Hi all, need some good advice again!
I have just adopted a beautiful 11 month old GSD from my friend, trouble is he is VERY skinny, more than what he should be even accounting for his age.
My well meaning but frankly clueless friend had pretty much fed him on tinned meat and mixer since he was a pup so it doesnt surprise me that he's so thin.
So I am wondering what the best kind of food to give him to put on weight, I was thinking Beta Junior, but he is quite hyper and I think the high protein levels would send him crazy!
Is there a low protein, high fat complete food you know of, I would also give him tripe and cooked chicken ( seperately ).

The fact he's had tinned food and mixer should not mean he is thin - the amount he is fed would - my thoughts are to check that he doesn't have worms or some other illness first. I'd get the vets to check him over thoroughly, get him on a course of worming treatment and check he's getting the right amounts of his food. If you wish to change his diet - do it gradually over a period of at least a week. As for the protein levels in what food to give him and fatten him up etc - it'll be a case of finding the right one for him. GSD owners on the forum will be able to advise what they feed.

hth

Pam n the boys

Have to agree with Pam about the tinned food. Before this complete stuff came out almost all dogs were fed on tins and biscuits so I doubt its that. You want to build him up without making him fat and protein is a building food. I feed Eukanuba large breed puppy and them go over to the adult at 12 months. Some one I know feeds cows hearts to their sled dogs to build them up, which for better or worse is what I am doing now. It is a horrible and yukky job though :D

Loki is a nightmare for putting on weight, but I have now finally found the right food for him. Like your new little boy, he is a bit hyper. He now eats 2 packs of chicken mince a day along with 250-300g of the Prizechoice Real Tripe Mixer, which is gluten free and doesn't have any of the horrible disease causing additives that most dog foods have. Email me if you want more details.

Bear
Bring him over to me I'll fatten him up in no time :D
Yorkshire puds and pasta :) plus complete of course
There's also a thing called weight gain you can buy in 20kg for about £6 it's just like bread crumbs really. I used it years ago on one of mine cos he always looked to thin.
Tracey

hello Bear
I wonder if he could have tape worm, it is one reason for a skinny dog .
Have you had the vet do a faeces test to see .Sometimes tapeworm can survive normal worming and needs an extra strong traeatment to clear it.
just a thought .
puttin on weight is a hard job .
body builder stuff got weight on one of my bullies I used Casilon powder or what ever it is over there weight increased in 6 weeks
Mari

There's a recipe somewhere on the net (it alludes me right now) for something called 'Satin balls', that you home make. They're suposed to be guaranteed to put on weight.

Found it:

<<<Ingredients
10 pounds hamburger meat [the cheapest kind]
1 lg. box of Total cereal [or comparable natural brand]
1 lg. box oatmeal
1 jar of wheat germ
1 1/4 cup veg oil
1 1/4 cup of unsulfured molasses
10 raw eggs
10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together, much like you would a meatloaf.

Divide into 10 quart freezer bags and freeze.

Thaw as needed.>>>....I believe you feed it raw :)

Providing he is fit and healthy why worry about his being thin (unless his health is being compromised). Young dogs, especially males, are often skinny until they get their adult physique

Why not just give him adequate food for his age and exercise regime and let maturity bulk him up - I have just written something very similar to someone asking about a young rescue Dobe :)

Christine

Hi everyone, thanks for all the replies, Tracey where can I get this weight gain stuff?
I don't think he has worms, maybe I am wrong but doesnt an animal usually have a ravenous appetite when they have a worm infestation? He is pickier than a bird! ( my friend also used to leave his bowl down for hours so he could just go back and forth to it which I don't think is a good idea ).
He seems very healthy and fit and has LOTS of energy! But I would like to see him with a nicer build, at least so people won't assume I starve my dog!!!

i had the same problem in the first few weeks after i adopted Speed [GSD bitch] - she was VERY thin, probably about 8 - 10 kilos underweight [she was 23.5 kilos], and she had a VERY poor appetite. At first i though just leaving her food down all day and refilling it as and when required would be the right way to go since she needed to gain so much, and i was sooo totally wrong - she showed no interest at all in it :(
So i put it down at a set time each day, and took it up after half an hour even if she'd had none. She soon figured out to eat it when it got put down for her!
i never found a food that would put weight on her without making her hyperactive - nothing had low enough protein, her food needs to be 18% or below otherwise she's just mad! Supadog Active did help her gain a little, but she was just too bouncy on it so i put her on a normal maintenence diet and bought her a large portion or chips three times a week and that worked wonderfully! Ten weeks after starting that she's up to 31 kilos and looking fantastic. And i don't get funny looks from passersby for my ribby dog anymore either!

