food for weight gain?

EllieBeast

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Hi guys, am after a bit of advice if you dont mind :)
I have an 8 month old dalmatian bitch, she was recently spayed and is generally a very happy, healthy little dog.
The only trouble we have is with keeping weight on her. She is currently on eukanuba medium breed junior, and we give her as much as she will eat 3 x a day. Usually about a mug and a half each time. She is small and dainty for her breed, at 15kg. But he vets a
 

EllieBeast

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Oh dear, phone sent too early!!
... but the vets are happy that she us developing normally, shes just fairly active and obviously has a high metabolism (im jealous :p).

Are there any foods that you would recommend for this problem? Ideally only dried kibble food though please. Thanks in advance!
 

s4sugar

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Most foods are better than that one -
Ingredients:
Chicken (28%), maize, wheat, animal fat, poultry meal, rice, dried beet pulp, dried whole egg, chicken digest, fish oil, brewer's dried yeast, potassium chloride, salt, DL-methionine, marigold extract. Contains EC permitted antioxidant: tocopherols.

It has over 18% of each of Maize & Wheat which are not good ingredients for a dog food.

http://www.wellbeloved.com/products/dog-food/junior/duck-rice-junior is a better food that is easy to find or http://www.fish4dogs.com/Products/Fish-Complete-4-Puppies.aspx.
 

galaxy

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I have a GSP who can be ribby. I have had him on Burns and Arden Grange but I have found he does the best on fish based feeds with no grain like Fish4dogs or Fishmongers (from PetsatHome)
 

EllieBeast

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Ok, thanks guys. Who'd have thought-you spend a fortune and try your best to buy what you think is decent quality food and its full of rubbish! Will have a look at those that you have suggested. Thanks!
 

MurphysMinder

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The above food suggestions are all good. However I wouldn't worry too much about her weight, as she is spayed she is far better slim rather than allowed to pile on the pounds. A quick google shows the weight for an adult dally can range from around 16kg to 35kg, so there is obvious quite a variation according to type and sex, as long as your girl seems fit and healthy and isn't too ribby I wouldn't worry too much.
 

ladyearl

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Another vote for fish4dogs was only food that stuck to my dogs ribs when I got her.
 

nativepony

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I've been feeding Arden Grange plus some cooked pasta to one of my skinny, stressy lurchers for about a week now (the adding of pasta that is) and he has really filled out, I looked into other dry feeds but they are just so expensive and this seemed a cost effective way of putting some weight on him!
 

sandymere

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In general I’d agree with mm when she says not to worry as a slim dog is better than a fat one, if your vet is happy then be happy. I’d say at a guess about 80% of the dogs one sees these days are overweight so its becoming the norm which will only lead to problems later on, rather like human obesity.
Ok lecture over.
If you want to fatten a dog bare in mind its down to the fundamental law of thermodynamics, energy in energy out. So as fats are around twice as energy dense as protein or carbs increase the fat content. A simple way for gradual increasing calories is to go usual horse/farm supplies and purchase a litre of cod-liver oil, around £20, put a tablespoon of this in the dogs morning meal daily. The extra calories will have a gradual cumulative effect whilst not adding bulk to the diet. As an aside the fats are likely good for the dog’s skin condition as well.
Don’t buy cod liver oil tablets etc as these cost around 20 times as much and are more capsule than oil.
Regards s
 

spottyUnicorn

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Your probably aware that some Dally's can be prone to stone formation and to avoid this you need to be careful with the level of purins in their diet. Some of the better dried foods (that score more highly on the which dog food) contain ingredients that have a high purin level, offal for example, so they won't necessarily be best for a Dally.

There's links to purin levels in foods and further info on the British Dalmatian web site:

http://www.britishdalmatianclub.org.uk/health/index.php?action=urinary_stones_detailed

I recently researched dried food for my 5 month old Dally dog and found it a complete nightmare. There seems to be very little that doesn't contain something that is supposedly bad for them! I also found a lot of the info on purin levels a bit contradictory, and the ingredients lists on feeds often not detailed enough for you to make a proper comparison of products. I'm of the mindset now that you won't find a dried food ideal for a Dally that isn't a compromise on at least one ingredient. I settled on Arden Grange Puppy Junior for my boy which seems to suit him. He's maintaining a good healthy weight, his coat is glossy, no itching, his poo firm and he hasn't gone nuts in the head!
 

EllieBeast

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Thanks guys, plenty to look into there. I understand where everyone is coming from saying that most dogs are overweight these days, this is my first dally after a lifetime of rotties. None of which have ever been an ounce overweight, vet verified!! And having worked at a vets for 4yrs I know what to look for :). Although my pup is muscling up well, her ribs are clearly visible. And also her hips can be prominent at times too. Thanks again.
 

Blanche

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Agree with spottyUnicorn that you do have to be careful of the purine levels with dallies . Someone on the dally website fed fish4dogs to their dog and had rung up the helpline and was advised that one of their dog foods ( can't remember which one) is not suitable for dallies due to the high purines but others in their range are . They are very helpful I have heard on the helpline at Fish4dogs. I wouldn't worry too much about her weight , most of my dallies have gone through a lean , mean phase and then try to spend the rest of their life going through a fat , lard arse phase !:p
 

EAST KENT

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Dogs were designed to get their calories from all parts of a dead animal and fat is the thing they need to gain flesh and have stamina.I think cod liver oil might turn out the stomach,given insufficent amounts for weight gain.I would ask the butcher for some lumps of suet that are to be found alongside the cows stomach,chop up a few bits and add each day,this is something the greyhound training people swear by.
Obviously feeding raw as we do,our dogs do not suffer from being thin,probably the opposite in fact!
 
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