Hoping i can get some piece of mind here.

My husband and I rescued a Rottie in 1999 she was very malnurished.. very skinny..... and living out side in mud....

well every winter she seems to loose the weight we put on her during the summer..

We've switched dog food (iams, pedigree, gravy train, generaic, dog chow, puppy chow, pedigree puppy, iams puppy) various times and still no difference...
except for certain ones give her runny poop..... We are very concerned.....

she has been tested for everything nothing Found... and is up to date on everything untill Oct of this year..
fortunately she has NEVER had any PUPS. and she is not SPAYED!! ..

we try not to exercise her too much due to her weight problem..... even though she is VERY HYPER....

she is 9 yrs old and other wise active and healthy looking..

but only weights between 50-70 LBS..... the most she weighted was almost 90 lbs....

any suggestion??? I would really love anyones input..... on how to fatten her up....and keep the weight on..

Well she has been tested for everything but heart worms THIS YEAR....
She is SKINNY you can see her rib cage and hip bones.. Vet said to feed her Dog food with lots of fat.. but it gives her Runny poop.... She is on 10 cups of DOG CHOW now, and she dont even eat it all, through out the day, but she does DRINK LOTS of water.. almost to the fact of getting herself to bloat..

Plus her head isnt as large as it usually is in the summer...

SUMMER time she gains weight....
Their is no FAT right now.. Although she is still pretty active (hyper), and she PULLS on walks....

another issue we have is She is very DOMINATE towards me while EATING and BATHING... She growls at me.. and the KIDS when she is eating.... I dont trust her when she is eating.. or even when she has a toy.. Im afraid she will bite me (as she has a few times).... The Lady we got her from had her CHAINED out side (on a 5ft chain) in the muddy yard... When we took her She Practially Jumped up into my arms.... I loved her then.. I still love her but I dont trust her.... I believe she can tell that.... But she hates my cats too.. and she has to stay in the basement unless my husband is home.....

I have been trying to find a harness to attach a sled or pull cart to but have been unsuccessful at it.... To help her release some pint up energy... Right now its below Zero here and I dont like keeping her out walking too long....
With how skinny she is.. and the temps..

I agree with everyone! She needs to get spayed! As for the weight issue, I am at a loss. You cannot have a dog that is dominant over you, you must be the alpha dog. She needs obediance training ASAP, or she needs to go to a new home. If you find her a new home, male sure that there are no cats,and no small children. Please do not send her to a shelter! But you need to fix this problem. Part of her problem sounds like she needs more to do. More time to burn energy.

Give her some slightly cooked chicken and steak with her food. Do not take her activity away though it means too much to her

She HAS NOT bitten me or anyone!! just groweled and turned her head as if she were to bite me... She's only this way with FOOD and TOYS!!! other than that is very loveable and wants attention.. I just dont want her to take something from my kids and they try and take it back and she does try and bit them.... Im thinking about obidence classes for her but im worried too!!

Now she does PEE alot.. about every 30min or so.. I cleaned her pen and she pees right away.. no warning or nothing....
Rotts are very stubborn !! she goes out to pee comes in and pees with in 15mins of being inside...

She is starting to fatten up again.. a little.. you can count her ribs (and see them), and still see her hip bones.. I been giving her puppy food/table scraps/ and HOT water (she wont eat it dry or cold water).. Lately we feed her and next morning she still has alot of food left.. I dont even think she is eating the 8 cups a dog her size is supose to be eating a day.... but she DRINKS about 3 gallons of water a day (enought to make her bloat)!!

she chases my 2 little dogs.. and my cats all over the house!! she Just dont lay down and relax!!! My other lg dog (younger and laid back)dont really mess with any of the other pets!!

Well Im not loosing faith in her.. For the past couple of days I been feeding her out of my hand!! I get a handful of food and feed her with it and pet her while she is eating.. and she dont growl???? but if I allow her to eat out of the BOWL she growls at me.. I then take it away from her. and she trys to butter me up (by leaning and trying to cuddle) and wants attention thinking i will give it back to her.. I give it a few minutes and try it again.... I dont give the food back until she sits and listens then i give her more food out of my hand and pet her then allow her to eat out of the bowl.... I complete this process for about 45 minutes to 1 hr.. as a form of dicipline and training at the same time..

I do love her and have been working with her..
I have scheduled a VET appointment with a different vet and see what their point of the weight thing might be....

