Good food for weight gain

[lbequ4002]

I know i've posted before about my rescue great dane. He won't gain weight. He just doesn't eat enough. I've tried every premium dog food I could find high fat high protien, he just doesn't eat much and he's 2. I've currently got him on nutrena Loyall professional and no change. I also have him on a high calorie supplement and red cell, which I have to shove down his throat because he won't touch his food if I put it in there. No worms, coat looks great, he's very active and seems healthy in every other way, I'm just sick of seeing bones and him leaving over half his food. I thought about trying a grain free product like EVO. Has anyone had an luck with that or another brand?

[Wendy F]

Ask your feed store if they carry Good Dog 24 (protein)/20(fat). It works great at weight gain! It is the one in the red bag!

[BabyMay]

Has the Vet recommended anything? Maybe try adding a gravy to his food. Do you have a picture? My son has two Danes and they are huge.

[pasomystic]

I think you might be more anxious than necessary. Great Danes do not mature until between 3 and 4, and continue to fill out some until 5. If he is healthy, he is eating enough for him. Yes, he will look ribby and not rounded while young, but be patient. Giving him too much "fattening" foods is just harder on his internal organs. Many people try to make their dogs look like an ideal in their head, but the breed can work against that picture.

I had a woman trying to fatten up a Saluki come in the other day--her dog was 35 kilos and a little ribby. I put her in touch with a Saluki breeder who told her the dog was overweight--you are supposed to see the last ribs and the hip bones!
Hope you do have a pic--would like to see him.

[beth55051]

We have a 15 month old Dane in for training at the kennel who is on 3 cups of Canidae with 2 Fish Oil tabs and a good sized glob (1/4 cup) of plain yogurt mixed with enough hot water to thin out the yogurt slightly at each feeding. She snarfs it all down and looks for more. We're slowly trying to bring her weight up without over doing it.

Loyall Professional is meant for a high performance dog, to give them higher energy levels. Not really as a weight gain formula. Too much energy and you risk running all the weight right off.

[Sunlei]

You're going to see some ribs on a young dane, especially if due to his age he is still very narrow of body. Some danes remain very narrowly built and this type of body shape tends to show more rib and hip bones. 2 is very young for a dane, they grow slow and fill out late. Love to see a picture.

Is he neutered? hopefully he is, if not neuter him then he will get all lazy and gain tons of weight.

Danes have very deep chests and are veryy prone to bloat. It's not a good idea to stuff them with large meals.

If he's happy, active,healthy with normal everything, poo included. I'd let him eat regular smallish meals 2-3 times a day. Or free choice, eat when they want works great for many dogs, its easy.

Love to see a picture of him, my best friend has many danes..they are awesome dogs.

[lbequ4002]

He has free choice food and just kind of grazes. He is neutered of course. I also have 3 labs and they play all day. This dog was severely malnourished and wormy when we got him. I can see ribs, hip bones, sometimes he will lose a little and I'll see backbone and tailbone too! His eyes are still sunken in from not having enough fat to push them forward. They've gotten a little better but still sunken. I moved almost a year ago and my new vet just wants me to buy science diet from him, tried that. I've tried mixing in wet food with dry and doing just wet food but he will leave about half of that too sometimes more and it just gets nasty. I'll try the yogurt thing and the Canidae. I'll get some pix too.

[alliebath]

Free feeding can sometimes cause eating problems. They pick here and there, never really settle and eat a meal. You might try feeding him on a schedule - 2 times a day, set it down, give him 20 min (or whatever time you think is fair) pick it up. It might take a few days for him to understand that when you put the food down he needs to get busy - but he will figure it out. A healthy dog has never starved to death if offered food every day.

And his age and breed may be against him a bit. When I had German Shepherd Dogs, I had one male that I made feeding the focus of my life at that time. He was thin, was a terrible eater, blah, blah, blah. I begged, pleaded, tried this and that. Eventually he matured and was a fine weight and a great eater. I learned my lesson from him - no more coddling them regarding eating. Set it down, give them a choice, pick it up

[Sunlei]

Originally Posted by lbequ4002

He has free choice food and just kind of grazes. He is neutered of course. I also have 3 labs and they play all day. This dog was severely malnourished and wormy when we got him. I can see ribs, hip bones, sometimes he will lose a little and I'll see backbone and tailbone too! His eyes are still sunken in from not having enough fat to push them forward. They've gotten a little better but still sunken. I moved almost a year ago and my new vet just wants me to buy science diet from him, tried that. I've tried mixing in wet food with dry and doing just wet food but he will leave about half of that too sometimes more and it just gets nasty. I'll try the yogurt thing and the Canidae. I'll get some pix too.

Oh the poor dog. He's still out of condition from the starvation. In that case it would not hurt to add some quality protein and fat to his diet.

I'd still use a premium brand dry dogfood so you don't have to use so many cups per meal. Add some yogurt as was suggested- a little each meal, 1 cooked egg daily and get some lower quality ground beef. Cook the beef and keep it with the fat. Each meal mix in about 2 tablespoons of the beef with fat (1 ounce. per meal- this is very fatty and tasty)

He was starved poor thing, his tummy may not hold a lot. 3 or even 4 very small meals per day may work better for him untill hes recovered his condition.

Lixotinic liquid vitamins also work very well on dogs to increase appitite.

[Luvridn]

Try Cocosoya oil. I have an 18 month old Boxer that is ribbier than I would like and have started adding it to her food. She LOVES it. It smells kinda like popcorn butter with a hint of coconut. It is actually made as a horse supplement but is also approved for dogs.

http://www.uckeleequinenutrition.com...roductid =432