Annette

Thats a great idea! My local chippy here I come!

Bear
Don't think you can get it from the big pet shops like pet smart and the like..but try somewhere like kennel gate...somewhere where the store packs food in their own bags..there's also a thing called sorbit B which you can add to his meal which enhances appetite.
Tracey

Thanks Tracey - will look into it. Problem is not just putting weight on him but actually getting him to eat - I am hoping its just with the stress of being in a new home, but I am lucky if I can get him to eat as much as 3 cups a day of mixer just now, I am feeding him four times a day but every time I put the food down he has a couple of mouthfuls then walks away, even when there is tripe or chicken in it, which is a heck of a lot better than the tinned rubbish his last owner had him on. I have never seen a big dog eat so little, he is going to the vet tonight for a full check up to make sure there is nothing wrong. I am going to start giving him malt tablets as I have heard they stimulate the appetite - here's hoping!!

I've had an ongoing problem with one of my GSD's all his life trying to get him to eat and maintain a reasonable weight. He fluctuates between skinny, looking almost like his ribs are covered and downright emaciated :(
He's had many problems with his health but also suffers from inflammatory bowel disease. It makes him nauseous hence the reluctance to eat. His energy levels have always been high.
Hope you get to the bottom of it :)
Lara x

Brewers yeast is also good - When my older boy was small and a picky eater I used a mixture of cod liver oil and malt mixed with some warm milk. I mixed that with his food or gave it him seperately to drink. Being a cocker - his ears got real manky with it - but it does help as it is full of calories but not protein. I have also found that lightly fried minced lamb and veg always go down well.

He's going to need time and tlc from the sound of things and may never be a healthy eater.

Hope all goes well at the vets - do let us know what he says

Pam n the boys

Hi we rescued a male GSD a year ago now (he is 2 now) and he was really skinny. We feed him James Well Beloved which is quite low protein levels (because he is quite hyper). It took quite a while but now his weight is just right.

Well I have had Lupin at the vet and he is in perfect health according to her! She doesnt seem to think he is too skinny either, but at 32kg I would definitely disagree!
Lastnight I fed him a huge bowl of roast chicken - guess what he wolfed the lot - this proves my theory that he is just very fussy and too used to getting human food, especially as I gave him minced chicken and mixer today and he wouldnt even look at it! Its nothing but a battle of wills!

Is pasta ok to give a dog on a daily basis? What about brown rice? Getting really worried now about Lupe - I have never seen a dog so uninterested in food before, except when its something I am eating then he's all eyes! As his former owner told me "anything we eat, he eats" - she's got a lot to answer for!!
I am determined he will eat dogfood, I don't mind giving him pasta or rice ( its carb, not protein is that right? ) but if minced chicken or tripe is good enough for my boyfriend's dogs its gonna be good enough for him! ( eventually I hope! )
Do you know if I should leave him on his own for 15 minutes with the food or stay with him, I think maybe he can sense my anxiety when I put down the bowl, but if I leave him alone he just stands at the door whining.
How long can a dog starve himself for before eating again? Does anyone else have a large dog who just eats mouthfuls every day and doesnt seem interested in food unless its on your plate??
I have never experienced this before in a dog, and I am starting to get upset because I just don't know what to do to make him eat, and I am worried that he will lose even more weight.

Bear

Pasta and rice is fine to give a dog mixed with other stuff of course. It does sound like he's used to being fed from the table - tut tut. You could try letting him see you (pretending of course) eating some of his food at the table and then put it down for him. Do you feed him before or after yourselves? If the latter - then it could be worth a try - letting him think he's getting your food so you feed him first then eat yourselves. What he doesn't eat after 15 insutes, take away. As far as I know no healthy dog has ever starved if food has been on offer. But it does need you to have nerves of steel and a really strong will-power. The food you are proposing will be fine for him - you know that - you just have to convince him to eat it - easy peasy;-)

One of my boys won't eat unless I have eaten first and I usually need to be around, if not he won't touch it - unless it's something irresistable like raw chicken or real meat. The other doesn't care so long as he doesn't think anything better may be on offer.

