[clm86]

I need some help in selecting a dog food for my one Swissie…

Here’s the scoop: I have 2 Swiss Mountain Dogs. One is a 4 y/o bitch, who has the stomach of a garbage disposal, and could eat steel and be fine. Her weight is perfect. The other one is a 3 y/o neutered dog, sensitive skin/stomach, who I can’t put weight on for the life of me! He’s not overly skinny, but just tall and lean. We started out by feeding them Diamond Extreme Athlete. Holy gassy mess. And the male would get diarrhea every time we got a new bag. (?). So I’ve switched the female to Diamond Chicken and Rice– she’s fine on that. The male is currently on Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach (salmon)…and while he’s handling it well, I don’t see any changes in weight (he’s been on this for about 2 weeks now, so maybe I’m just being inpatient?)

What would you suggest to pack on some calories without being harsh on the stomach? Oh– I forgot to mention, he gets 6C of the Pro Plan daily. (Recommended is like 4-5). I was considering throwing in some wet food with his dry food, but it would have to be something PACKED with calories.

Suggestions, anyone?

Thanks!

• This topic was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Mike Sagman.
• This topic was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Mike Sagman.

[InkedMarie]

I do not yet have experience in this but take a look at Dr. Tim’s food. He (Dr Tim) actually called me on the phone today! I will be picking up some of his Pursuit. It’s rated very well here on the DFA. Look at PetFlow.com and Chewy.com to buy, unless you have a place close enough to you.

[BryanV21]

To start, for the gas issue, try adding a pro/pre-biotic to the food, which will help aid digestion. Adding plain yogurt will sometimes help, but the higher amount of good bacteria that a pro/prebiotic provides would likely work better.

As far as adding more calories/fat to the food, you can try Evanger’s game meats. They are not a full diet, but are meat-only, so are to used as a topper not a replacement. That way you don’t have to worry about anything like extra minerals, you’re just adding fat and calories.

[Hound Dog Mom]

clm86 –

Considering your dog’s issues I think Abady granular would be worth looking into. It would be a great food for putting weight on a dog – it’s high fat with around 800 calories per cup (about twice as many calories per cup as kibble). I’ve also heard dogs with sensitive stomachs do well on it.

Wet food is definitely a good addition to dry food, but it wouldn’t help much as far as adding calories. Due to its high moisture content wet food is generally much less calorie-dense than dry food.

I had issues getting my female bloodhound (now two years old) to gain weight and it wasn’t until I switched her to a high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate homemade raw diet that I got her to gain anything (she’s still skinny but looks a lot better than before she was on raw). She eats 2 lbs. of meat per day with extras – such as eggs, cottage cheese and kefir – plus supplements and veggies and I was able to get her to put on 5 (much needed!) pounds after three months on raw and now she’s maintaining nicely. I aim for her meals to be 40-50% protein and 30-40% fat. So if you’ve got the time and money a high fat homemade diet would probably be the best option. The other benefit of homemade is you can tailor it to the needs of your sensitive dog since you control all the ingredients that go into it.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Marie – Let everyone know how the Dr. Tim’s works out. I’m curious, it looks like a great food but I don’t know anyone that’s fed it.

[pugmomsandy]

Wouldn’t adding in some coconut oil or olive oil add some calories to the diet? Even a fatty fish – if there is such a thing, since the sensitive one is eating salmon kibble.

[InkedMarie]

HDM: it’ll be awhile. Two weeks ago, I ordered a bunch of Nutrisca (4lb bags) from Doggiefood.com; still waiting for it to arrive. I called today to cancel the order but they said it is due in on Friday. If I don’t have an email by Monday, telling me it’s been shipped, I am going to call and cancel.
Whenever I do put her on the Pursuit, I will let you know

[DogFoodie]

Hey Marie, You could always refuse delivery of the doggie food.com order.

Hi clm86,

What about Nutrisurce Super Performance: http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/nutrisource/products/super_performance. It has 529 kcal per cup.

[InkedMarie]

Well, I could refuse the order but I’d have to be home and they will have already charged my card. If I have no email telling me it’s shipped by Monday, I’m going to just cancel it.

[Melissaandcrew]

I would second the Abady granular-I feed it to a “hard keeper” with sensitive stomach and to date, she is doing very very well. Have also used it to put weight on two others(mixed with their regular food) and it worked well with all of them ; )

[InkedMarie]

Melissa, glad you piped up….I didn’t realize you were feeding Abady til a few days ago. What Abady in particular are you feeding? To all your dogs?

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