Fastest way to safely put on weight?

prairiefire · Post by **prairiefire** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:12 pm

Hello, all.

On Friday, I picked up Otto after a 6 week stay with our pro. He was unhappy with his weight when he left--had a devil of a time trying to keep weight on him. I did put Otto up at kennels in advance of his stay, hoping it would ease the transition. It did not. He had a difficult time adjusting and, between the stress of being away and the fact that he's a growing puppy (8 1/2 months), his weight dropped a fair bit.

We'll be bringing him back in a few weeks for another month of work, but I'm concerned about his weight loss--especially considering it's starting to cool off. You can see Otto's ribs and some vertebrae. He's otherwise quite healthy, UTD on vaccinations including Lymes, and has been on Heartguard since coming home as a pup. At our trainer's request, we switched Otto from Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy to Pro Plan Performance. I'm not interested in switching to other feeds. At home, he does quite well on this, and given that he'll be going back and forth between our place and the trainer's for the next several months, I don't want to be repetitively switching dog food.

Does anyone have suggestions for quickly and safely putting weight on "Skeletor"? Until I got home and looked at a calendar, I didn't realize how little time I had with Otto until he was due back--and my trainer is now on the road.

Help! I can't imagine this guy on a chain gang in mid-November.

Thanks for any advice you may be able to share.

Post by **ezzy333** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:29 pm

I am sure you are making way to much out of his weight but the best way I have found to add calories is add some vegtable oil to his feed. I would suggest 2 or 3 tablesspoon and see what that does to his appetite and also the stool.

Ezzy

prairiefire · Post by **prairiefire** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:46 pm

I'm new to GSPs, so had Greg not brought it up, I might have figured this was par for the course. Maybe you're right and I'm making a bigger deal out of this than I need to, but he seems to be getting cold outside if he's not running hard and it's only in the 50s. And all that shivering just burns more calories.

When Otto was a puppy, I tried adding vegetable oil and safflower oil to his food (before I started free feeding him, you could see 5-6 ribs and his hip bones) and he HATED it. Wouldn't touch his food.

I do appreciate the message, Ezzy. Thanks.

zodiakgsps · Post by **zodiakgsps** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:39 am

Try adding Impact to his food, it's a high concentrate fat/protein powder made by Annamaet that works well to help keep up weight. I use it every hunting season & my guys will hunt up to 3 or 4 hours a day almost every day except Sundays, with little noticable weight loss when on it.

Karen · Post by **Karen** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 7:19 am

My trainer recently had a gsp he had to send home because of weight loss. Turned out her intestinal bacteria was out of balance and she needed to be put on meds for a couple of weeks to straighten it out, so before changing anything, you may want to make a trip to the vet first. Training can be physically and emotionally stressful, and occasionally the stress will cause a phyisical ailment. It's worth ruling out.

Absent a medical issue, feed him more split into several meals. I brought my bitch home from the field trainer 10 days before she was to show at our futurity, and based on your description, she was thinner than your boy.

We fed her 5 cups of food a day spread across 3 meals and managed to get enough weight on her in 10 days for her to go best in show.

I kept her home for 2 weeks after the futurity and continued to overfeed her...4 cups of food a day in 2 meals, which was double her normal intake, and I had some really nice weight on her by the time she returned to training to be broke.

The addition of probiotics can also help with weight gain.

bobman · Post by **bobman** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:47 am

work up to four eggs daily cooked, addtional meat added to current amount of kibble,1/2 lb cooked hamburger works well and mixes well with kibble, and a couple spoonfuls of live culture yogurt.

Dont change all this in one day or it will get the runs.
Add amount gradually over 4 days.

Dont feed before exercising the dog obviously.

prairiefire · Post by **prairiefire** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:06 pm

Thank you all for the great advice.
I'm hoping to beef up the hound a bit before he heads back for training. Otherwise, if he continues to stress and drop weight, it might be Night of the Walking Dead...

Post by **topher40** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:12 pm

You can also try pouring Ensure down the pups throat, I have done that with a few and they start putting weight on pretty quick. Vegetable oils is the easiest but if your pup wont do it then get a syringe and shoot it down his throat at meal time.

Brittguy · Post by **Brittguy** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:22 pm

Adding oil or grease will make the feed more palatable. Growing puppies do need more food than adults of the same size. Definitely split the ration into two or three feedings rather than one large one. Have stool checked.

wannabe · Post by **wannabe** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:23 pm

If I can't keep weight on the dogs by increasing their food intake, I add a few ounces of lamb/goat milk replacer sprinkled on their kibble. Do not use calf milk replacer, because their guts won't handle it well.

prairiefire · Post by **prairiefire** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:33 pm

Thanks everyone for the additional advice.
The vet confirmed that Otto does not have worms or an inbalance in intestinal bacteria--he's just not an "easy keeper". Boy, do I wish I had that problem!
He is currently being fed 3X per day and he's leaving some in the bowl, so I think he's getting as much as he can comfortably pack in there. I just need to find a high cal supplement that doesn't take up too much room in there.
Now that I'm clear of medical issues, I'll experiment with the suggestions you've given me and see what works.
Again, thanks for your replies!

Theresa · Post by **Theresa** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:45 pm

One thing that works for me is 'satin balls'. I think it started as a show supplement and caught on with rescues for putting weight on ill dogs. No matter, it does the trick and the dogs love it.

Link to recipie:
http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Sa ... balls.html

mountaindogs · Post by **mountaindogs** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 12:56 pm

Theresa wrote:One thing that works for me is 'satin balls'. I think it started as a show supplement and caught on with rescues for putting weight on ill dogs. No matter, it does the trick and the dogs love it.

Link to recipie:
http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Sa ... balls.html

Do you cook it? I didn't see in the recipe that you did so I thinking you freeze it raw? Just curious. I have a dog that always quits eating at shows. It takes me weeks to get weight on him and and about 1/2 a day for him to look skinny again :roll: I have tried all kinds of supplements and he just turns up his nose at them.