Good luck with this - it's goung to be a long haul for you I fear.

Pam n the boys

Hi Bear
Pasta is fine ( yes carbohydrate )...I would feed him lots of little meals throughout the day and stay with him for the time being, as soon as he's eaten a little portion you've put down for him, really praise him so he gets where meal times are a really happy time.
Tracey

Hi
I used to have this problem with my standard poodle. I found the best thing to do with her food was to throw it onto the lawn and let her watch the birds eat it. She soon got the message. Another thing to remember is that a healthy dog will not starve itself deliberately. Try putting the food bowl outside at feeding times. Then when she has done her business or whatever, bring her back inside, leaving the food outside. She may just want to go out and finish it off. It is hard, I know, I think it is just a matter of perserverence, harder for you than the dog :-(
Sue

I used to have a GSD like Lupin. She would refuse to eat anything at all at times. I ended up loading her dry food with people food. When she turned her nose up at the mix that she had eaten quite happily the day before I gave up. I figured if she wanted to skip a day or two a week it was up to her.

The "cure" I found quite accidently. I got a second dog. When there was competition at meal time, suddenly anything in her dish looked great and she never missed a meal.

Stacey

Right I have decided I am not going to worry about this anymore! I know for a fact he is playing mind games with me now as lastnight I put down a bowl of pasta, minced chicken and a handful of complete, he ate the lot, today I gave him the exact same thing - surprise surprise, he didnt touch it. He is clearly used to eating human food and getting something different every day, I am just going to give him the same thing every day ( pasta or rice, minced chicken or tripe and biscuit ) and if he doesnt eat it, then I guess he's gonna stay skinny! He's fit and healthy and I suppose thats the main thing, maybe he will fill out a bit with age, but I am not gonna play these games with him anymore!
Thanks for all your advice, but I think I am seeing sense now ( big grin )!!!

I have a 4 yr old springer who is a very fussy eater. He has an irritable bowel and I feed him mostly gluten free. It is quite a bit of trial and error to find stuff that doesn't irritate him but he will quite happily take a small mouthful of food and even the arrival of a puppy cocker 6 months ago hasn't done anything to improve his eating habits. He is quite thin (15kg) but very muscular with a wonderful shiny coat, but goes totally emaciated during the shooting season when he works his socks off. I have had quite a bit of success recently with Autarky and he seems to be more enthusiastic with that. Of course the thing that stirs the enthusiasm is anything that we might happen to be eating and he is often reprimanded with cries of "STOP begging"! He will eat pasta and it doesn't seem to upset him either but then I sometimes have to remind myself that it might not be tasty morsels that upset his digestion but the cow **** and other such rubbish he scoffs when out!

I would say don't worry about him if he is happy and healthy. Autarky is worth a try.

I had a friend with a GSD, who, when young was soooooo fussy and she had terrible problems getting some weight on her. Then they were on holiday in a caravan miles from anywhere and she was refusing her food, so in desperation they gave her sausage sandwiches (good quality beef sausages and wholegrain bread) and that was the key, when they got home they just, very gradually, mixed the sausage sarnies with her complete food until she was just having a wee bit of sausage in her food (took a couple of months, and she did insist upon ketchup!!!) perhaps not conventional but it worked, and probably better for a dog than chips. :)
Hayley

Hi Bear,

My GSD boy had a lot of trouble putting on weight, he was so skinny it was embarrassing and very worrying.
He had all kinds of tests for pancreas probs etc, but everything was clear.

He was being fed on the most expensive complete food I could buy and I was adding pasta to his meals...he had a very good appetite.

I completely changed his diet when we moved to Wales, he's now on a complete food called Dr John gold, which is £6.99 for a great big bag. (can't remember the weight of the bag, sorry) As soon as I put him on it he started gaining weight and is now a perfect weight.

I was surprised as this food was so cheap, but it seems to have done the trick.

Lisa

I was told to try Dr Johns gold to put weight on my GSD last year. Sadly it was the worst thing I had ever done. He developed terrible skins problems which I can only put down to the food as he never suffered before or since having that food. I believe that there is quite alot of additives in the food and it really didn't agree with him. But on the good side of it, I have known dogs to put on to much weight because of it!! So it does work for some.

Oh Krys, I'm really sorry to hear that.

I honestly hadn't heard of any problems with it before.

What do you feed now...and has your GSD put on weight?

