# Gaining weight...?



## RoccosMom (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi, so I got my puppy when he was three months old from an unfortunate situation, he was 12 weeks and only weighed 12 pounds the people hardly fed him at all. There have been other complications since then like food allergies etc., but i weighed him today (i weigh him once a month), and he hasn't gained a single pound from month 5 to month 6! I feed him two cups twice daily of limited ingredient BB. He loves it and eats it all, but doesn't gain weight! He does run around A LOT outside with other dogs etc. I am worried for my little guy. He has always been on the smaller side anways, but he is six months and only weighs 45.7 pounds! It's alarming and i just want him to be a healthy guy. How can I help him?!


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## RoccosMom (Mar 11, 2012)

Facebook


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

His growth could be stunted from poor nutrition prior to you getting him, or if you don't know his parents it could be genetics and he may never become a very big dog. (Big as in 75+ pounds) As long as he is healthy otherwise that should be all that matters.

I can't see the FB pictures but if you could post some from above looking down on his back and with him standing from the side, we could offer better advice on if you need to up his intake or not.


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## RoccosMom (Mar 11, 2012)

I cant quite seem to figure out how to put a picture in a post? espescially from my phome? 
But i have an album of him on my profile... His hair is long so its harder to tell without touching, but i will take a pic when i get home from above. He is probably a 3 / 9 BCS ..


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Holy Crap he's cute!!

It's hard to tell from the pictures in your album if he is thin or not.

Kaos is 7 months and eats about 2,000 calories a day

Natural Dog Food, Cat Food and Puppy Food for Pets With Food Sensitivity ? California Natural
* Calorie Content *



 4092.0 kcal/kg 
 511.0 kcal/cup 
You should be able to easily feel his ribs.


And  he may just be a small male!!


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## VTcoach (Jun 28, 2005)

If he is eating all his food eagerly, and his stools are not loose, I would try feeding him another cup per day for starters. It is pretty normal for a 5-6 month old to be eating 5-6 cups of food per day.


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## RoccosMom (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks Barb amd VTcoach! Yeah it is pretty hard to get him to hold still while standing up! But yeah i will see how upping his works! 

Barb you live in Portland? Me too! Do you ever take your pup to dog parks?


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

I agree about the possibility of early poor nutrition may be the cause of a lower weight then expected now.

Woolf came from a similar situation and was only 16 lbs at 22 weeks. Now he's Mr Tall&Skinny at 21 mths - 27 in and 65 lbs.


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Hey "neighbor"!!

No, I don't take my dogs to dog parks.

When I first got Dante I took him to Gabriel, he was about 4 1/2 months old.

Then one day when he was about 7 months old, as I was entering the park I heard a woman say "Oh no it's a German Shepherd". I assumed she was afraid of them.
I walked Dante over to the picnic table to take off his leash and just as I told him "all done, go play" an Airedale came out of no where and slammed into him pinning him to the ground, snarling and biting. I glanced up for the owner who was standing there with her mouth hanging open and then reached in and pulled the Airedale off by his hind legs. 
Dante ran towards the gate but as soon as I let go of the Airedale he took off after Dante. Luckily by that time the owner had come to her senses and high tailed it after him and caught him before he reached Dante again.

I NEVER EVER EVER want to hear the screaming that came from Dante again!
If he had been a single coated dog I have no doubt that there would have been blood shed.

Now here's the thing that really put me off. A couple days later I got there with Dante and looked in and saw the same woman. I went to talk to her about her dog and she said "Well he doesn't always do that" and when I told her I thought once was enough and that a single coated breed would have been bloodied she laughed and said that she doubted that.

I left without taking Dante in and have never taken him back. I go from time to time to see the friends I made there and their dogs, but will never take one of my dogs.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Definitely adorable! 

I agree - if you've ruled out any medical issues (perfect stool is a pretty good indication that things are okay, loose stools could indicate a problem), then maybe he's just not eating as much as he should. It's hard to tell a pup's condition from a picture with the longcoats, but if you run your hand down his side you can feel if his ribs are overly prominent. You should be able to just feel the ribs, they shouldn't stick out a lot.


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## RoccosMom (Mar 11, 2012)

That is a TERRIBLE story!!! Some people really urk me! Such irresponsible owners! That is something I am always afraid of. Always look in before entering to see the dynamic of the group in there, but I live in a less busy part of town where there aren't as many 'strange' dogs... But yes the group of Germans that frequent the park are all great friends I'm glad he got to meet them. 

And yes I upped his food a couple days ago, so far so good! We will see, I also noticed that when I switched him to adult food ( he was eating half puppy/half adult as per vet advice ) and I have noticed he likes it even more to the point he will eat more instead of leaving some in his bowl when he is done. 

Thanks for the replies, a little support on my suspicions is nice!


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

Coconut milk is really good for adding calories and easy on the stomach. Most people with dogs that have Mega use this religiously. 

Your dog by that picture looks perfect. I want a long stock coat black GSD, love it.

The standard at 6 months is 57 pounds, mine was 52. There is a chart somewhere on this site that I saved in excell on my desktop. I can email it to you. Skinny is better than over weight


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

There's no standard for growing puppies. They grow at their own rates. My boy was at least 10 lbs smaller than all the dogs at our club he grew up with, and now he's bigger than most of them at 85 lbs. I'd predict his full weight would be about 70-80 lbs which is perfect in my opinion.

Do you have any estimate on the size of the parents? That would give you a better estimate of his end size...but since you rescued you might not ever know. He looks great in that picture and I wouldn't worry about it that much. My boy was definitely in the low 40s at 6 months of age, and he had parvo at 8 weeks.


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