Hiya all,
Thankyou for taking the time to look at this,  I have a 18 month of Rottweiler bitch, she is healthy and feeds well but she doesn't seem to be filling out like she should, I have had Rottweilers for years when I was at home with my parents and they were quite stocky, she isnt,  I am currently feeding her on Skinners Maintenance for working dogs as I was told this is one of the best she eats what she wants I fill a big tub up of food and both dogs (a 7 year old staffy) eat what they want, my staffy is very fat but I am thinking this is due to her being spayed alot of people ask me whether my staff is pinching the food as she is alot broader but I monitered them for a month and it is the other way around my rotti is eating most of it.
Does anybody have any suggestions on how I can build her up a little
Thanks

I don't really know rotties that well, often borzois don't mature bodily till they are around 3 - slow maturing tends to run in some lines. If you are in contact with your girls breeder I would ask her advice. If not then I would consider changing your feeding regime, free access feeding can work for some dogs but if one of yours is under weight and one overweight then I would suggest it's not best for them? What about changing to twice daily meals - cutting down on the staffies meals and adding tasty things into the Rotties if you have to to tempt her to eat.

The Rotti eats plenty, she will eat untill the cows come home but it doesn't seem to make a difference, I have tried alot of foods I was giving meat at one point but its not working, they are both wormed regular so there is nothing there just don't know why she isn't building.
My staff is chubby but she hardley eats anything guess its old age kicking in lol poor thing got the grey hairs coming now aswell

lol... your staffie sounds a bit like me!! Have you taken your rottie to the vet for a check up - it's as well to be on the safe side. When trying other foods have you given them long enough to work? I don't change my food brand often but when I did I would gradually mix more and more of the 'new' food in with the old then stay on the new food for at least a couple of months to see if there was a difference. I found eukanuba large breed maintenance excellent for putting body on but it's just a case of whatever works for your dog. These days I feed free access complete and some sort of fresh meat every day to my crowd and they all look great on it.

I would say if you can't see most of her ribs or feel her backbone too much then she is just right.  18 months would be the stringy stage in my breed that are much smaller than Rotts.

It is actually a lot healthier for her to be lean, especially as the breed are known for Hip Dysplasia, and heart problems are not unknown.

She should be allowed to mature natuarally.  The stffy should be put on a diet, and you will be surprised at how much younger she will seem.

Hi

I don't think it's a good idea to "free feed" most dogs.  The reason for this is that if food is available all day, it is not a "valuable resource" - because it is always there.  As a result, dogs are not as keen to eat it and don't treat it in the same way that they would if it was given twice a day at set times - when they would wolf it all down and treat it as valuable and scarce. 

Also, your Staffie is obviously overweight, and yes spaying can decrease the metabolism so dogs put on weight.  But all that means is you should reduce the amount of food she has access to - it doesn't mean you should accept weight-gain as inevitable - another reason not to free-feed, for you.

I'm not saying free-feeding is wrong for all dogs, because there was a thread on here a few days ago where obviously some people's dogs did fine free-feeding, but for your two and for the majority of dogs, I would say it's a bad idea.

Feed the dogs from separate bowls, so you know how much each one is eating.  And feed them, say, twice a day.  It might be a good idea to feed them in separate rooms to avoid any resource guarding issues around their food.  Measure out their food and then pick it up after 10 minutes if they haven't eaten it all.  Give them nothing more until the next meal time.  Paradoxically I think you will find your Rottie eats more like this than if the food is left down all day.

You might also want to speak to the breeder of you bitch, because the slight build could be in her line.

I really would advise against free feeding regardless of what you've observed both dogs eating. If you have a skinny one and a fat one, something isn't right somewhere. An 18 month old rottie is not really physically mature so as long as you can feel her ribs easily, but not see them, I wouldn't worry unduly. She'll more than likely mature bodily over the next 6 to 12 months.

If they were mine, I'd change to feeding them twice a day so you can control the needs of both dogs better. Maybe the staff needs a senior food, low calorie food or simply just less food to help her trim down? Her being tubby is probably more of a serious health concern than your rottie not being as chunky as you think she should be. Also if your rottie really is on the skinny side, you can give her more and maybe supplement her with some extras. It may improve her appetite too if she's not being allowed to just pack at it whenever she wants. But don't be tempted to fatten her up or you'll just be storing up crippling health problems for her in the future.

I use Skinners Ruff & Ready and tripe and the I do have to watch the weight on my dogs as they can get a wee bit too heavy . I was told that Skinners Maintenance is very similar to that or their senior diet and threefore your dog will have to eat more to keep up the weight. I use the maintenance on my older bitch, just giving the same volume as the Ruff & Ready and that was enouhg to keep her weight down. Have you tried adding in some tripe to her feed ?