hi guys,

I rescued a gorgeous BullmastiffxStaffy about 4 months ago. she was very skinny when i got her and lucky to be alive. Every other puppy in the litter besides one other died of malnutrition including the parents, so you could imagine the state she was in. I have tried every type and brand of dog biscuits out there which she wouldn't eat and have had to resort to meat with a sprinkling of biscuits. i feed her about 150g of dog meat twice a day plus biscuits so its quite alot for a little girl but she's still so skinny her ribs are fully showing and she doesn't have alot of 'beef' around her neck or where she should do.

I've tried to keep from over-exercising her but she has endless energy.

does anyone have any ideas on how I can get her to put on weight without bloating her? any ideas appreciated.

What dog food are you feeding?

Are you giving her puppy food, or adult dog food? In her case, you need something that is not only nutritious, but also calorie dense-- puppy food has that. Since she doesn't seem so keen on cookies/biscuits, experiment with some other things, including people snacks-- maybe even top her dinner with some of your leftovers, especially gravy. In fact, you can buy gravies for topping dog food in the pet food aisle, so you don't have to make gravy for yourself every night. Calories, calories, calories. She still needs the exercise; exercise actually stimulates growth. Just try and pack on the calories every way you can. In this case, you can spoil her without guilt! Cheese is also a high calorie treat that overweight dogs' owners have to be very sparing about giving-- but your girl can have some every day-- and cheese is a good source of protein, too. Peanut Butter is also a high calorie protein. Stuff a kong with peanut butter and cheese, there ya go!

Give her food that is high in calories so that she will still have the energy. I think biscuits are not enough if your want your pup to gain weight.

I would also suggest, if not already done so, to take her off and be looked over by a vet, just to make sure there is no underlying medical reason for her not gaining weight, have you given her regular good quality worming tablets and checked for other parasites, several of which can deplete the system of vital minerals and vitamins, also leading to weight management issues? Just another thought anyway.

I second NattieJ's recommendation--first stop should be the vet to make sure there are no medical reasons for the puppy not putting on weight.

Once that is done--personally I would put her on a homemade diet that is calorie dense and high protein. I'd also give her yogurt with active cultures or kefir to help populate her intestinal tract with good bacteria. This will not only help her digestion but also boost her immune system.

Hiya,

Have you considered feeding your pup a raw diet? I foster many dogs and cats with health issues, underweight, vaccine damage, allergies and lack of nutrition for many reasons, and most of them come around beautifully once they receive a species appropriate diet of raw meat and bones. Don't forget, your little pooch is closest related to the coyote, and a coyote mom doesn't feed dog biscuits in the wild.

It is also a lot cheaper to feed than those supposedly "high quality" kibble foods. It costs me about half to feed a German Shepherd raw than holistic kibble.

There are good books out there that help you to change your dog over:

Natural Nutrition for Dogs And Cats
by Kymythy Schulze
Welcome to Dogwise.com - Dog Books

The Nature of Animal Healing
by Dr. Martin Goldstein (this is a holistic bible for pet owners!)
Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more

It's A Dog's Life ~ Empowering Pet Owners To Make Confident Decisions
by Corinna Bollmann
It's A Dog's Life

Regarding the Yogurt: Unless you buy organic yogurt without the use of steroids, grow hormones and other unhealthy contents, I'd be careful feeding yogurt. You might be better off giving probiotics from the health food store, make sure they are vegetable based.

Let me know if you have any questions about raw. I am sure I can help.

Have a great day!
Corinna

Doggieminder
Crate-free dog daycare and boarding

First Aid for Pets
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I mainly do feed her meat except it isn't raw meat i don't think (what do you mean by raw?) its dog roll and then i sprinkle a bit of biscuits on top. i do worm her, but i think she is about due now i'll see if that helps if not she's off to the vet. i'm sick of the looks i'm getting from other dog owners! I never thought of feeding her cheese and peanut butter!

Originally Posted by Crazy

I mainly do feed her meat except it isn't raw meat i don't think (what do you mean by raw?) its dog roll and then i sprinkle a bit of biscuits on top. i do worm her, but i think she is about due now i'll see if that helps if not she's off to the vet. i'm sick of the looks i'm getting from other dog owners! I never thought of feeding her cheese and peanut butter!

Dogs are crazy about cheese and peanut butter. I use peanut butter to get my dog to take his medicine--and have to give the other dog a lick of peanut butter at the same time.

By raw meat, they are talking about as in uncooked meat from the butcher. Not sure what you mean by "dog roll". You can google "BARF" or "raw food diet canine" to get more specifics on this type of home prepared diet.

I think you should seek the advice of a vet. Tell him the type of food you are giving the pup and ask him what kind of diet or dog food is best to let her gain some weight.

[lil mutt]

ask your vet to check if there are other parasites in your dog aside from worms and there are also dog vitamins available on the market that you can try.