Dog needs to gain weight

[Jennifer B]

I have a 1.5 year old female boxer. She has always been relatively small for a boxer, about 50lbs right now. She is skinny though you can usually see her ribs. I am told she is healthy and will fill out as she gets older and less energetic. I would like her to gain at least 5 lbs though. I have been feeding her about 4 cups of Taste of the Wild dry food a day. Any suggestions on the protein content or a certain type of food I should feed her that might help her gain weight? I get a lot of looks from people who apparently think I do not feed my dog… Thanks.

[Melissaandcrew]

Lol. I have been there with a thin dog that just doesn’t gain. I would try Victor Ultra Pro or Abady granular. The Abady is almost 800 cals per cup. Its granulated and looks like dirt, lol, but it works wonders for weight gain. You can get a small box and just add a bit to each meal. Please note that both these foods are higher fat, so if your dog is fat sensitive, use caution. We have used them many times over the past year and have yet to have a rescue fail to gain with them.

[theBCnut]

I prefer to think of it as brown sugar like instead of dirt like.

[pugmomsandy]

You can also add calories by adding some fat/oil. A Tbs of coconut oil has about 120 calories. There are also several recipes online for Satin Balls. You can also look for a food with a higher fat content and more calories per cup. Maybe a food for puppies, performance or working dogs.

[Shasta220]

I’ve not dealt with weight problems much, but the only logical thing I could think of is to get some extra fat and protein in there. Possibly adding coconut/fish oils and raw meats? Abady sounds like a good additive as well.

[InkedMarie]

The BCNut is correct, brown sugar consistency is correct.

[dogspotindia]

Just add some meat, egg and some fat in your dogs diet.

[thegoodlife]

You can try liver powder. I am a pet trainer and I just tell my clients to sprinkle a bit of this on their pets dry food once a day https://www.wholebites.com/index.php/benny-bullys-livermix-crumbs-and-powder-pet-treats.html

[mountainhound]

Totw is one of the lowest calorie grain free foods on the market, I would try something like Canidae Pure. For example Totw High prarie is 370 cal per cup vs Canidae Land (bison) is 474, Sea (fish based)-496 and Sky (duck/turkey)- 520.

so you could start out with land for easier transition and go from there. You can also add some digestive enzymes for increased absorption.

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