Need help on weight gain for a pup?

[HondaX]

I have already gone through 3 different brands of dog food. The first brand was the food that the breeder fed the pup, some generic store brand, and the pup would just eat enuff to sustain . The second was Nutro large breed pup and he hardly touched it. This pups is only three months old but it seems like he does not want to eat at all. The last brand that I have it seems like he prefers it, eats a lot more now, but that little booger would just eat a little only at a time. It seems as though he would eat only to sustain, but he is also one hyper pup. I think right now he is under weight because I could see his backbone and ribs easliy. I feel bad because people say I don't feed my dog , but it's the opposite. The vet said I should try to increase his weight. Do any of you guys have any tips for me to increase this pups weight? Thanks for the suggestions in advance.

[moto1320]

As they say....some dogs live to eat and some eat to live. I've had both. try out some different foods/treats that he really likes alot. Mine are crazy over fish, you could use chicken, beef etc. whatever floats his boat. Since he is more interested in socializing than food, work part of his diet in with training. He'll enjoy the attention and you can start making your dog a good listener. You can just work on his recall for a good while to reinforce his name and of course, the recall. I know easier said than done with a bouncy little pup....

[jmann4]

Do you leave the food down for him to eat all day? Or do you take it up when he doesn't eat it?

[HondaX]

I always usually leave food for the puppy at all times and his bowl is always filled. This is second pit and my last pit ate like a hog. My friends pits are around the same age and those dogs eat like there's no tomorrow. Thanks for all the tips.

[jmann4]

I always usually leave food for the puppy at all times and his bowl is always filled.

I would stop free feeding the pup. This is why he isn't eating regularly. Put his food down, if he doesn't eat in 20-25 minutes, pick it up and don't put it back down until the next feeding time.

What happens when you leave food down is the dog learns they can nibble and then come back later to nibble some more. If you take it up, they will learn to eat it all or it will be put up and they'll have to wait until next time.

I would say this would cure the eating problem within a very short time.

[barbponys]

jmann is absolutely right. You can also do a taste test with him, go to a pet store and get about 5 or 6 samples of foods(better quality will help with the weight issue), put them all out at the same time, bags under the bowls. Let him chose which one he likes. It rarely fails. Good luck.

Pat

[mnp13]

Try white rice and ground beef. Boil the whole mess for about 30 minutes. Feed morning and evening. Once you get him interested in the food (it shouldn't take long!) and eating regularly start mixing in high end kibble. slowly switch so there is more kibble than rice and beef and phase it out. You may just need to 'get him interested' in food, and this will keep his digestion in order as there is little that they can't use - so there is little coming out the other end.

Also, don't free feed him, two or three meals a day is it. He'll learn to eat immediately or go hungry. When you are trying to get weight on him three smaller meals are better.

Other healthy calorie boosters are plain whole milk yogurt, raw eggs and boiled chicken. All are bland enough to not upset the system but they are healthy and most dogs will eat them willingly.

Michelle

[JessaNGizmo]

DITTO!!

[barbponys]

I agree with Michelle except on the rice. Beef mixed with egg and yogurt is rarely turned down by even a sick dog. But try it raw, it's still bland and the yogurt will help with digestion. If you do the boiled thing, cook them separate, 30 minutes is a long time to cook the meat. Rice, brown is better than white it has more nutrients, will be done in about 40 minutes, white takes about 20 from start of boil to done. Over cooking it removes any nutrients that might be in it.

When it comes to food there are a lot of different opinions, I'm sure you have noticed that already. Good luck.

Pat

[raiyo]

How long have you own the dog? When I first got my other dog, she didn't eat the first few days I got her, maybe alittle, but not enough. The reason she didn't eat was because she was scared of the new surronding. After awhile she started eatting like normal. As for my pit bull, he eats ANYTHING you throw at him, even thing you don't want him to eat, hhehe. If you want to try a dry dog food, why not give "Wellness" dog food a try. My other dog is really picky when it comes to what she eats, but when I changed her food to Wellness she ate alot more. There is one more thing you could try is to hand feed the dog. Feeding it like a baby worked for me when I tried to get my dogs to eat when they don't want to. Feed them alittle, if they start eatting off your hand, keep doing so. Then slowly put your hand closer and closer to the bowl and leave your hand inside the bowl.

[Fast-N-Nefari0us]

HondaX,
I agree with Michelle about feeding your pup cooked rice and cooked beef. Also, try boiling chicken and add that in. Never feed your dog/puppy raw eggs or meat. These may have harmful bacteria and protozoas. Your pup's active and that's a good sign, but you say he's showing bones is a very scary thought. You definitely need to put him on a High Calorie Supplement like a product called Dyne. I've used it on my pups when they developed a loss of appetite and it worked wonders. Also, a healthy puppy needs to have food out at all times. If the puppy is healthy, then he will stay fat during these fast growing times. I've never had a problem with my puppies, providing they're healthy and on a high end high protein kibble, like Eukenuba. Stay away from grocery store dog foods.

