Bog my two year old Lab is on the lean side. He gets plenty of food but just seems ribby all the time. He is a very active lad but does the same length of excercise as the girls but does cover a lot of ground but does get the right increased portions of food.

I my going to get some lamb breast but anybody got any other good ideas on raw food that will help get some weight back on him.

If he's got a 'blanket' covering over his ribs and you can't see his spine then he's the right weight for him, labrador or not! A leaner labrador is healthier than a heavier labrador.

I will be interested in how you get on having just managed to get some cover on my Beardie boy's ribs and pin bones he's 13 in April!!

Tripe is meant to be good as is lamb which you've got.

Good luck :)

JG he is under lean at the mo and spine is showing. I keep them all lean anyway but he has gone beyond that.

We feed tripe at least two times a week and he has twice as much as the girls each time.

Chicken wings!!! Works wonders. My Rio (close to 8) had hormonal problems and was spayed on the 18th of December. She lost a LOT of weight, so that you could see every rib in her body. We added an extra meal a day of a chicken wing or two  and on the 9th of January she took BOB at Boston so a very short space of time. Still a bit lean yes, but even in the 6 days since then she has gained weight visibly. I've not found anything to add weight on as well as chicken wings do.

They get chicken wings at least once a week so might increase the frequency as an additional treat for him.

My springer girl is like this.  She is majorly active and I don't think I could maintain her on meat/bones alone.  I give her scraps(usually pasta/rice or potatoes) and this seems to 'fill' her out more?  But, she is in much better shape than ever! The muscle tone on her is fabulous and she has very little body fat at all.  This is how they should be, we are all just too used to kibble fed, fat dogs. :)
Meant to add, my grandfather used to give his working cockers a mixer(sort of winalot type) as they couldn't maintain a decent weight on meat/bones either.  This was many years ago when most dogs got a couple of bones a week!lol  His would get a boiled tripe/carrot soup poured over the mixer for breakfast and a bone at bedtime!lol

Yes they are fed scraps as well . He polished off left over curry takeaway at the weekend !

I am just gong to increase the amount and also increase the frequency of some of the types of food and see if he can gain a few kilos

How  much does he weigh Lucy? Harley is very lean  - raw fed as well - and weighs around 28kg which is on the light side for a male GR but he is fit and active and has loads of energy. As he does agility I prefer him to be on the lighter side anyway to help prevent joint problems. He gets green tripe at least 4 times a week. Some of his weight reduction is due to reduced muscle following his long period of no exercise after his op early last year so his weight should increase a bit as the muscles build up more but wouldn't want him to be any more than 30kg due to his lifestyle.

When he swims he looks very lean but I am not unduly worried as believe it is far better for him to be on the lean side than not. You can feel his ribs but they are covered as is his spine. I would only increase his food if he was unable to withstand the amount of exercise he receives and needed more energy.

Breast of lamb is good for putting weight on if you think he really needs to have a bit more covering but if he is still fit and active I wouldn't worry too much.

Not sure how much he weighs but he is large Lab height wise so would expect him to be about 30 kilos at the right weight.

At a similar age my boys were on nearly a third more food than their sisters.  Sometimes you have add quite a bit of raw food to get their weight up and even my hungry boys could get a bit get a but outfaced!  If I need to add a little weight I now tend to add just 15-20g of a good quality kibble to each meal and it does the trick.

It's not the purist answer, if you wish to maintain a 100% raw diet, but I find that a little kibble here and there is actually quite useful to add some bulk.  I use a fish kibble as mine won't eat raw fish so I feel I'm at least adding an otherwise unavailable protein!

They do get kibble sometimes as we always have a sack as a back up.

My dog is now 7 and I've come to the conclusion he is just a lean dog. He eats a good amount and has a varied diet but sometimes you can almost see him getting thinner on a long walk

He is healthy and runs about like a lunatic but will just always be a bit ribby I guess. I would like him to have a kilo or two more on but I've never been able to achieve this. His isn't greedy so I don't know if this is partly contributing.

I get beef fat trimmings, it is recommended that you cook them before feeding. but very calorific.

As others have said green tripe is good for putting on weight.

I have tried all the above with no change. He's not unwell or unhealthy I suppose it's like some people that are just always on the leaner side (not me I hasten to add :( )

What about satin balls? There is an old thread here... http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/140760.html

One of my male shepherds was a nightmare to get weight on, what worked for me was extra chicken wings, tripe and satin balls, I adapted the recipe so that it didn't include cereal.

Increase the % of raw meat  and bones. Tripe and lamb are also good food for weight gain but basically a general increase in food.  Although it is considered a start point
2 .5 % can be increased to whatever is necessary to keep his weight where it should be. I have heard of dogs needing 5% before they are a good weight.
Unfortunately for my Brooke she would be a barrel if I gave her more that 2.5 %
have you joined raw feeding uk on fb ?

So increased intake and still no weight gain so I think he has found his weight . He is happy , lively and a pest so nothing wrong with him just I suppose me getting used to a naturally thin hyper active boy !

sounds good to me. just keep on doing what you are. I looked at the pictures of him he looks pretty good even if on the slim side for his breed. Just him as you said 

If you can feel his ribs as if they were covered by a blanket, then he's perfect. If they're covered by a sheet he's too thin, if they're covered by a duvet he's too fat!

I had the same problem with one of my girls and found that by increasing her food by a just tiny amount she put on weight. Works out about a tablespoon for my terrier, It was around 2-3 mos before I saw a difference though. I would reduce tripe to once a week.

> So increased intake and still no weight gain

with some dogs especially teenage boys it seems that if you increase their food intake they up their exercise. So they stay thin  but run around more...

Yes although mine is 7 so hardly a teenager. He's just a dog that isn't hugely obsessed about food no matter what it is (a ball on the other hand is a different story!!) He eats well and has a varied diet and as I said is well muscled everywhere just a bit ribby.
He doesnt steal food when it's left out or even eat all his in one go-he's more of a nibbler. He regularly gets tripe, raw chicken/meat, eggs, sardines, etc along with treats. Other walkers asks how he looks so fit and I cannot answer them other than he gets a good diet and lots of exercise. He's like that annoying friend that eats whatever they like and never gets fat :)

Yes Bog sound exactly the same but he is very food orientated.

We deboned a leg of lamb yesterday and had it on the side for his dinner later but he decided that he would help himself to dinner !