Still worrying about my skinny youngster.  Everyone says this is a stage he is going through - at 11 and half months old and I accept that, but I do need to get his diet sorted - he has been in kennels for nearly 2 weeks because we have been on holiday - I was so worried that his present food - Burns was not giving him enough protein   - and that he may react in kennels by loosing more weight (our first Setter always lost weight in kennels) - that I started adding Wainwrights tinned meat to his kibble (cutting that down to compensate).  He has had loose stools while he was in kennels which may or may not have been caused by the tinned meat  - I have been recommended to give him a good dried food with beef - not chicken - but that is easier said then done.  Now I am totally baffled as to what to feed after reading so many ingredient lists.  I don't really want to start feeding raw -  I don't have room in the freezer to start that off.  My older dog does well on Burns - she needs to keep the weight off her - being an active agility dog I have to be very careful especially as she is now nearly 9.    Should I be looking at a beef based food? 

Burns is famed for keeping weight off, so if you really feel he is too thin, the first thing I would be doing is swapping him (gradually, as always) to another decent quality kibble - wWould be Arden Grange lamb and rice here.

M.

Royal Canin absolutely piles the weight on. However when I want to add weight to a dog I simply add an extra meal a day consisting of 2 or 3 chicken wings. No effort at all, I can't stand looking at it so just stick a fork in and hand it to the dog one at a time (timed my pregnant bitch the other day and she took just 4 seconds to eat one chicken wing), and it takes no space at all to store. Either buy a tray from the supermarket and keep in the fridge, or Natures Menu does 2 kilo bags of chicken wings which again does not take up a lot of space, and should be available from your nearest pet shop that stocks their products.

I second chicken wings-great for skinny youngsters and cause a minimum of mess etc. I know you don't want to start raw feeding but if you do change your mind (you could just buy a couple of blocks at a time from the pet shop) raw green tripe is another easy way to get weight on to any skinny boys I've had during adolescence.

Beef has no merits over lamb, chicken or fish as a protein source in kibble.  If your dog doesn't have an allergy I can't see a reason why you've been told to avoid chicken...

I know you were recommended to move away from Burns (it has a reputation as a diet food) but is there a reason why you can't just increase his portion size of kibble (whichever brand you choose) if he is really too skinny.   I'm a raw feeder but I understand you don't want (or can't) make that transition and tinned meat is no substitute.

However, all that aside, don't base your next decision on the results of 2 weeks in kennels.  Some dogs just don't do well in this environment and his recent weight loss may be nothing to do with his food.  It's worth remembering too that some kennels may not follow your diet to the letter either so he could have been eating something else entirely. 

I'm assuming that this is another Border Collie? :-)

Perhaps talking to Ceri of CSJ would help.    They have quite a few different types of dog food in their ranges at prices to suit all pockets.

She can be very helpful :-)

http://www.csjk9.com/csjinfo.asp

It can be awfully difficult when you have a dog that is too skinny.    All of mine were like toast racks on Burns and increasing the amounts or the number of meals simply caused it to come out the other end quicker :-(

Have been chatting to the rest of his family - his sister (yes Dill Border Collie) is on CSJ - but is on the skinny side too.  My friend says that his mum was skinny until she was about 2 and half - now she is trying to get weight off her - Eddie is definitely the same build as his Mum - looks alot like her!  One of his brothers is on raw - but he was huge from the start!  His other brother is skinny too - so it must run in the family.  Just don't like feeling the bony spine and ribs.  I must write down all the suggestions - there really are so many options now that it is difficult to know what is best - I can't keep chopping and changing too much.