complete)? I'm sure that has helped Hattie gain a little more weight, and it doesn't contain any grain, which may be what upsets Lola. You don't have to feed that much of it either.

Have you thought of trying probiotics? I put 3 of mine onto Geneflora which is (supposed to be) the most viable probiotic available,(from www.cleanrun.com),which is an American company but it was free shipping at the time.All 3 have put on weight since then and I have had to cut their food back.Its worked especially well for my papillon who was always slightly on the skinny size despite being spayed.Of course it might just be coincidence but nothing else has changed in their diets.

(Pedlee) Yeh somebody at crufts was telling me about orijen thats what they feed there dobe. I am looking into a few things somebody also suggested porridge to me (bad idea) lol! not to be graphic but her stools were like liquid so i think we'll give that one a miss from now on. She is extremely sensitive but obviously porridge is high in fibre so i think that maybe why that happened. I had a look on the website you gave me and that too sounds like a good option. I've had lots of feedback and suggestions  so i have lots to try out. Although i dont want to mess around with her tummy too much.

Thanks Helen i might give that a try, it seems like a good product for her to maybe give a go when i just had a look at it.

I just looked at the orijen food again, i was just wondering do you think this may affect her tummy cause its not a sensitivity food?

Do you know what it is that she is sensitive to?

Is it the RC Sensitivity Blue whiting and tapioca she is currently having [ingredients: Tapioca, dehydrated fish (blue whiting), vegetable fibres, hydrolysed poultry liver, animal fats, minerals, soya oil, Fructo-Oligo-Saccharides (FOS), fish oil, L-tyrosine, DL-methionine, taurine, marigold extract (source of lutein).]?

If so, some of the ingredients are a bit vague, ie animal fats. But what I can say is a friend of mine has a Goldie who has suffered bowel problems for years and has tried various diets, including vet prescription diets, with little success. I suggested either raw or Orijen. She opted for the Orijen and her dog now has a settled stomach and is looking in great condition.

It may, or may not suit Lola, but could be worth a try. My friend did say it took a good few weeks before she was settled (maybe a form of detox?) but wouldn't change now. And it is the Orijen Adult she uses. If Lola is sensitive to chicken, turkey or eggs etc, she could try the Orijen 6 fish variety.

Yes thats the one shes on and nope as far as im aware i dont think she is sensitive to meat so i would like to give it a try i just need all the info i can get lol. Thanks for all your advice its much appreciated.

Fat balls are good to help gain also tripe

Fat balls are great. My daughters dog had a dodgy tum and the vet was concerned about his lack of weight. I got the recipe from this site and made the balls for him. 2 weeks later he had put on weight and no upset tum. My daughter took him back to the vets for a check up and the vet was not impressed with my balls and advised a very expensive food (sold by him) My daughter was swayed by the vet ( ho hum you just can't help some people) Give the balls a try.

Tripe is the best thing, but it has to be raw, not tinned or cooked.
It works wonders and they love it too. You can buy it frozen from Pets at Home.
liz

45p per block at just for pets

fat balls ??? i carnt find the recipe could you please let me know what it is :) i have 2 gsd's that need some weight on them lol

thanks x

Satin Balls

Do you think it would be ok to add tripe to complete dry kibble, just for a bit of a change?
do any of you do this?
Anndee

Some people say its not good to mix kibble with meat for some reason. But i have never found a problem with this no runny poo or anything, i did find lamb mince to be better at gaining wait that tripe tho!

> Do you think it would be ok to add tripe to complete dry kibble, just for a bit of a change?

That's what I feed - tripe & complete :)

I do soak the complete in water, but that is not because of the tripe, it's just as a precaution re. bloat.

Ive just bought a case of Arden grange wet tinned food, got tripe and veg has anyone ever had this before? I was feeding freeflow mince with his Arden grange kibble but its going to be easier with the tinned.

Maybe tastier!?

when adding things with the kibble it has never been a problem such as mince and veg and things like that. And as for the arden grange tinned food i've never tried that one out.

If you can get minced breast of lamb it is good as it has a high fat content. (As long as your dog can take it sometimes it can be too rich for tummies) I think tripe is probably a much lower fat content and not the best for weight gain. PAH do a minced lamb. I would also try a spoonfull of suet in the meal it helps slow down the stomachs rate and helps to get all the goodness out of the food. I used it often with my GSD's years ago to put weight on and it did work.
Aileen

I have tried the tins of arden grange wet food for my 2 poodles but found that they preferred the tins of natures menu, the consistency of the arden grange is more sloppy whereas the NM is more solid which they seem to prefer so I will personally stick with the Natures menu although the arden grange is certainly a very good quality food.

if its sloppy thats great news my pug adores slop!

Im in two minds now i dont know whether to try out a new kibble which has a high meat content or whether to keep with the royal canin and add raw food to it i dont know which is best for her............any help??????

Hi Rachie,
I have 2 dobes myself one has a weight gain problem... always looking like a homeless dog case! he goes through spurts of looking nice and then skinny again. Anyway all I do when he is getting on the thin side again is add tripe to each dry food meal, chicken wings and lamb breasts etc in between (Blade also has a funny tummy) so sometimes produces a strange poop after lamb breast, but they do work. He is also fed on fish 4 dogs and this is a lovely food and suits him really well (although it isn't a sensitive food) you can ask them to send you some samples... blade is eating the sardine variety as it has the highest calorie content per 100grams and highest fat content. But if I was you i would probably stick to what she is on now and add all the above to her diet (RAW) and see how she does, then if that doesn't work think about changing kibble. As i know only to well changing too much in blades diet produces some very unwanted side affects ;-) let us know how Lola gets on :-)