Jessa, nice Fastback! ;-) I'm currently restoring a '71 and '73 and nice original parts are very hard to find :-( . Take care and talk to yall later.

[mnp13]

Never feed your dog/puppy raw eggs or meat. These may have harmful bacteria and protozoas.

Meat may, but grocery store eggs are pretty much sterile when you get them. Egg protein is different when cooked, and I have noticed a difference in her coat when I feed raw vs. cooked. Remember, dogs were made to eat raw everything (however, that would be mostly fresh raw everything, which is difficult to find now) and their stomachs can handle a lot more.

Also, a healthy puppy needs to have food out at all times. If the puppy is healthy, then he will stay fat during these fast growing times.

I agree that a healthy puppy may be able to have food out at all times, however it is not possible to monitor the amount the dog is eating when it is free fed. You need to closely monitor all food intake at this point until he is eating well. Until the puppy is healthy and his weight is back up, feed more frequent smaller meals but don't free feed.

Michelle

[Fast-N-Nefari0us]

Hello Michelle,
This is what I've learned and may not be true, but it would be a good idea to research this.

Raw egg whites contain an enzime called Avidin, which ties up the vitamin biotin, and if fed regularly a biotin deficiency can occur. Symptoms of this deficiency include dermatitis, loss of hair, poor growth, and thinning of the bones.

Back then, dogs ate everything raw, but now, food is processed differently and no longer natural. Animals like chickens, pigs, turkeys, cattle must receive their dose of antibiotics in order to either promote growth or to treat & prevent diseases. Fruits & vegetables are also not spared as antibiotics are sprayed to prevent bacterial infections. With this in mind, penicillin is the atibiotic of choice and when animals/humans consum large amounts of this antibiotic, it kills the good bacterias in the intestinal tract and cause health problems; yeast infections in females due to the depletion of lactobacilus acidophilus which keep the yeast in check. Canines also need this good bacteria in order to maintane a healthy system. I like to feed my dogs natural yogurt with acidophilus.

I feel If a dog is healthy and high quality kibble is given, then there shouldn't be a need for vitamins and supplements. For anyone that hasn't seen this, check it out:
http://google.fda.gov/search?client=FDA&site=FDA&restrict=&oe=&lr=&proxystylesheet=FDA&output=xml_no_dtd&getfields=*&q=dog+food
something to think about if feeding low end kibble. ;-)

[mnp13]

This is what I've learned and may not be true, but it would be a good idea to research this.

I've done a lot of research into foods... that's why I don't shop at the grocery store if I can help it!

Raw egg whites contain an enzime called Avidin, which ties up the vitamin biotin, and if fed regularly a biotin deficiency can occur. Symptoms of this deficiency include dermatitis, loss of hair, poor growth, and thinning of the bones.

Is this research done on people or dogs? What study is it from? People can not fully process the proteins in raw eggs, but animals can.

Back then, dogs ate everything raw, but now, food is processed differently and no longer natural. Animals like chickens, pigs, turkeys, cattle must receive their dose of antibiotics in order to either promote growth or to treat & prevent diseases.

True, they are also pumped full of hormones to up their production. Anything that is certified organic does NOT have any hormones or anitbiotics of any kind.

I feel If a dog is healthy and high quality kibble is given, then there shouldn't be a need for vitamins and supplements. For anyone that hasn't seen this, check it out:
http://google.fda.gov/search?client=FDA&site=FDA&restrict=&oe=&lr=&proxystylesheet=FDA&output=xml_no_dtd&getfields=*&q=dog+food
something to think about if feeding low end kibble. ;-)

True, however, this thread is about trying to get a dog to eat more and put on weight. High quality kibble is not the issue when you can't get the dog to eat in the first place. Kibbles-n-Bits is still better than nothing.

By the way, I generally pay very little attention to FDA nutritional guidelines. They are the ones who make it nearly impossible to by Raw milk, they say that pumping livestock full of hormones and antibiotics doesn't negatively affect the food supply, and they still think that people need to eat 10 servings of grains and cereals (including pasta) a day.

Michelle

[barbponys]

The use of raw eggs in a raw or BARF diet is not a main source of food. Even if you fed one egg a day it's not going to adversely affect the dog or cat. If you fed 6 or 8? yeah, that's a whole other story. Cooking the eggs changes them too much for them to be much use to the dogs. My non-allergic dog gets 3 eggs a week as top dressing to her raw meal and my cat gets probably 2 a week.

By the time a pup is 3 months old their system is strong enough to digest raw food on their own. They would get some partially digested food from the pack up to that point. After they turn 3 months however they partake in the kills on their own. I wouldn't feed a dog younger than that raw food that isn't partially cooked.

Eukanuba isn't high end food Fast. It's owned by Iams which in turn is owned by Proctor and Gamble. They bought them out 6 years ago. I find it unfortunate that they have Iams in the grocery store yet still sell Euk in pet stores for an ungodly amount of money.........and it's crap. Name recognition being so important. At this stage of the game........if it's advertised I won't touch it.

Pat