My dog is too skinny, what should I be researching?
January 20, 2015 12:59 PM Subscribe
We have a 14 month old previously feral rescue. You've heard about him before, but he has his own blog if you're dying for more photos. He was 27lbs when we got him, he's now up to 31, but his ribs and spine are still faintly visible and very easy to feel, even with his winter coat. The vet says he's too skinny.
He's about to fly cross country, so we took him in for a checkup, and the vet said he should be about 40lbs, ideally, and wanted to talk about maybe using some meds but then didn't want to get into what meds when we said we wanted to think about that option.
We're finding a new vet soon because we're moving, so that part is easy. But I'm wondering what else we should be looking at/for? Some details:
+ we don't really know how much he eats. 2-4 cups of kibble a day. We refill the bowl when it is empty, but he rarely eats it all in one sitting. If I hear him eating and then he walks over and stares at me, I know he's eaten it all and I add more. But basically, we just keep the bowl full since he doesn't scarf it.
+ he gets a bone or kong full of kibble and peanut butter when we leave him alone. He devours that. He'll lick a fried egg plate clean as a whistle. Liver? Gone.
+ we've been giving him more Zuke bones and bully sticks in preparation for the move. He's going to lose a day of eating in the flight, at least. He will barf up whatever is in his stomach and it will probably take him a bit to adjust to his new surroundings (and the kids and I won't be joining him for a few months).. I mentioned to the vet that we've been "trying to fatten him up" and he said we shouldn't have to try.
+ he had a routine stool test that didn't turn anything up.
+ his stool is soft but solid (like...I can never get it all off the grass so I try to steer him to woodchips or leaves) and often he has a second or third business that is just a few plops of pudding (Sorry. I know.). The vet says we should be getting solid tootsie rolls every time. We get them some of the time, but definitely not reliably.
+ he was a feral rescue. He's pretty frightened of new people, and has all kinds of wacky phobias that come out on walks. Laundry carts, scooters, fast moving children all terrify him, and there are a few spots -- the entrance to a basement up the street, for instance, that freak him out inexplicably. He pulls all the way to the curb and crouches his way past them.
+ he absolutely LOVES other dogs. His heaven is romping in the off leash area. He gets about an hour of chasing other dogs every morning. The rest of his walks are more sedated.
Someone suggested that his food is just not sufficiently appetizing. I'm open to changing it, but I'm very curious about the idea that there's something medically wrong with him. Anything I should be researching? Suggestions for helping him gain weight?
He's about to fly cross country, so we took him in for a checkup, and the vet said he should be about 40lbs, ideally, and wanted to talk about maybe using some meds but then didn't want to get into what meds when we said we wanted to think about that option.
We're finding a new vet soon because we're moving, so that part is easy. But I'm wondering what else we should be looking at/for? Some details:
+ we don't really know how much he eats. 2-4 cups of kibble a day. We refill the bowl when it is empty, but he rarely eats it all in one sitting. If I hear him eating and then he walks over and stares at me, I know he's eaten it all and I add more. But basically, we just keep the bowl full since he doesn't scarf it.
+ he gets a bone or kong full of kibble and peanut butter when we leave him alone. He devours that. He'll lick a fried egg plate clean as a whistle. Liver? Gone.
+ we've been giving him more Zuke bones and bully sticks in preparation for the move. He's going to lose a day of eating in the flight, at least. He will barf up whatever is in his stomach and it will probably take him a bit to adjust to his new surroundings (and the kids and I won't be joining him for a few months).. I mentioned to the vet that we've been "trying to fatten him up" and he said we shouldn't have to try.
+ he had a routine stool test that didn't turn anything up.
+ his stool is soft but solid (like...I can never get it all off the grass so I try to steer him to woodchips or leaves) and often he has a second or third business that is just a few plops of pudding (Sorry. I know.). The vet says we should be getting solid tootsie rolls every time. We get them some of the time, but definitely not reliably.
+ he was a feral rescue. He's pretty frightened of new people, and has all kinds of wacky phobias that come out on walks. Laundry carts, scooters, fast moving children all terrify him, and there are a few spots -- the entrance to a basement up the street, for instance, that freak him out inexplicably. He pulls all the way to the curb and crouches his way past them.
