Help with underweight dog

[Rebeccash]

Hi there
I am a lurker on this board, I have a 14 month old Rhodesian Ridgeback and despite my best efforts she is underweight. When I got her she was quite small for the breed and obviously she has grown and has filled out a little but still needs to put on weight (I think she needs to put on around 5-7kg to be 'average') I feed her Orijen dry food and have tried adding tinned meat but this makes her sick. She does eat the recommended amount of dry food as a complete meal but gets alot of exercise (around two hours per day on average) which is a combination of on lead and off lead walking and playing with other dogs and seems to burn it all off. She is quite fussy about what she will eat and I am at abit of a loss as how to fatten her up! have been given various bits of advice from other people but was hoping some of you lovely doggy experts (Vallhala?) might be able to advise me.........

Thanks in advance

Rebecca

Hi Rebecca. Putting condition on an underweight dog can be a slow business, but is very rewarding when it comes right. From new skinny to a really good condition at the right weight, I wouldn't be surprised if it took as long as six months to get to optimum condition. Firstly, make sure she has been wormed correctly, and I'm assuming you've had her checked out by a vet, so there's no underlying issues?

I'd also say it's better to be slightly underweight than overweight, and sadly far too many dogs have the opposite problem. I'd concentrate on building condition which it sounds as though you are doing, and I suspect she is very well muscled? Her coat condition is also a good indicator of general health too.

You might want to try a recipe I gave on the greyhound emergency feeding thread a couple of days ago - we've often had fosters and waifs and strays who have been underweight and this is a good one for putting on weight, and seems to help condition too. I've also found that it seems to suit dogs with sensitive tums. I would also feed poached chicken breasts (we get the value ones from the supermarkets, and do a load in the slow cooker) and some dogs also do well on salmon. Good luck and keep us posted. One final thought, you might also find it helpful to give high calorie treats - suggestions include cooked liver, butter (ours go nuts for it) and small quantitites of cheese, or cream cheese, or any home cooked meat. Avoid too much sausage type meat as it is generally very high in salt although occasional treats will be OK (a Greggs sausage roll is a popular greyhound treat in our house, but fortunately not too often!).

Me? I wish I'd asked ScuttleButter when I was struggling to get some weight on my then 2yo GSD boy who was scaring me because I could see his ribs. I felt that everyone was looking at me and thinking I abused him and was SO sorry for the poor mite.

As I didn't know Scuttle I asked the boss of the rescue I help out at, whose response was definite - Naturediet. Apologies if you know about it already, it's a tray-packed wet food without any additives and a high meat content. Costs about 80p a tray and Chester ate 5 per day so not cheap but my word does it work.

He's now on a mix of a small amount a day mixed with Champ kibble as his tum can be a bit delicate but the initial swap to Naturediet made the difference nonetheless and very fast too. I saw the difference within about 3 weeks and it didn't take too much more time for him to be a perfect weight. Likewise it's working just as well with my epileptic foster GSD who was fed it at the rescue but who was a little underweight when he came here owing to nerves and kennel stress. He too is now looking super.

If you try it and your girl's tum can tolerate it, you may want to offer the variety made for puppies as this will provide an even higher protein level. It sounds like your Ridgeback is burning a lot of energy and needs to be well fuelled.

You don't mention whether your girl is spayed but if not this too should improve her build.

However, if you try to alter her diet and still get no result I'd strongly recommend that you take her to your vet just to eliminate any intolerances or allergies. Should any be identified then the vey may well be happy with you feeding Naturediet anyway because it doesn't contain additives.

Just wanted to ask, Rebecca - you say she's a few kg under the "average" weight, although is small for the breed. Is she genuinely underweight?

It's sadly all too common these days that people become worried that their dog is underweight when in fact it is just fit and healthy. There are so, so many overweight dogs around that I find people really don't know what normal is.

At this age a Ridgeback is still not fully mature and it's very common for adolescent dogs to appear lean, gangly and ribby. This is normal and is much healthier than carrying excess weight. Also, this is a breed which will be very active and have a rapid metabolic rate at this age and I would expect her to be lean.

I would urge you to consult your vet if you haven't already, because what you perceive to be underweight may, in her case, be normal. I would expect her to settle down and fill out in the next 12-18 months, although keeping her lean is always better :)

My dog is very sensitive and fussy but can eat and will eat JWB lamb and rice sachets. Like the nature diet Vall mentioned it's all natural stuff and doesn't contain anything that could irritate them. And add treats to his diet. Mine likes liver cake atm.

Also see your vet, just to be sure she is underweight.

Hi
Thanks for all your help. I have had her checked by the vet and he said there are no underlying issues but she is underweight. Like some of you said I thought it may just be her age/the fact she is very active etc but now he has worried me! She has recently been spayed. You can see her ribs which is whta I am worried about and I just want to feed her up, silly I know but she is my baby! I will try Natures diet (I have seen it in the pet store but didn't know anything about it) and see if that helps. Thank you so much for your words of reassurance; she is such a wonderful dog and I feel like a bad dog-mummy when she looks so scrawny!

