Does anyone have any ideas on how to feed an underweight 14 week old puppy up. He has recently been ill, with a runny tummy for the past month, after numerous trips to the vet. He is now sorted however he is underweight for his age.
I am looking for ideas on how to feed him up so he catches up with the weight he should be?

Any ideas Welcome

Personally I would not attempt to "Feed him up" There are so many over weight puppies and older dogs around I would be quite happy! Far less strain on his hips at this age. Just normal feeding will bring his weight back very shortly. I'd also say that at this age ALL puppies go through stages of appearing to be under weight. They seem to grow up then stop and grow outwards before growing upward again.

Be happy with a nice slim puppy.

Regards, John

Hi Claire,

We have an 8 month old GR puppy who has had a couple of tummy upsets, we just go back to chicken broth for a day or two then upgrade it to chicken and rice or white fish although last time this seemed to make him worse....! As John says (always best to listen cos he knows his stuff!) I wouldn't worry about it too much, far better than him being over weight.

I believe your question was how can i feed him up,seeing no-one has offered advice i will try and help :)

Firstly what are feeding him now?

Buy some nice fatty cuts of meat and stuff like suit,pork crackling is good,cottage cheese,whole fat yogurt,the kind with acidopholus bifidus,baby cereal mixed with goats milk is nutritious and will help with adding calories,whole wheat bread spread with a little butter given daily,add minced celery mixed into the meat,especially the leaves.Fenugreek seed is a great fattener and has been used through the ages to fatten horses.Soak the seed for twenty-four hours,using warm water,when soft crush well and mix with the usual meal.
You dont want to turn him into a rolly polly tho,you will know when he looks healthy and just right :D

Check out my reply under "i'm at a complete loss" there are a few more ideas there.

If you need any more ideas,i'll be happy to help.

christine

I forgot to add,the great herbalist Juliette Levy reccomends giving Raisins,several desertspoons early morning.I have heard talk that grapes can be harmful to dogs but my shih-tzu's have always eaten grapes with no probs :)

The reason no one answered the question as such is because it is a very unwise thing to do, you should never every try to push feed a puppy, you should never ever try to increase the weight when the reason the pup is under weight is clear it has had an unset stomach and overfeeding could well restart the problem and a pup of that age is better off without the extra weight. If it were so underweight to be a problem then the pup should be taken to the vet, if not then it should be fed normally unless you want an adult dog that will not eat unless you keep trying something different. By the way raisins are grapes and grapes in too large an amount are dangerous to dogs and a dessertspoonful would be far too much for a pup of 14 weeks. 

Hi,

I keep and show goldies,firstly what do u mean by underweight?

At 14 weeks he/she is entering rapid growth stage and its very impotant to not to have pup over weight because of bone development.

Secondly how much exerciseis this pup having ?no more than 15 mins on lead is adviseable walking thats no free running outside,, your garden because of potential damage to hips.This restricted exercise does not mean you cannot sucessflly socaialise pup.

your pup may well have started teething and can cause loose stools and to go off food.However they dont starve themselves.

If however he really is underweight lacking condition and you can feel too much ribs

ring your breeder for advice first,you should have been given a feeding guidelines??
Get a good quality puppy food and we all have diffrent opions on here I know ,
but personally I use James well beloved  and add just alittle raw green tripe ot tinned butcher tripe with some water .

It is so important t=not to have pup not over weight probably alittle better to be lean but not thin at this stage  so much damage c is possible with high protein,too much food .

I knew some vets who put goldie pup on grey hound racing food because she had been told high protein content would boost her puppies growth :-(
the owner had changed its food evey couple of weks resulting in this pup having loose stools its was at time receiving far too much exercise for one so young and the poor thing was having bloodtest done which showed nothing.

Its just needed one food to be stuck with instead of several various foods, less exercise I believe the dog is looking so much better but what damage to hips and joints?

Try your breeder first and see what they advise.

Briony

Hi,

just read your post again if his tummy prblem is sorted out,he will catch up his weight without you adding extra food its probably this growth stage watch not giving too much exercise .

Briony

Please do NOT on any account feed your dogs raisins or grapes; some dogs may not have a problem with this however why take the risk when dogs have died from acute renal failure from very few!!!!!

No one knows what it is yet in grapes or raisins that causes this but until and unless they do my advice would be to AVOID them at all costs!

If your dog is lactose intolerant or allergic to casein then cottage cheese, butter, goat milk may trigger/increase diarrhoea.

Whole wheat bread and or baby cereal may also cause problems if your puppy has a problem with gluten.

