How do I fatten up my 1yo Cockapoo?

[Stevie77]

She’s never been a big eater.

I also think she’s not keen on dry food - when she came from the breeder we put her on AVA, a mix of dry and wet. She used to basically lick the wet food off the dry and eat some of the kibble.

I then moved her on to Millie’s Wolfheart and even though she does eat, it’s not with gusto. Often she’ll leave her breakfast until much later in the day and then not be hungry for her evening meal. She either ends up eating her evening meal late at night or the following morning. So she does eat her calories but it’s all over the place.

She’s regularly gets flea and worm treatments from the vet, so i don’t expect that to be the issue. The vet agrees that she’s thin but took blood and nothing untoward was evident. She’s not had her first season yet AFAIK, none of the signs yet. She’s happy in herself, plays with the kids, loves going for walks, her poos are nice and firm etc. She’s just so slim, even for a smallish dog - you can feel her hip bones. I just don’t know what to do next.

Is there a reason you're feeding her on dry food?

If she's not keen on it why not try her on wet food and see if that makes her more willing to eat.

Has the vet said she’s too thin or are you just assuming she’s too thin?

Spend lots of time training her, with plenty of treats. It'll occupy her and all those rewards are extra calories - win/win

Also try calorie-dense chews like pizzles

we had an underweight cocker. The vet gave us a food plan and his weight came back to normal in a few months. Did the vet give you any ideas?

ours was underweight because he's a mentalist and never stops until we force him to nap so it wasn't an eating problem as such

what helped was adding rabbit pate to his dry food from these guys
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It’s worth contacting a pet nutritionist, our independent pet shop has one, they should be able to recommend a food that could help. How old is she? I would stay at 2 meals, just make them more exciting.

We buy the cheap sand which pastes - beef, haddock etc and wet the dry food down with warm water and mix a small amount of paste in. The paste is around 40p at Aldi or Asda and lasts my 3 dogs around 4 days - you don’t need much!

Other days we use salmon/ fish oil mixed in as it’s good for coats and bones. You can get it cheap off Amazon.

@Stevie77 we had same and Millie's wolf heart do a high fat version so we swapped to that for 6 weeks (until the bag was finished) and it worked. She's fine now and back in her usual flavour mixed with wet food or tinned sardines.

Thank you everyone, I’ll try to reply.

Yes, the very said she is too thin but not offered any advise other than to try on her different food and suggested loads of mass manufactured stuff to try. I’ve already done some reading so it made me think she wasn’t very well informed. Since the time the vet has seen her she’s put on a little weight, but not much. Around 200-300g in 3 months. She now weighs 8kg, which is not skeletal, but she is definitely bony hidden by fluffy fur. She’s not a big Cockapoo anyway but is on the skinny side and trying to think back she has slimmed down in the last few months.

Re wet v. Dry food. I don’t have the space to store enough wet food/fresh food for her. We do a mix of around 80/20 wet and dry.

Thanks, I’ll contact them again. They did recommend her current food, the 60/40, but I’ll ask about the high fat version.

Satin balls? Check the recipe online, but it's healthy fats and oats or similar.

You could give her a kong with a good lump of peanut butter in, or a good smear of pate. Check the ingredients to be sure they are safe- no sweeteners etc. She'll enjoy working for it and it will bump up the calories.

I would put her on 3/4 small meals per day , as a big meal may just not appeal . Have you tried her on the small tins and pouches from Applaws , they are reasonable quality and the chicken in broth ( small tin ) is really unlike normal tinned dog food . We have a fussy dog and he has Millie’s kibble ( ranger mix) and Applaws tins and it’s the only food he will consistently eat and we’ve tried loads .

Re wet v. Dry food. I don’t have the space to store enough wet food/fresh food for her. We do a mix of around 80/20 wet and dry.

So she's already on 80% wet food? Or do you mean the other way around?

I would look into switching brands - not all dogs will eat the premium brands of food. Try something like Chappie (it stinks but I've never met a dog who doesn't love it) or Butchers instead.

Both my dog hated dry food. I would go for a good quality wet food like lillys kitchen or try raw. I was reluctant to try raw but it's been amazing for our dog! Clean bowl everytime. I got Able raw on a subscription once a month I think you can get it delivered more regularly if you don't have much storage.
I keep some lillys kitchen food in the cupboard in case I forget to get it out the freezer.
You could give her some full fat goats milk as a snack too.

I have a bit the same "problem" with my 1 year old border collie.she eats well,no problem with food.the vet told me,she has a fast metabolism(she is always on the go).she was just spayed and the vet told me.this should help.most female dogs metabolism slows down after the spay.I think,giving a lot of fatty food will not make her necessary put on weight,she might just pooh more.my next door neighbour has a cockapoo and when she was young,she was like a never ending running little furball.she is 3 years old now and has slowed down and put on weight.for some dogs,food (no matter how delicious and varied) is just not a priority.walks are.

@icedcoffees I meant 80% dry 20% wet. Probably even more 90/10. The wet is just for taste really. We tried Butchers and that was when she lost loads of weight. At least with Millie’s Wolfheart I know that if she eats less she gets a more nutritionally dense food in her.

We dice chicken / ham and mix it in with the dry food, so he has to eat the dry food to get to the tasty meat

Poodles can be very picky eaters.
Have you tried hand feeding her ?

@Floralnomad I’ve not heard of Applws, will look into it - thanks!

Has she been spayed? My dog piled the weight on when she was spayed!

[quote Stevie77]@icedcoffees I meant 80% dry 20% wet. Probably even more 90/10. The wet is just for taste really. We tried Butchers and that was when she lost loads of weight. At least with Millie’s Wolfheart I know that if she eats less she gets a more nutritionally dense food in her.[/quote]
Ah okay.

I really think you need to look at increasing the amount of wet food in her diet. Storage wise, you just keep it in the cupboard in the same way you do dry food, so it shouldn't be a problem.

A diet of plain dry biscuits must be incredibly boring for a dog to eat day-in, day-out. I know some dogs thrive on it but I think that's more luck than anything else. If Butchers didn't work, there are loads of other options out there to try.

@lionobserving

We dice chicken / ham and mix it in with the dry food, so he has to eat the dry food to get to the tasty meat

We tried that once - my dog would just pick out the chicken and leave the biscuits, lol.

Some people soak the kibble in hot water to make it more palatable.

@GoodnightGrandma

Poodles can be very picky eaters. Have you tried hand feeding her ?

They can - I recommend cheese. And sausages.

As a treat or occasional topping on a main meal.

All sorts of cheese work...a small teaspoon of cream cheese mixed in with dry food goes a long way. Grated parmesan - strong flavour so you only need need a small sprinkle.

Crumbled Stilton.

The odd cube of cheddar.

Sometimes poodles prefer little and often too so you can break the main meals down into smaller more frequent portions.

Games - especially ones which stimulate the brain work well with a piece of sausage/ham/cheese as a reward.

I've a poodle who hates dry food, but it's mixed in with fresh, raw, minced beef and - if he's being particular picky - some cheese as mentioned above and he licks the bowl clean.

He also adores pizza, but he's not allowed that 😆

I see no picture of your (allegedly skinny) cockapoo. Not even of her cheeky little face.

Have you condition scored her?
She's a prepubertal female. She should be lean with easily palpable ribs.
Why are you so desperate to fatten her up?

Is she lethargic, low energy or showing signs of malnutrition?
If not then why the concern? It's well documented that lean dogs are much healthier

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