Lisa

Hi Lisa
He eats 2 packs of chicken mince along with real tripe mixer biscuit. Every now and again he goes off the biscuit, so we give him rice for a few days, but then he just starts again on the biscuit. He has now gained weight, but he still can be a really fussy eater. My friend who has one of my GSD's who I had to rehome when my marriage broke up feeds him the Dr Johns Gold and he puts the weight on lovely, so me thinking that because he came from the same breeder it might work with my boy, but alas it didn't. Only made my vet richer than he already is!! £120 in medicine and consultations. I am obviously in the wrong job!!!

I agree with you krys...can't you retrain as a vet?! :D

Glad to hear your dog has gained weight.

I'm lucky with mine, none of them are fussy eaters. The Dr Johns for my lot is absolutely perfect. It keeps them at a good weight, their coats look lovely and they're healthy. And it's very cheap! :D With 7 dogs thats a bonus!!
Another quick thing, I've got a 16 wk old GSD, and she's on Beta junior. She's also doing really well on that.

So....those two foods work for me :D

I suppose all dogs are different, it's a shame the Dr John didn't work for yours, but at least you've found a diet that suits him now :)

Lisa

You can't beat Beta for puppy's. I have a 16 week old as well and he eats a pack of chicken mince a day and his Beta puppy allowance mixed in. He is thriving on it. He weighs over 3 stone and is growing upwards everyday. He also drinks about a pint of milk a day. You would think he was fat,but all he has on him is his puppy fat, so I will stick to this diet as long as poss I think. I know what you mean about Dr Johns being cheap. I couldn't believe it when I bought a bag!! The only thing that makes me worry is all the additives that go into dog food, they have been linked to so many disease's that you wonder what on earth your dog is actually eating.

Hi again Krys.

Is your pup also a GSD?

Was wondering because mine is just over 3 stone...she is huge!! I can't believe she's only 4 months. She's not fat, but very heavy to pick up.

I'm going to recommend Beta to everyone with a puppy!!

I know what you mean about additives...I've been reading a thread on the BARF diet. It looks really good,and very healthy, but i'm not sure I've got the guts to change 7 dogs diets! :D

Hi Lisa
Yes he is a GSD. I am so pleased that your little girl is a 'Big Un', as I was starting to think he was a freak. He is the youngest at puppy class and the biggest, but the best behaved I might add. There is another GSD and a couple of Rotties who are several weeks older than him and he is taller than all of them!!!
It's quite frightening the additives that go in their food, one of them is link to cancer and they even put it in our food, which is nice!! Definately stick to the Beta diet if it does this to them. My 2 year old was on Pedigree Advance Puppy food when he was little, expensive and imo not a touch on Beta.
And I wouldn't like to change the diet of seven dogs either!!!

Hi Krys,

Sounds like your pup is gonna be HUGE!! But be careful how much weight he puts on and how fast he grows, if you have him on Beta puppy you shouldnt really be giving him as much chicken as your doing as its far too much protein ( a pup should have no more than 30% ) and can damage his bones, I had my Merlin on Beta pup and Junior for the first 18 months and he shot up real quick, but I only gave him tiny amounts of chicken or tripe, just as a taster really.
I don't think he should be bigger and heavier than a Rottie pup as these dogs are supposed to weigh quite a bit more than a GSD!!!

Krys,

I know what you mean, I've been worried about Bella, thinking she was a freak too!!
So I'm really pleased to hear I'm not the only one with a huuuge 16 wk old pup!! :D
My pup is now as tall as my 3 yr old border collie!!

I'd be really interested to know how big your boy eventually grows.
I am hoping that with Bella...it's just been a growth spurt and she slows down a bit now :D

You're right about pedigree....I never exactly had fantastic results with it when my other dogs had it.

This Beta stuff is amazing!!

Take care.....hope the lad continues to do really well!

Lisa

Hi Bear
just came across this thread, I needed some extra weight on Jordan although not a lot, I put all my shepherds onto Red Mills leader adultthey get this in the morning and also get raw food at evening time ie raw tripe chicken wings etc, they also get hokamix which means they absorb more of the nutrients that they are getting also a vaulable aid in reducing other ailments they have put weight on and look amazing
What works for one dosent work for the other and its trial and error
there is a link for hokamix and redmills on my web site if you would like to have a look
www.janinesgsds.co.uk
Hope this helps
Tracy