Dog only eats human food. Is this ok?

[IdentifyasTired]

Our nearly 3 year old Springer x Lurcher has tried lots of different foods in her life, from the standard Iams stuff to special vegan food only found online.

Reson being that she seems to need to poo A LOT. On some foods it was 5-6 times a day.

I did some research and put her on a human food diet. Meat, potatoes, rice, vegetables and some fresh fruit. The pooing has slowed down, her coat is so shiny, she looks and seems so healthy but she has lost weight and looks skinny. Her ribs and spine are slightly visible and very obvious when being stroked. She does do a lot of exercise but I'm concerned that her diet is not enough. I've tried giving her more food but it seems to make no difference. Vet says she is on the thin side but healthy.

Has anyone helped their dog gain weight successfully? And does an all 'real' food diet lead to weight loss?

Thanks so much

I really wouldn't be giving my dog vitamins unless my vet was happy with that. Taking vitamins for humans isn't always the right thing to do even though they are designed for us let alone randomly giving them to a dog unless you meant vitamins prescribed by your vet.

I agree with Wolfie you need to think about a complete food rather than a pick and mix unless you know what you are doing. There are weight visual guides on the internet which I use and when my dog is at the correct visual size I weight him and then use that as his 'ideal weight'. Whilst I agree that people tend to be used to overweight dogs I had one that was underweight through illness and you could see his ribs but he is now the correct weight visually and looking back on the earlier photos you can clearly see he was skeletal and not getting all the nutrients he needed. And that was with me feeding him a complete meal so I hate to think how he might have been if I just guessed what calories, vitamins and minerals he required.

I would HIGHLY recommend a raw diet - we have switched our cocker spaniel on to raw and it has revolutionised his bowels - no more wind, only 2 very small poo's a day. His coat is shiny, his teeth are clean and white! Raw diet has lots of benefits

Don’t give your dog human multivitamins - the balance is wrong
If you want to formulate a home made diet then get a referral to a veterinary nutritionist rather than making things up yourself