She is still confined to a small area but I do give her exercise about a 20 minute walk in the evening.. then play with her in the confined area (with the kids).. and train her at night with about 45 minutes of training (with the food and such).. I also have her confined cause if she does have something I dont want the other animals to get it..

Originally Posted by 4dogsandcounting

Hoping i can get some piece of mind here.

My husband and I rescued a Rottie in 1999 she was very malnurished.. very skinny..... and living out side in mud....

well every winter she seems to loose the weight we put on her during the summer..

We've switched dog food (iams, pedigree, gravy train, generaic, dog chow, puppy chow, pedigree puppy, iams puppy) various times and still no difference...
except for certain ones give her runny poop..... We are very concerned.....

she has been tested for everything nothing Found... and is up to date on everything untill Oct of this year..
fortunately she has NEVER had any PUPS. and she is not SPAYED!! ..

we try not to exercise her too much due to her weight problem..... even though she is VERY HYPER....

she is 9 yrs old and other wise active and healthy looking..

but only weights between 50-70 LBS..... the most she weighted was almost 90 lbs....

any suggestion??? I would really love anyones input..... on how to fatten her up....and keep the weight on..

Your problem seems to be the food you give your dog, all brands you mentioned are full of fillers and meat by products. Which means it's probably full of rendered cats and dogs!
Try holistic dog food and you'll see a drastic change, the weight will stay and improve and so will his over all health. What i mean by rendered is dead dogs and cats that are put into dog food these days, some have diseases. Peta is the main manufactuer who produces rendered cats and dogs, in the brands you mentioned.

You could even try a mixture of kibble with a partial raw meat diet, it would probably be a major improvement, my dogs, do get kibble, but we give alot of raw mixed, and my vet is very happy with how they are! Good Luck!

well vet just called at 8pm tonight with the blood work on Tasha..

her white blood count is high..

has Hook worms just got reciently (didnt have before) could be why she is loosing weight..

she is anemic (loosing weight and hair, and dry skin).. want to find out why???

Vet wants us to bring her in on MONDAY morning so they can sedate her and do a xray of her abdomin (she is looking at getting spay done on MONDAY possibly)

Funny though I have 2 males walking around here, That just got neutered yesterday.. and she will possibly be getting spayed on monday.. house full of recovering pets..

said she moody cause she just in the end of her heat cycle..

I will keep you all posted as to what is happening..

I really like the new vet..
She is very nice and understanding .. not like some of the others we had.. (get in get out... do this and it will eventually work.. you need to put her down, she has agression issues...)
she told us pets start having hair and skin problems first when they have other issues....

she also stated the agression is possibly from her not being spayed.. and if it dont help it should calm her down some and we can then work on agression (possision) issues but they can be fixed..

she wants to treat the infection problem first.. then worry about the worming problem... she dont want to start worming if it is going to interfear with something more seriouse. (if she has small internal bleeding she dont want the worming meds to make things complicated.) as long as she is eating... even though she only weighs about 55 1/2 lbs.... shes not throwing up.. got runny poop... or anything else... she is Just peeing alot.. could be kidney problems,

That is why they are also doing xrays monday.. on KIDNEYS , stomach (lump she thinks she found)... and uterus...

SO far we spent about $175 in 1 day just for bloodwork...
Heart worm NEGATIVE... healthy.. and strong..

well we got her spayed and 2 days later she bit me... for giving attention to another dog...

now the delima do we find another home???

or put her down???

or keep her in a pen outside??

she is 10 1/2 yrs old..

still very much healthy,and active..

but I have other pets and children (16, 14, 9, and 3) too ...

what should we do she has been with our family for about 8 and 1/2 yrs...

Thanks RAGGS... we decided to keep her even after she bit me shortly after the surgery.... I cant make my self put her down .. we have had her to long..

She is doing really great though still some Posession issues.. but we leave her alone when she has something.. Shes been in the house sence her surgery, and she gets along great with the other dogs.. I have a SHARPIE /BOXER mix and they play all the time.. hes so big and she gets him wound up and they get to growling and playing in the house its so funny WE have NEVER seen her play that way ever..

She dont really bother the other dogs.. But now she knows she isnt king of the house.. she listens to my husband alot more now too .. when she starts growling he throws water in her face and she stops, gets up and walks away..

Good for you for hanging in there with her. Sounds like you made the right decision in finding a new vet. I wish you luck. Continue to keep us posted please. I'm begining to feel like I know this dog and I truely want to know how things go.