We do both salmon and coconut...
And I totally understand!! Luna, my pei/pit mix, stays so skinny... She weighs 47lbs and you can see her ribs especially because of her shar pei coat. She's very muscular, though, so I'm happy. But people think she's starved and I was feeding her almost 2lbs of food per day for a while to maintain that weight, whereas my older lab who weighs in at a slightly chunky 60lbs eats less than 1lb per day.
On the other hand, my young lab has digestive problems and some severe intolerances (including chicken and salmon oil, and cottage cheese maybe?) and has had a couple feet of his intestines removed. I tried all sorts of kibble a with him, but he would not gain weight and hovered around 41-42lbs. We finally settled on 1.25-1.5lbs raw turkey per day and he has gained 20lbs. He's now getting some pork, some beef, and we're figuring out exactly how much bone he can handle and how finely it needs to be ground. Still lean, but looks fantastic.
In other words, some dogs really gain on the raw, some need a bit more. But all of mine have really thrived on it. Great muscles and fabulous coats-- our vets are more traditional, but one of the newer vets asked me what shampoo I use on my dogs because they're so soft... I hadn't given them baths in about 9 months (we don't bathe often, but when we do, it's the Tropiclean that I mentioned). It's the raw and the coconut oil, I'm convinced. Luna is the only shar pei coat that doesn't make another vet itch.

Luna has horrible flea allergies as well-- when we found her, every flea bite would turn into a staph infection and she was miserable. Once we got her healthy and got her skin in good shape, I went almost a. Year without having to treat for fleas, and when she does get a bite now, her reaction is much less severe.
Anyway, I'm a fan of raw and of coconut. Can you tell?
