How to get puppy to put on weight?

[Uhtredswoman]

Our puppy came to us eating Skinner's Field and Trial Lamb and Rice puppy food.

At her vaccination appointment the vet said she was 'lean', and to up her food by about 25%. We've tried this but she just won't eat that much. Have tried supplementing with scraps of chicken, which she loves, but still leaves the same amount of kibble.

Any suggestions on how to get her to put on weight? Should we try a different food, and if so, which ones would people suggest?

Will she eat wet food? So, a bit of wet mixed in with her kibble to a) add to the amount and b) encourage her to eat all the kibble?

What about an extra meal - so 4 meals a day (assuming she's on 3 meals a day now)?

You could try swapping in (slowly) another high-fat, high-protein puppy food and see if she prefers that.

Also try mixing in sardines, wet dog food, raw minced tripe or full-fat natural yoghurt. If you have eg beef dripping left from cooking, melt that in the microwave and stir it in.

If none of that works, she might be one of those dogs who you either run lean or feed raw. One of mine is a fussy eater and I can't manage raw for 3 dogs, so she gets various things added to her kibble to try and get some weight on her. Honestly, as long as a dog has plenty of energy, decent muscle mass and is generally healthy, it's better for them to be a bit skinny than overweight.

I've got a cocker and a sprocker and we swapped to Skinners last year after they stopped eating Millies Wolfheart. The sprocker is fine on it but the cocker has lost a fair bit of weight.

We supplement his with scrambled egg, chicken, sardines and sachets from natures menu - the kibble alone just isn't enough for him.

How many meals a day is she having? IME, the best course is to add more meals rather than quantity per meal

Thanks all - have ordered some Skinner's wet puppy food so will try mixing in some of that and then maybe another meal. I hate wet dog food, it stinks, but totally accept it's not all about me

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman she's got plenty of energy and seems healthy!

@CMOTDibbler she's on three meals

Oats are quite good to help put on weight. Mix with water not milk.

How old is she? I would increase her meals to four, rather than three. Ours was on four meals a day until about 16 weeks.

I'd do 4 meals. Sounds like she's quite young and some just can't eat enough in 3 meals

We also gave our puppies full fat goats milk until they were around 6 months.

They still love it now as an occasional treat.

she's got plenty of energy and seems healthy!
Then don't panic. It's my entirely unscientific anecdata with a tiny sample size that bitches who are run lean (or run themselves lean) in their first year or so of life tend to have their first season later in life than the average, and to have longer than average gaps between seasons thereafter. Since I like to keep my bitches intact until 3+ (a mentally late maturing breed) this works well for me and for them.

I've just used a spoonful of yoghurt to get my skinny one to almost finish her kibble...

Our dog isn’t fussed about food and definitely runs lean too. He will do anything for pure dog pate! We use it mostly for training but am very generous with it as it could be used as a complete food.

I wouldn't worry. Lean dogs are healthy dogs. She'll put on weight when she's done growing.

As long as sge's Ona decent puppy food she'll be grand

How old is she?
How much food grams are you giving her each day in total
What breed or size is she

She's a 17 week colliepoo, and the portion of kibble should be 220-410g according to the Skinner's feeding guide. She eats about half of that if she has just kibble.

We've started topping up with wet food or cooked chicken plus a big drizzle of chicken grease! She's eating about three quarters of the kibble portion plus these extras, so we'll keep going and be generous with the training treats too!

Thanks all 😊

Meant to say she's 7.1kg as of last Wednesday! Steadily putting on weight, so going in the right direction!

No one's mentioned satin balls. You can look up the recipe... I think it's oats, coconut oil and something else.

Peanut butter- must NOT contain sweeteners- is good in a Kong or similar. Mental exercise, and high calorie.

410g is a load of kibble for a 17 week old. So I am not surprised she is not eating that amount!

Her weight sounds fine.

I would look at feeding a higher calorie food so she has less quantity to eat and cut out all the extras you are adding.

Lean is good and lean is to be expected in the breed mix you have.

One of my dogs was underweight as a rescue. I gave him rice or pasta mixed with his food.

Keeping an adult dog on the lean side is sensible. But puppies are developing brain, bones and muscles and need the energy and protein resources to do this. If you can see a puppy's ribs he is too thin. I would just add a fourth meal, perhaps adding a little wet food. Don't swap your basic food; Skinners is a good mid-priced kibble and constant swapping and tempting leads to fussy eaters. My Labrador is fifteen and a half and has been on the same brand of kibble since he was weaned.