Tohme is there anything else about my post you want to pick apart???? :rolleyes: Why is it that my dogs and many,many others have eaten grapes without ill effects?? Maybe i wont feed my dogs bones anymore as the may die from a punctured intestine or i may stop feeding raw chicken just incase they die from salmonella,do you get my point??? I did make the point of grapes "maybe" being dangerous but from MY experience they have done no harm to "my" dogs, but for some folk who have never tried their dogs on grapes it would be best to err on the side of caution and choose something else! I was only quoting what i had read in a book,and no i still dont understand how raisins could help pick up a poor appetite,maybe you could enlighten us? Not everyone is an extreme purist when it comes to feeding their dogs,sure humans are the only species to ingest milk after weaning,but if we and our dogs Enjoy it whats the harm,not everything outside the "prey animal" is poison for our pets,regimentation is not good for anyone or anything,i wish you would lighten up a little :D

Jackie i am well aware that raisins are grapes

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=grapes

I am not sure why you are taking my post as some sort of personal attack?

The board is here for everyone to share views, opinions, knowledge and experience.

Science is constantly moving forward and has certainly moved on since J B Levy wrote her books which, like many publications, contain some good sense but also a lot that is outdated, incorrect and/or which cannot be substantiated by science or indeed, as in the case of raisins, been re evaluated in the light of new discoveries.

The only reason I can think of that raisins could put weight on is that they are high in sugar!

One of the reasons that quoting from books or any other source is dangerous unless supporting evidence can be found and verified elsewhere.

I have posted the info on grapes otherwise someone may do exactly what you did, quote the findings to someone who may feed grapes/raisins to their dog and end up with a dead one!

There is a difference between things that are possible and things that are probable; of coure it is possible to puncture the intestine with a bone but not probable, whereas serious consequences from the ingestion of grapes/raisins has been documented not only to be possible but probable and avoidable!

Wow! That's a scary article, Tohme. My lot have never had a problem with grapes, but I shall certainly never recommend anyone try feeding them.

The thing is what you feed your own dogs is up to the individual but when you give advice to others you have to take the greatest care that that advice can not cause problems and when it comes to a 14 week old puppy that has already had stomach problems the advice should be to follow the instructions of the pups breeder or the vet.

Generalised advice is fine but anything specific should be treated with the care, my comment regarding raisins being grapes was because I thought people should realise that it is not wise to feed either this nor any other puppy that amount of grapes or raisins. My dogs love grapes but I would not give that amount even to an adult.

Hi ALL,

I have to admit I would not feed grapes or rasins to my Goldens they are on a complete food occasionally have a bonio biscuits or titbits in the ring of liver,chicken.

I did read a think while ago an letter in Dogworld about someone who I think gave raisins to her dog which poisoned it and she wrote in to warn others.

I just didnt  realise some people do?

So is it harmful then?

Briony :-)

Briony

Is it harmful?

I think if you read the link I posted which originates from the ASPCA (RSPCA equivalent in States) the answer is obvious?

Hi Tohme,

Firstly i quickly read through the posts so no I didnt get time to read your link!

Secondly Ive never fed anything to my dogs other than a good quality complete dog food and as i said meat trests in showring.

I had never heard any of my friends who show and breed feed grapes but that doesnt mean to say other people dont and what i wanted to know was it harmful fullstop.
I would never feed one of my dogs chicken wings ever again after nearly choking on one and a bone bit getting stuck that doesnt mean that its harmful to every dog does it?

Briony :-)

Right,

Just read your link now.

As i dont feed them to mine anyway thats fine, but now I KNOW they are definately harmful,thanks for the link so i can say to other people if they do ,about possible dangers.

Briony:-)

My golden was similar, very underweight due to incorrect feeding before we got her and a very upset stomach. We changed her onto a complete food, infact we tried several but the best we found (when she was older) was burns extra. (But obviously you will still be on puppy food) and on speaking to the advisors from burns started adding rice, pasta and veggies to the food as a bulking agent. This had the advantage of filling her up without upsetting her stomach. You could also add a little bit of cooked chicken or white fish to add a bit more protein. However, as he has had an upset stomach, i would be very careful about changing the diet too much and perhaps consult the vet to see what they would reccommend. I would also say that although my dog is no longer very thin, she will never be as big as some retrievers, because of her bad start. I like her to be lean, as i know that as she matures she will fill out slightly naturally, so unles your golden is seriously under weight i shouldn't worry too much.

Hi,

Lucyand meg this is a 14 wk old GR puppy it does not require extra protein at this stage it can be harmful to development of hips if anything to start to reduce protein levels at this particular stage.
If your feeding a good quality complete food you should not have too many problems .

Golden Retrievers are not to be massive,large breed yes.

Dogs 56cms - 61cms (22 - 24 inches)

bitches 51cms - 56cms (20 - 22 inches)

Height measured from top of withers,limits were setfor heightto keep the Golden Retriever of a size to most efficiently perform his required work.
He is not cumbersome,yet he is built for endurance and moderate speed.HE REMAINS small enoughto be agileand of convinient sizeto have in a hide,boat or car.
Some look or appear bigger because of their correct double thick coat but upon examination you can feel the dogs true height.

Briony :-)

I live in a house with grapevines both inside my conservatory and out.  They produce about 400 bunches of grapes a year.  My dogs eat them all the time, I must be lucky.

me too jackyjat :D