You should be able to see the last 2-3 ribs in most breeds. With a short-coated breed like this it's not necessarily abnormal for you to be able to see more of them!

As others have said she's still very young and won't be fully grown yet.
With a big breed such as this I'd be happier to keep her on the slim side. Much better for her joints and general health.

My last Setter was always on the skinny side. When I look at a picture I have of her around the 18mth stage, I'm surprised nobody ever reported me!!

She was always a fussy eater and enjoyed a lot of exercise. She did fill out slowly and looked less shocking as she matured.

She did however get to the age of 14 without any arthritis. So was able to enjoy good long walks right till the end.

One thing I did find would encourage her to eat was the addition of raw tripe her food. Most dogs seem to love this and it does seem to build them up as a result.

If your vet has said she's healthly, I would try not to worry too much.

Thank you every-one, I feel much better now. The way she has been bounding around the fields today I guess she can't be starving herself: she certainly has plenty of energy!

Our pup is a skinny thing. He's all legs and back, but he is fit and his coat is shiny. Our other 2 are normal weight although we are trying to get a kilo or so off our eldest who's about 11 and slowing down. We have tried her on a glucosamine supplement but I'm not sure it's really made a lot of difference. She took it for 3 weeks.

All our dogs (collies) were pretty light when they first came to live with us and we initially thought that it was from being in rescue. It wasn't. I think it was because they were very young.

This might sound really silly and basic, but will she eat more of the Orijen? Maybe in more meals per day? Also, how do you feed her? Do you leave her food down or pick it up after a set time even if she hasn't eaten it?

I find that some foods tend to get weight on better than others. James Wellbeloved is one and I have also found Jollyes own 40% chicken good for weight gain. However, if you are trying to keep to cereal free you might not want to feed these. Adding fatty meats such as lamb (maybe mince?) to the diet might help if your dog can tolerate it?

I do get what people are saying about her maybe not being that underweight and I agree with Thatdamndog. So many dogs are overwigth these days when people see a 'correct weight' dog they often think they look too thin. Plus, as has been said, young dogs, especially of bigger breeds, are often tall, gangly, leggy and a bit ribby. I think if yor vet feels she in underweight though and you can easily see all of her ribs (not just visable when she is moving) then it wouldn't hurt her to gain a little.

Another probably silly and basic thought - have you tried changing foods?

My trainer has 2 goldens who she's discovered have genetic food intolerance. Neither of them were able to maintain a good weight with the food the other goldens ate. Both were so very skinny, despite plenty of good quality food going in.

She spent a lot of time with referral vets and they diagnosed a change of food (for those two I think it was eliminating chicken and rice) which has completely changed them. They're now both a good working weight - and of course have the energy levels to match the food going in.

Just a thought.

OP my GSD is skinny leggy thing, he has a condition which we are trying to get a grip of and is on a special diet from Royal Canin as he has a potential food allergy. This is just by the by...

When I was trying to get weight on him we mixed green tripe which is disgusting in smell, but boy dogs love it in and that helped, then I couldnt stand the tripe in summer we changed him to nature diet - no dry food and he really gained some weight. His condition was great and he loved it - especially the fish one.

It is expensive but worth it.

Valhalla I know what you mean - people who dont know us look at me like I am starving my boy, when I cant keep weight on him. Was at a dog show on Saturday and I thought all the dogs looked overweight - they were not, its just because I am so used to seeing Loofa.

I'm with Midori - I'd give more of the Orijen if anything. Guideline amounts on packs are just that, and need to be tailored to the individual dog. The majority of dogs are overweight - you should be able to feel the ribs as if there was only a t-shirt covering them, and the last couple should be visible.

If you do add anything else, be wary of giving too much fatty food and causing diarrhoea.

Good luck

Hi
Thanks every-one. I will try increasing her Orijen although she can be a bit fussy with it and some days eats it all and others doesn't eat much at all. I think I will also try adding Natures diet to it and see if this helps. All your comments and ideas are really helpful so thanks

Just a quick update, I took on board all your comments so THANK YOU ALL. I have increased her Orijen and added nature's diet and she is wolfing it down lol.

Yeah I considered that but as a veggie think I might struggle lol

Oh, great news Rebeccash

I'm a big fan of Orijen - my old girl's gone all perky since I switched her to it.

Keep us posted

Will do! Thanks again

I was going to also suggest that you check that you are up to date with her worming tablets. Worms can lead to skinny-ness.

Hi
Thanks yes am up to date on those so hopefully thats not it!

Lovely, bedlam, lovely

Actually, the smell of tripe was ingrained on my subconscious as a child. Try as I might, I don't think it will ever leave me