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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

How to fatten up a skinny dog?

14 replies

EasyToEatTiger · 20/09/2014 08:19

Ddog is about 2. He's lived with us for 7 months and now realises what food is for.... He's underweight. He's a collie, energetic and lively. Most walks are off lead and he can run like the wind.
He's a rescue from Ireland and we took him relatively soon after he'd been taken in. So much about him has improved and he's a fabulous dog.

The dogs are de-flead, wormed, vaccinated etc regularly, and fed on Burns. All the dogs are lean, but this one is skinny. He has been checked by the vet and isn't losing weight.

Should i just pump him up with tripe, or change his feeding regime altogether (over time)?

OP posts:

NCIS · 20/09/2014 08:22

They are supposed to be quite skinny, when running your hand over their ribs it should feel the same as running your finger over the knuckles of your open hand. What does he weigh?
My collie is fed raw and is skinny but at only just a year I'm expecting him to fill out a bit.

Bubble2bubble · 20/09/2014 08:26

I want to know this too. Same here, all very lean fit dogs but dog4, collie retriever, came to us in not great shape age 10-11 months, nearly a year ago now.We feed Millies Wolfheart and his condition is lovely but he still hovers a couple of kgs underweight. I feed him more than the others but starting to wonder if he just needs more carbs?

Original poster

EasyToEatTiger · 20/09/2014 08:27

There is skinny and there is bony. He's bony and would be still lean if he put on about 2 kg. He's 16-5kg and quite small though deep chested.

OP posts:

NCIS · 20/09/2014 08:32

Mine is only 13kg at the moment, but very healthy and full of beans. I'm giving him extra sardines and he has duck mince/salmon and beef mince (complete raw) He also gets marrow bones every few days.
If I overdo his food he gets the runs so I balance quantities quite carefully. I think he's destined to have a super model physique.

celestialsquirrels · 20/09/2014 08:43

You can get dog food specifically for "working dogs" which is higher calorie and means they don't have to eat more by volume to get more nutrients. I had a very active and too-skinny standard poodle and that's what my vet recommended. Swapped her dry food (beta) from normal adult dog to working dog and she got to a much better weight with no trouble. I was also mixing the dry food with dog meat and that but I kept the same.
Worth a go I would say.

Bubble2bubble · 20/09/2014 08:54

Good point celestial. I just looked at Millies Wolfheart and they have an Endurance Mix for dogs who struggle to maintain weight, maybe that is the way to go ( or feed a baked potato a day...)

petswinprizes · 20/09/2014 10:51

We add puppy food to the diet of our collie/springer when he runs off a bit. He usually has a high fat/protein working dog mix, but sometimes it's not enough. Keep thinking about a raw food diet, we have a friendly butcher.

Owllady · 20/09/2014 11:43

If he is a petite collie, I would say that's about right? Mine is petite and 15kg at 2. They tend to bulk up a bit as they get older but generally they do tend to be skinny at this age

If you need to fatten up a bit though, just gradually increase his food portions

JulietBravoJuliet · 20/09/2014 16:59

My collie x poodle has always been on the skinny side (usually around 12kg when the vet said she should be 13-14kg) but after a recent illness, she dropped to 10kg and looked dreadful. I've got a pup as well, so I put her back on 3 meals a day with him, and started adding wet puppy food (NatureDiet) to her dry food as she will always polish the lot off if it's wet. She's now up to 14kg, and, if anything, looks a bit chunkier than I'd like, so I've dropped the midday meal for both of them and cut back on the puppy food.

CMOTDibbler · 20/09/2014 17:16

My lurcher is a nice weight, but if he's been particularly active he can very easily tip over into bony. I keep his breakfast and dinner the same, and vary lunch from a few bits of kibble, to a serving with a tin of sardines on it depending on what hes been doing

ffallada · 20/09/2014 19:05

My collie is 17.5kg and he is a wee bit heavy at the mo (he is also two). Ideally he should be at 17kg which is only .5kg heavier than your pup is currently. I'm not that worried about it so won't be putting him on a diet.
We had him a the vets yesterday for his annual injections and discussed his weight - out vet reckons he will prob start putting on weight when he hits his middle years (don't we all?!)
Agreeing with the other posters here, adding 15-20g each mealtime will soon add some weight in a nice slow controlled manner.

tabulahrasa · 20/09/2014 22:35

Burns is not a great food for putting weight on, it's great for keeping them lean - which to be fair with most dogs is more useful, lol.

If you can't just feed more , I'd swap his food.

beautifulgirls · 21/09/2014 10:57

Working dog/active dog food.

QuietTiger · 21/09/2014 20:23

We had the same issue with our collie - very, very high energy working dog who couldn't keep any weight on and had digestive problems.

We put him onto Natures Menu raw (mostly tripe), and supplemented with CSJ CP X-tra. CSJ

It's got weight onto him, he's holding condition and he's looking the best he has ever been with solid poo. This on what was a skinny, underweight dog with digestive issues and constant runny tummy.

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