+ he absolutely LOVES other dogs. His heaven is romping in the off leash area. He gets about an hour of chasing other dogs every morning. The rest of his walks are more sedated.
Someone suggested that his food is just not sufficiently appetizing. I'm open to changing it, but I'm very curious about the idea that there's something medically wrong with him. Anything I should be researching? Suggestions for helping him gain weight?
Huskies tend to be skinny and long lived, at his age I wouldn't worry about it much if he's healthy. (Assuming he's been wormed etc). He'll probably fill out by age 3 as much as he's going to.
Although my friend has a 9 year old who's ribs and hips still stick out. Its not at all uncommon in the breed. Healthy as a horse, never gained any weight his entire life.
posted by fshgrl at 1:05 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Although my friend has a 9 year old who's ribs and hips still stick out. Its not at all uncommon in the breed. Healthy as a horse, never gained any weight his entire life.
posted by fshgrl at 1:05 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Well, "2-4 cups of kibble a day" is about as vague as you can get. Before you start changing anything up, I'd try to get a better handle on how many calories your dog's eating per day. Can you guys start keeping better track of how much food you put down daily, even if you're free-feeding him, and then use Dog Food Advisor's Calorie Counter to figure out how much he's eating?
That will give you and your new vet a much better handle on whether there's likely a problem, before you even have to run a single blood test.
posted by deludingmyself at 1:09 PM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
That will give you and your new vet a much better handle on whether there's likely a problem, before you even have to run a single blood test.
posted by deludingmyself at 1:09 PM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
When our sweet rescue puppy, Dodger could not gain weight and had super soft poop we started eliminating things from his diet. Turns out he cannot eat anything with grain in it or he has explosive diarrhea all over everything! (Ask me how I know!)
You might try switching to a grain free dog food (we use the Costco salmon grain free and really like it because it's got good stuff in it and is relatively cheap) and see if that helps.
posted by Saminal at 1:21 PM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
You might try switching to a grain free dog food (we use the Costco salmon grain free and really like it because it's got good stuff in it and is relatively cheap) and see if that helps.
posted by Saminal at 1:21 PM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Our dog wasn't hugely interested in food and rarely emptied his bowl, until we started adding a couple of spoons of goat yoghurt to help settle his stomach. Now it's a race to the bottom of his bowl, which means we can monitor his food intake properly.
posted by dvrmmr at 1:27 PM on January 20, 2015
posted by dvrmmr at 1:27 PM on January 20, 2015
When we try to get dogs to gain weight at the local shelter we put warm gravy in their kibble. Just the cheapest kind we can find. It works great and they usually are much more inclined to eat.
However, most dogs that self-regulate their food eat when they are hungry. It's great that your pup has that skill.
On preview - I bet a lot of owners have had success with a lot of different things that they add to the bowl to make it more appetizing. Let's face it - some dogs don't like kibble, and with how much dogs taste and smell, I'm not surprised that the overprocessed dried food isn't exactly the most exciting to them.
There is a touching short film before the film Big Hero 6 called "feast" and it kind of talks about this, and I think you would like it. Here's the trailer for that short film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbAYLAbhyxc
posted by bbqturtle at 1:32 PM on January 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
However, most dogs that self-regulate their food eat when they are hungry. It's great that your pup has that skill.
On preview - I bet a lot of owners have had success with a lot of different things that they add to the bowl to make it more appetizing. Let's face it - some dogs don't like kibble, and with how much dogs taste and smell, I'm not surprised that the overprocessed dried food isn't exactly the most exciting to them.
There is a touching short film before the film Big Hero 6 called "feast" and it kind of talks about this, and I think you would like it. Here's the trailer for that short film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbAYLAbhyxc
posted by bbqturtle at 1:32 PM on January 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
You need to actually measure how much food he eats, to start with. Put down two measured bowls of 2C each and measure the leftover before you go to bed. If you're not feeding him a super-premium food, do that. Purina-grade food is a lot of carby filler - you want him eating an appropriate amount of good food, not more corn meal.
Ask your vet about moving to a higher fat food like puppy food, or about adding fats with olive oil, fish oil, animal fat. You don't want to go nuts, he'll get liver problems, but there are augmentations you can be doing. I'm sorry he wasn't more forthcoming about that in your discussion, that would frustrate me.
