# 6 month old puppy won't gain weight or eat?



## AbbysMomma (Jan 14, 2014)

We ended up spending top dollar on a GS due to the owners not taking care of her one bit. When we got her she was 18 lbs at 5 months, had no shots, covered in fleas. Basically you name everything that a owner needs to do, they didn't do. Now she's 6 months old, her coat looks better, good health, and what not. Except she's not gaining weight, she's 26 pounds but only eats about 3 cups a day at most  I have no idea what to do or what to feed her now. I separate our rottie & plott hound from her when she's eating so they don't try to push her out of the way & steal her food. Any suggestions on food, eating arrangements, etc? Open to any suggestions. She's way to small for her age and it kills me to see her so thin


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

I can't tell you anything about suggested weight or size for your pup, we are also fairly new owners. But ours love http://www.orijen.ca/ dog food. We feed the grain free puppy formula. They love it....it is very rich and makes their coat so silky and soft. Ours are just over a year old. The male will eat 1 3/4 cup at a time but our female will only eat about a cup at a time. She is about 7lbs smaller than our male....but she just walks always after she is full...she never eats over a cup at a time. They eat three times a day....if your pup needs to gain weight a richer food may help, I would also suggest a grain free for shepherds. Our extended family had a shepherd, coat was dry and rough, hit spots all over. They saw our dogs coat and switched....within a couple of weeks...their shepherd had a Beautiful coat and had started getting softer....his hot spots had started doing better. After 6 weeks....he had gained 8lbs, NO hotspots, and his coat was like another dog. Food makes a big difference....
Good luck! Sounds like your pup got lucky saving it from a long life if neglect. 


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

but she has gained weight . At 5 months 18 pounds . One month later at 6 months 26 pounds . 8 pounds in one month , 2 pounds a week . I would say that is a good gain. Especially since a lot of energy and gain was in catching up !
so good job . 
make sure the food is high quality - not loaded with filler


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

carmspack said:


> but she has gained weight . At 5 months 18 pounds . One month later at 6 months 26 pounds . 8 pounds in one month , 2 pounds a week . I would say that is a good gain. Especially since a lot of energy and gain was in catching up !
> so good job .
> make sure the food is high quality - not loaded with filler


Agreed....


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## Corvus Laeus (Nov 28, 2012)

2lbs a week seem pretty good for a weight gain. My little 11week old had a couple of roundworms he just passed and is back to growing like a weed. 

I have him on grain-free Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy at ~3.2 cups a day.


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## AbbysMomma (Jan 14, 2014)

Thank you everybody for the suggestions! I'm defiantly going to switch her food and see if that helps her. Her coat is still a little rough, but that will improve along with everything. Her poop I noticed today was very runny  looks like she has an upset tummy. She's been sleeping alot in her crate this morning which isn't her normal behavior


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

do make sure that she has been wormed - check for giardia and coccidia

what have you been feeding her ?


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

AbbysMomma said:


> Thank you everybody for the suggestions! I'm defiantly going to switch her food and see if that helps her. Her coat is still a little rough, but that will improve along with everything. Her poop I noticed today was very runny  looks like she has an upset tummy. She's been sleeping alot in her crate this morning which isn't her normal behavior


:-( Poor baby.....


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## AbbysMomma (Jan 14, 2014)

Here's a picture of her I took this morning. We feed her blue buffalo same as my other two get. I forgot to add the weight gain was during a 2 week period. It's stopped since , but she has maintained it


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## AbbysMomma (Jan 14, 2014)

carmspack said:


> do make sure that she has been wormed - check for giardia and coccidia
> 
> what have you been feeding her ?



She was checked for worms & treated when we first got her.
She has an appointment set up next week for further testing, all they said in the beginning was feed her good, & go from there since she was so malnourished


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

I will say there were weeks that neither of ours gained weight....it seems like shepherds grow in spurts...one week nothing, next week 5lbs...crazy growth patterns. Not sure if this is normal but seems to be the case with both of ours. 

Good luck! I hope you figure it out....it can be stressful worrying about them. 


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

you have to ask for giardia test specifically Giardia antigen tests

symptoms would be loss of appetite , watery stool, tummy pain and gas .

ideally you should do it more than once .


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

I had a horrible time with giardia. Watery poop, vomiting, weight loss etc. Some vet clinics can't check for giardia and send the stool sample out for testing, so make sure that was something they specifically checked for. Did they check for Coccidia as well?

I also had problems with food sensitivities and changing to raw pretty much changed it overnight. I had my pup on Orijen & Acana (both good quality kibble) but I don't think anything is as good as a raw diet IMO.

If everything else checks out, maybe give raw a try? I was nervous about balancing the diet properly, so I started with a prepared diet and slowly started to incorporate whole raw foods.

Beautiful pup by the way.  Hope you get things sorted out with her.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

she is beautiful -- remember to have realistic expectations on her eventual adult weight . She looks pretty good right now, maybe a bit more cushion . Looks like she might have gained a bit of height , shot up like a bean in growth ? Looks like she is medium boned , and tight dry in muscle .


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