# Whats the best way to add weight?



## JenniferH (Oct 9, 2007)

Tanis is just over 3 months old. At his last vet visit about a week ago he was 24 pounds. My vet, who likes her dogs lean, said she thought he was a bit underweight. I was feeding just over 3 cups a day. I ended up feeding Purina One Chicken and Rice. Yes, I know...not the best but it was the only thing that fixed his belly and pudding poops. I dont plan to use it forever but it works for now. Anyway...I upped his food to 5 cups per day. He's still got pretty good poop but he still looks really skinny. I can get pics if it would help. What else can I do or is this possibly just what happens with a growing pup? Would you add canned food? Raw? 
Thanks!


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## Stephanie17s (Jun 16, 2009)

It seems that a lot of people who feed Purina end up with skinny pups. I've seen several posts here in the last few weeks about this. I understand your frustration with finding a good food that doesn't cause tummy issues. What other brands have you tried?

Would you be opposed to adding some RMB's to his diet? Once dogs are acclimated to raw, the poops seem to be very small and solid. Maybe just adding a few chicken legs to his diet every week could help. You definitely don't want to add weight quickly. My puppy is fed 75% raw and 25% Canidae, and she is in excellent shape. Lean, with great muscle tone for a young dog. 

You can also add some canned food (merrick makes tons of different kinds), raw eggs with shell, and chicken and beef chunks.


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## Stephanie17s (Jun 16, 2009)

Also, 24 lbs at 3 months doesn't seem small to me. I want to saw Lex weighed right around that, maybe a little less, at his age. Tanis could be taller then her though. A few pictures of him would be helpful.


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## DorianGrayFFM (Apr 24, 2009)

Zeus is going on seven months and he weighed in at 49lbs at the vet office yesterday. He is in perfect shape and looks the part too.

My Mrs and I both thought he was around the 60lbs mark!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

*Karlo is 6 months & weighs 65# and you can see a couple ribs on him. I feed raw and to me he looks fine, my vet says he could gain a few. Vets are use to seeing rollypolly pups/ chubby dogs. At 13 weeks he weighed 32#, but his littermates were all about 5-10# lighter, most all rawfed.*


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## marksteven (Aug 2, 2008)

Jane, your's looks great at 65 lbs. Mine was stuck at 54.8 lbs for 7 months. After supplementing him with the Enxymes from Diane and a late nite feeding after all physical activitys are done for the nite he is now up to 68.5 lbs, a gain of 13.5 lbs in 7 months. He is almost 2 yrs. and a smal to med. sized male and proportionally he looks great.


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## sgtmom52 (Aug 30, 2008)

My boy is 13 months old and only weighs 51 lbs. He is lean but not skinny. I feed TOTW. 

Your dog's weight ideal weight will depend a lot on his genetics ~ what was the size/weight of his parents? Do you have a recent picture of him?

Chance's parents were only in the 60 - 65 lbs range - so being a "light weight" is normal for him. Also he is still a puppy with lots of growing to do of the next year or two.

Chance at 1 year old....


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## JenniferH (Oct 9, 2007)

Thank you for your input. Here are a few pictures of him. He doesnt look to bad to me really. He has mostly sprouted upwards. He's gotten tall!


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## rapnek74 (Mar 19, 2009)

My pup at 7 months.... Jan 29th to Aug 29th... was 60 pounds. He is thin but you don't see any ribs. TOTW is what he gets. I wish I could get a little more weight on him. His father according to the breeder was around 100 pounds.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i ground the egg shells before giving them
to my dog. the shells are grinded fine.



> Originally Posted By: Stephanie17s
> 
> You can also add some canned food (merrick makes tons of different kinds), raw eggs with shell, and chicken and beef chunks.


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## JenniferH (Oct 9, 2007)

Now that I look more at him he doesnt really look skinny. Just looks like a lanky puppy. I am going to switch (hopefully) to california natural. I used that kibble as treats and we had no bad poop problems so maybe if I switch him very slowly I'll have good results. I do feed raw as well. Mostly as a special occasion type of thing. He had a turkey neck yesterday and did just fine. I also give the eggs, hearts, chicken and beef, etc. I am not knowledgable enough to go to raw full time yet but I hope to do so eventually.


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## rapnek74 (Mar 19, 2009)

I heard Friday from a retailer that she has had a lot of problems with California Natural.... something to do with the kibble being different often. You might want to check into it before you switch... some on here could probably tell you more about it. I don't feed it and was in a hurry so I didn't pay much attention to it.


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## JenniferH (Oct 9, 2007)

Just got back from the vet for a different "incident" and Tanis has gained 6 pounds in two weeks so he's now 30 pounds. No need for me to get all crazy. He's just a lanky growing puppy!


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## dleal1980 (Dec 10, 2010)

my black and cream 2 1/2 yr old shepherd weighs 75 to 77 pounds in the winter and about 66 to 70 pounds in the summer


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Like you said, he's lanky. Mine is lanky and was 32 pounds at 3 months. She gained 2 pounds every week from birth to 7 months then stopped (almost) completely immediately. After that it was about a poud a month up to 65 pounds (not doing the math) and stopped there. She is lanky but deep-chested and you can't feel any ribs. You can click my avatar (as with anyone) and see the album. I am too lazy to post pictures.


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

This post is pretty old.  Tanis is 1.5 years old now.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

ChancetheGSD said:


> This post is pretty old.  Tanis is 1.5 years old now.


hahahaha

Glad SOMEONE is paying attention :crazy:


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## Justin0406 (Jun 18, 2010)

Curious, I never heard of feeding a dog raw eggs (with or w/o) shell... What are the reasons ? i want to make sure my boy is getting a solid diet... (I started him off with Nutro Holistic large breed puppy and then switched to TOTW at 6.5 months... 
Concerning the chicken do you bake the chicken... Will our type of food make his dog food less attractive...?


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