The pumpkin is a real boon to the poop situation. And they seem to love it (the smell of pumpkin, yogurt, and dog food makes me simultaneously want to gag and eat some, it's weird).
He's pretty frightened of new people, and has all kinds of wacky phobias that come out on walks. Laundry carts, scooters, fast moving children all terrify him, and there are a few spots -- the entrance to a basement up the street, for instance, that freak him out inexplicably. He pulls all the way to the curb and crouches his way past them.
You didn't say, and you didn't ask for advice, but flying this dog cargo would be abuse. (I think it's abuse for all dogs, but particularly one this terrified of...everything in an airport.) At 41 pounds I don't know if you'd get to take him on board. This might have something to do with your vet's brusqueness, if that's the case.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:37 PM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Ask your vet about moving to a higher fat food like puppy food, or about adding fats with olive oil, fish oil, animal fat. You don't want to go nuts, he'll get liver problems, but there are augmentations you can be doing. I'm sorry he wasn't more forthcoming about that in your discussion, that would frustrate me.
The pumpkin is a real boon to the poop situation. And they seem to love it (the smell of pumpkin, yogurt, and dog food makes me simultaneously want to gag and eat some, it's weird).
He's pretty frightened of new people, and has all kinds of wacky phobias that come out on walks. Laundry carts, scooters, fast moving children all terrify him, and there are a few spots -- the entrance to a basement up the street, for instance, that freak him out inexplicably. He pulls all the way to the curb and crouches his way past them.
You didn't say, and you didn't ask for advice, but flying this dog cargo would be abuse. (I think it's abuse for all dogs, but particularly one this terrified of...everything in an airport.) At 41 pounds I don't know if you'd get to take him on board. This might have something to do with your vet's brusqueness, if that's the case.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:37 PM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
We've had rescue dogs that put weight on very slowly in the past. We were feeding about 6 cups a day of our home-made food to a super-skinny pup who just put it all into growing bigger rather than filling out for the first few months we had him. We were told he was 1.4 years old, but we think he was more like 8 or 9 months, because he went from 40 pounds to 75 with us and became huge! (not fat huge, just huge)
We switched to home-made food early on in our dog ownership because we have a guy who gets ploppy on anything commercial. He gets ground beef, veggies, and brown rice which keep his poops very nice.
Does your boy get fish oil? I recommend that as a supplement.
You should measure how much food he's getting so you know whether to increase.
posted by Squeak Attack at 1:39 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
We switched to home-made food early on in our dog ownership because we have a guy who gets ploppy on anything commercial. He gets ground beef, veggies, and brown rice which keep his poops very nice.
Does your boy get fish oil? I recommend that as a supplement.
You should measure how much food he's getting so you know whether to increase.
posted by Squeak Attack at 1:39 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I am a fan of self-regulated feeding, so you're not going to hear anything about that from me.
You can fine commercial food for weight-gain, so that's one option. But if you are happy with what you are feeding, he *is* gaining weight; and his poop is high-quality, I'd focus instead on top-feeding. In our house, we add olive oil, full-fat yoghurt, or a raw egg to almost every meal. The rescue group I volunteer foster for feeds satin balls for serious weight gain, like for emaciated dogs.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:41 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
You can fine commercial food for weight-gain, so that's one option. But if you are happy with what you are feeding, he *is* gaining weight; and his poop is high-quality, I'd focus instead on top-feeding. In our house, we add olive oil, full-fat yoghurt, or a raw egg to almost every meal. The rescue group I volunteer foster for feeds satin balls for serious weight gain, like for emaciated dogs.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:41 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Right, huskies are often on the lean side, but the soft stools/diarrhea are a bit concerning. I would try gradually switching his food to another brand - grain free as suggested above, with a different protein, and see if that clears it up. Getting his poop more solid would be my main focus if I were you, weight gains second
posted by umwhat at 1:42 PM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by umwhat at 1:42 PM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Dry kibble is, to many dogs, as repellent as it would be if it's what was put on your plate every day. We also have a skinny dog who's pushy about not eating what my partner and I have gotten in the habit of calling "lazy dinner" (i.e. dry brown nuggets) over the last seven years. Instead of leaving plain kibble out all day for nibbling, we set out her portion of food twice daily--breakfast and dinner--which includes 1/2 cup cooked rice, a teaspoon or so of peanut butter, and other veg like a handful of frozen peas. Gobble gobble gobble.
