hi everyone.. i just recently adopted a beautiful cocker spaniel, we took him to the vet and everything checked out good, except she wants him to gain some weight, when we got him , he weighed 19 lbs, ten days later he is up to 23.5.
he is 15 months old and very active, any ideas on what i could do to help him gain a little?

I hate it when people try to put weight ON a dog. The number of overweight dogs are the real problem. My old Beth always looked a little thin!

Three questions for you to think about:-

1/ Is he healthy?

2/ Is he eating reasonably?

3/ Is he active?

If the answer to all three is yes then I would be happy. Trouble is, things tend to snowball. You increase the food a little and the dog puts on a little weight. As it puts on the weight it slows down a little. As it slows down it puts on more weight. As it puts on more weight is slows even more and the next thing is you have an overweight dog! I love slightly leaner dogs :)

Regards, John

The guest did say that the VET has told them to get some more weight on the dog, John. Cant really chastise the guest for trying to follow veterinary advice :) As indeed it is the vets suggestion, I would ask the vet to go over your dogs diet with you, and clarify with them if they are really worried about the dogs weight, or if it was a casual suggestion. Did the vet say what weight they thought the dog should attain?

I am not having a go at the guest pinklilies, just suggesting that it is far healthier for the dog to be slim rather than fat! If they follow my three point, healthy, eating well and active, then I cannot see much wrong. We all have a natural weight and I myself could be considdered slim but I am still healthy.

John

When we got our older (mongrel) from Battersea, he weighed 13.5 kg. They told us that he was underweight (he had only been at Battersea for a week) and needed to put on 1.5kg. They didn't know how old he was - but guessed at about a year. Well, he kept putting weight on and finished at about 18kg. He is very fit, gets lots of exercise and does agility. He isn't overweight - we can feel his ribs easily - but has developed a lot of muscle that he obviously didn't have when we got him.

At what age do you think that dogs finish their 'filling out' - does this sound like a year old dog or could he be older ? (He is a little bit smaller than our Aussie bitch and has GSD in him plus probably lots of other breeds :) )

Daisy

It depends very much on the breed (or whatever breeds have gone in to create this dog!) when the males especially reach full maturity. With a medium sized breed I'd reckon they should just about be finished around 2 years or so.

:)

Thanks :)

Daisy

I've got a 16mth old cocker bitch and she's very slight for the breed. She's a shade under 14.5 inches at the shoulder and weighs in at about 21lbs. She's got a very slender head and isn't at all broad across the back. She is however the perfect weight for her height and build and I'm loath to put any extra weight on her - despite my dad telling me she's too thin :( He's got a cocker spaniel who looks more like a short legged labrador as she's far too solid and broad across the back :D

4.5lbs is a lot to put on over 10days and if it was my dog I wouldn't let him get any bigger - unless of course he's so thin you can feel his ribs clearly and/or his spine.

Best wishes,

Fiona
x x x

Hi Guest

I also have a Cocker and totally agree with John if he is eating well, healthy and active I would just let nature take its course. I have a nearly 18 month old Cocker who eats well but is very active so he is on the lean side and I keep getting told that I need more weight on him, but if he is naturally on the lean side there isn't a lot you can do.

Enjoy him and don't worry too much about the weight, better to be on the lean side than overweight in my opinion.

HTH

Dessie

It`s very hard to say a dog should be a certain weight as long as he/she looks healthy and isnt thin I wouldnt worry to much.
I dont know what cockers are like regarding weight problems we took on a labrador bitch two years ago who was so over weight she couldnt walk it has taken me nearly two years to get her fit and her weight down to normal she lives on fresh air!
We opted to feed her small quantities of good quality food as I was concerned that with the small amount she ate she wouldn`t be getting enough vitamins and minerals
This poor dog was so over weight she couldnt reaach her back end to wash and she couldn`t walk further than about ten metres without collapsing panting on the floor!
I would of thought this was boardering on a crulety case, if she had been so extremley thin people would have been up in arms and calling the RSPCA!

Hi Guest - I too am a cocker person, and agree with JOhn's advice. If a dog is getting enough of the right food to eat and is happy and healthy and gets the right kind of exercise - then he will usually be at the right weight for him, or her:D Dogs are no different to people in that respect - some are always thin no matter what they try to do - others are always battling with weight - usually through poor diet and insufficient exercise.

You have a young active cocker - who probably never sits still - sounds like my older boy:D I think you could just add a little extra fat to his food - a spoon of suet in his food, will help, but I wouldn;t do much more unless the weight you have on him starts to drop off again.

If he is hyper then you might want to look at what you feed him anyway. Some foods are so full of additives or very high in protein that it causes the dogs to be overactive. Changing the food can hekp to calm them a little and moderate the weight.

hth

Pam n the boys