Getting weight on our stray

[Baileysno1]

We adopted a dog at the weekend from the rescue kennels, he's proving an absolute super star, he is a bit of a hybrid, lab x spaniel x basette hound features all mixed together, hes very happy fully house trained and has settled in brilliantly. He seems in good health hes off to be neutured next week and we'll get him fully checked over then, he has been wormed and vaccinated unfortunately he was very under weight when he arrived at the kennels he was picked up by the dog warden and in the pound for a week then in the rescue kennels for a further fortnight, we are feeding him dried food on the recomendation of the kennel staff (the new natural pegree dry complete) it recomends 200g for a medium sized dog we are giving him about 150g morning and night which he wolfs down without taking a breath, hes very active and has gone for 2 daily walks a day for about an hour each most of which he runs circles around us. His coat is lovely but his waist is tiny and you can see all his ribs I'll post photos tomorrow but if anyone has any nutritional recomendations to slowly increae his weight please advise.

 

[AmyMay]

I'd split the meals in to about 5 a day and feed him more than the recommended amount overall.

I'd feed wet as well as biscuits tbh - and if you can introduce fresh, red meat as well - all the better.

 

[CorvusCorax]

You can also stick in some veg oil/natural yoghurt for conditioning/to make it yummier!

I have a bitch who runs off all her energy when outside and is hard to keep weight on her - when I am at home and she is not out walking she is in the house with me in a large crate. In two weeks I can see a difference already, she is looking so much better.
However I appreciate some dogs are not happy in crates so maybe see how that one goes.

 

[BigRed]

Shutting a dog in a crate just to keep weight on it seems a bit unfair to me, but perhaps I misunderstood Hacking-Hack.


You have a heinz 57, so you don't know whether he comes from a breed that naturally is lean - my whippets never get fat and they get to eat all day if they want. If I want to put weight on my dogs I add some pasta to their diet. I also buy them fatty foods like lamb breasts, which are very cheap from a butcher.

It is early days yet, so I wouldn't worry about trying to get weight on him, just concentrate on having a happy partnership, when his knacks come off, you may find he gets a bit plumper anyway.

 

[Baileysno1]

Thanks for the advice, will introduce a 'lunch' too, we will start adding some cooked food at dinner time if we have rice pasta, veges or something. The kennel staff said not to give him fresh dog meat as it might be a bit rich to start with although we'll start adding it in a few weeks, I don't want to upset his tummy and him lose anymore, whats going in doesn't seem to be coming straight out the other end so hopefully its all getting digested correctly.

He goes in a run during the day and is in the house after his walks where hes pretty settled anyway so don't think he'd benefit much from the crate, hes just crazy out walking but I suppose thats a good sign if he was seriously undernurished I suppose he wouldn't have the energy.

 

[CAYLA]

Tracey.......... HH, means she is crated for periods as opposed to being in her kennel, to stop her getting herself hyped up to save her weight as she does not want her loosing anymore then neccesary and her energy for training classes, she is not literally shut in the cage to keep her weight on, she walks the legs off those beasties

Re te OP, I would not overly worry, the stress of the kennels, pacing and anxiety will have no doubt made him drop a good few kilos, plus he is entire at the moment, he will fill out once castrated, and as HH suggests adding vegie oil to a good diet help put the pounds on.

 

[CorvusCorax]

[ QUOTE ]
Tracey.......... HH, means she is crated for periods as opposed to being in her kennel, to stop her getting herself hyped up to save her weight as she does not want her loosing anymore then neccesary and her energy for training classes, she is not literally shut in the cage to keep her weight on, she walks the legs off those beasties

Thanks Cala, that is exactly what I am doing, you have explained it very well!
I thought I might get a response like that, so, OP, I hope you do not mind a thread hijack, so may I explain?

Tracey, please don't think I am being cruel, when I am out, she is out in her run/kennel, when I am in the house, she is in with me and she loves it. And the rest of the time she has a forest park at her disposal.

I took this course of action at the recommendation of her breeder, a breed warden who has bred, worked and shown GSDs for 40 years and also from a top police dog handler.

She was running up and down and in circles, exercising herself, and as her owner/pack leader, I should be the one exercising her - but by the time I was taking her out she was exhausted and a few weeks ago she was looking like a whippet.

Another benefit is that, from being a very neurotic dog, she is a lot calmer - she is being exposed to noises like a microwave, dishwasher etc and she appears a lot happier and more focused on training as she is not exhausted.
In the two weeks I have been doing it her weight, condition and demeanor has vastly improved.

And as Cala says, my dogs do not want for exercise, they go to a very intensive training class as well as their walks, in fact I would say they get maybe the top limit for their age for not being in full competiton/work mode, they are very fit and if anything, I am the one who is suffering!

Phew. I think I explained myself, sorry again to the OP

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

The other thing worth trying is tinned sardines in oil or tomato sauce - they are high in all the good oils so really good for coat, skin etc (although breath can be a bit smelly straight after eating....

) mine always have at least a tin a week. Get them from any supermarket.

 

[Oneofthepack]

That sounds like an interesting mix

I've had a few underweight strays and I've found the best way is to just give them the amount and the feed that you intend giving them long term as they will then gain the weight slowly, hit the optimum weight and keep it. Unless they have been starved there's no real need to split the meals into 3 either as that's really only necessary to accustom their digestive systems to food again. I spoilt Liz by giving her 3 meals a day to start with and now she won't have it that she's down to 2 and tears the place apart looking for lunch