Hi all since our ddb has been on burns he has put hardly any weight on at all..so went to weigh him today and he has actually lost 2kgs..he was nearly 44kg's but now is 42..I have heard of dogs looking lean on burns but this is silly.Will get the vet to check him out and also going to think about changing his food any suggestions?..was looking at arden grange.He is nearly 14 months old..

Blimy, thats not good is it.  I have not tried burns before so don't have any suggestions but assume that as he is a DDB he should weigh more than 44kg's??  Would it be worth maybe adding a 3rd feed (assuming he is on 2 meals) of say some raw tripe to keep the weight on....just a thought?

He was on 200gms with half a small tin of butchers mixed in twice a day..we also used to replace the butchers with tripe but still no difference..rang burns and they said his weight is fine for his age..but surely he shouldnt be losing it?

Does he look thin as very skinny or just lean?

I think so..his ribs aren't showing but he does look way to lean to me.

Hhhmm - just that my male rott took ages to mature and put weight on, he used to be fed big meals twice a day and now all of a sudden that he is nearly 2 (next month) he has put too much weight on so has been put on a diet LOL.  Maybe he is just taking a little longer to put weight on however he shouldn't be loosing it so I would maybe try to contact Burns to see if there is a food that will help keep his weight?

sure that you are not just giving him enough of it?
my 10kg mongrel gets 100g a day plus a pigs ear and she is perfect weight.
my two are both on burns and if they looks too slim then i just up their food and they put it back on straight away.

hope this helps
anna

Have spoke to burns this afternoon and they were really helpfull.They are sending us a different food out today and want us to try him on that..Anna we have upped the amounts and it has made no difference he just ends up throwing it up if he has too much,but thanks for the replies.

Hi Stu

That's great news, I thought they would help you out as there are so many different foods that they can offer - surely one must be able to help your lad.  Fingers crossed for him and I am sure that also with time he will fill out with maturity and you will have to buy the diet version :D

Cheers kelly..apparently the food they are sending isn't stocked in shops and can only be got direct..they have given us some advice on changing him over to it etc and we are to weigh him again a fortnight after he has been on it.Have also arranged for the vet to do some blood tests etc just to rule out any underlying problems and to give us peace of mind.It was also suggested to maybe add green tripe to it...

thats a shame.  sorry to hear that he throws it up. r they sending you canine extra or something similar?
hope he gains condition soon

I guess that its something similar Anna..just not available off the shelf as it were..can't believe how helpfull they are, really good service.

We always had that trouble with Burns, it looks great on paper but it does my Dogues or TM's an good however much we feed them.

We are on skinners with our 4, but that is not saying you would have the same good results. We also use Nature Menu, that is along the lines of the BARF diet but ready made and frozen that has brought 2 of the TM's into great condition even when she was in quarenten (sp)

I think it is trial and error and watch ingredience for real nasties

Thanks for the reply britney..will give this lamb "extra" a go and see if he does any better on that..we are also adding some green tripe now which he adores!!!He wasnt that keen on the frozen slabs we used to get from the shop but he loves this stuff..mind you it smells ten times worse too!..lol

Hi, I am new to this and noticed that you also have problems with your Dogue de Bordeaux. My boy is 3 years old and has never been over 45kgs. He was seriously ill when he was young and lost 14 pounds in 10 days. He now struggles to gain weight and has a very poor appetite. He will not eat tinned dog food or complete meals on there own. My friend is a butcher so he has fresh beef, either cooked or raw with some biscuits but is bored after a couple of days. I have tried him on every diet going at great financial wxpense with no joy. Have you any ideas or advice as he really needs to eat. I need a high fat content diet to help his weight gain.

Matt ours also had bouts of illness etc where he lost weight and has never really been a big dogue but if you go by burns they say he is within the realms for his age!..He was also the "runt" of the litter as it were but this doesn't necessarily mean he will be tiny when adult.Only advice I could give is not to change his food too often or IMO you will end up with an even fussier dog.Mine is now on the burns extra and I am mixing the green tripe in too..which he seems to prefer more than the biscuit:rolleyes:but hopefully this will get a little weight on him.

Matt mix some raw green tripe in with his meals,even the fussiest of dogs cant resist the stuff,an added bonus is it is excellent for weight gain and has a huge array of vits/mins and all important enzymes,dry food contains zero enzymes which IMO are the lifeline of good,sound health.

Hi Sara,
thanks for the advice, I have never head of green tripe but my mate is a butcher so I am sure he can help me out. I look forward to a smelly kitchen and a healthy looking Dogue.

Tinned fish is a nice, smelly addition - for dogs smelly usually equals yummy.

Hi Stu31,
Its a known fact that burns can help keep dogs lean, as the protein levels arent anywhere near as high as some brands.  Their helpline is very good i agree as i have dialled it on a few occasions and got the answers i wanted.  I had to get my dog off burns for a while whilst checking for allergies and guess what, he piled weight on so had to go on a diet to get it off, far better to see a nice slim dog than a podgy one.   Remember you must be able to feel the ribs and when my dog was on burns i could always feel them. 

Thanks for the reply..i know most dogs are lean on burns and this is what they promote..but they dont promote lean dogs losing weight..IMO he is too lean...as for the green tripe..for the last couple of days he has been scoffing it down but this morning and this evening he has walked away from it..so mixed some butchers tinned food in and hey presto he started eating again..

Stu31,
In fairness i always added a little bit of wet food in with his burns as an alternative more than anything else, he is now on two meals a day of nature Diet (25%) and Burns (75%),  His weight is constant (i get him weighed every fortnight at my vets).  His poos are just as they should be and all is well.   I can thoroughly recommend nature diet although they are having massive supply problems at the minute due to factory closure so if you decide to try it and your dog likes it, i would buy as many packs as you can get your hands on lol.   Good luck, it will all come together in the end i am sure. Dont forget how crafty they are (dogs), if they think something better is on offer they will sit it out and wait in anticipation :o)

Thanks for the reply..we have tried him on nature diet mixed in but after supplies became limited we changed over to butchers tripe to mix in with the burns.He was never that keen on ND to  be honest..I'm hoping he will level out with regards to his weight etc..Cheers brainless..shame i cant post a pic of him on here that way you could get an idea of how lean he is..he doesn't look shockingly thin but the fact that he had lost weight rather than gaining was a concern..

I can't remember what age he is, but it isn't unusal for adolescents in many breeds to go through a lean gangly stage.

Frankly if you have to supplement his complete to enrich it, then I would think of changing it to something wth more calories, rather than a food that many people find tends to keep their dogs lean (which is good for those of us with dogs that tend to weight gain and owners who find it hard to reduce their food enough to compensate).

He is 14 months old now..We will change his food if there is no change on the "extra" that they sent us..got to weigh him in a fortnight and see if he has put any on since being on that..

From your description he doesn't sound too thin, and if he is young and has lost a little weight it could be that he is now the right weight for him.

Keep an eye on his weight, and if he looses any more to the stage when you can see his ribs rather than just feel them and maybe see the back ones, then change to a more nutrient dense diet.

One of my girls, fairly unusually for her breed was a poor eater and always thinner than I wanted (though a healthy weight) and I ended up feeding her Arden Grange Prestige which is 30% protein 20% fat with a higher than average animal protein content. 

She was on this until two or three years of age, as it meant what little she was eating was at least doing her good, though she was always lean until she was spayed at 6 1/2.

Now I have to watch carefully that she doesn't get plump, same as the others.