Skinny can be relative, or it can be a chronic problem. See if modifying his diet to be more appetizing changes his behavior short term and his weight long term. Let your new vet know you're working on it, and ask for advice. But certainly some very happy, well-adjusted dogs look a bit thin.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 1:43 PM on January 20, 2015
Skinny can be relative, or it can be a chronic problem. See if modifying his diet to be more appetizing changes his behavior short term and his weight long term. Let your new vet know you're working on it, and ask for advice. But certainly some very happy, well-adjusted dogs look a bit thin.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 1:43 PM on January 20, 2015
Seconding the yoghurt with active cultures. I have a dog with an iffy stomach and that really helps.
posted by lumpenprole at 1:44 PM on January 20, 2015
posted by lumpenprole at 1:44 PM on January 20, 2015
Also be aware that feral dogs will potentially not have had any previous exposure to foods like yogurt or cooked white rice, and these otherwise bland foods can occasionally have astonishing effects upon their unprepared digestive systems. I speak from very terrible, gross, smelly, smeary personal experience.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:51 PM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 1:51 PM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Mix some yogurt & tinned pumpkin with with the food for the tummy issues as others have said, also finding a grain free food might help.
Full fat cottage cheese was the go to dog fattener for my guys just dump a tablespoon or so on his food they are around 17lbs so increase as needed & see how he tolerates it first as some dogs may have lactose problems. Eggs were another standby.
Introduce all new foods slowly. I'm assuming you treat monthly for heartworm so your dog gets wormed regularly but if not worms might be a problem feral dogs pick up everything.
Stress and anxiety can lead to runny poops.
posted by wwax at 1:55 PM on January 20, 2015
Full fat cottage cheese was the go to dog fattener for my guys just dump a tablespoon or so on his food they are around 17lbs so increase as needed & see how he tolerates it first as some dogs may have lactose problems. Eggs were another standby.
Introduce all new foods slowly. I'm assuming you treat monthly for heartworm so your dog gets wormed regularly but if not worms might be a problem feral dogs pick up everything.
Stress and anxiety can lead to runny poops.
posted by wwax at 1:55 PM on January 20, 2015
I would stop leaving the food down, he may be eating LESS because the food is always available, it's not normal for canids to have food available all the time, and many dogs over or under eat as a result of free feeding. Leave it down for only 20 minutes at a time, then take the bowl up and offer it again a few hours later.
I would make sure there isn't an underlying issue.
I would maximize the calories he does eat, make sure you're feeding a food with lots of calories per cup and a good fat content. A "high energy" food is what you are looking for.
Carbohydrates tend to pack pounds on dogs: potatoes and grains are good for weight gain.
Satin balls work very well also.
posted by biscotti at 1:57 PM on January 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
I would make sure there isn't an underlying issue.
I would maximize the calories he does eat, make sure you're feeding a food with lots of calories per cup and a good fat content. A "high energy" food is what you are looking for.
Carbohydrates tend to pack pounds on dogs: potatoes and grains are good for weight gain.
Satin balls work very well also.
posted by biscotti at 1:57 PM on January 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
I second biscotti's advice on carbohydrates. I have a whippet who spent his first 7 years very skinny (which is normal for the breed but he was always too underweight and he looses weight like crazy when stressed). I was feeding him high quality foods that had high protein lower carbs, but finally I switched to a high carb food and over the course of a year he gained the 5 pounds he so desperately needed. He also has some protein allergies that I think resulted in softer stools, so now he eats Royal Canin Hypoallergenic Hydrolyzed Protein Dog Food, which is pricey but his weight and stools are perfect.
posted by tigeri at 2:22 PM on January 20, 2015
posted by tigeri at 2:22 PM on January 20, 2015
very terrible, gross, smelly, smeary personal experience
Good point. Start with a very small amount - think teaspoons, not tablespoons - and work up over 2-3 weeks to probably 3 Tablespoons each (approximately one blop) for a dog that size.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:28 PM on January 20, 2015
Good point. Start with a very small amount - think teaspoons, not tablespoons - and work up over 2-3 weeks to probably 3 Tablespoons each (approximately one blop) for a dog that size.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:28 PM on January 20, 2015
Right, huskies are often on the lean side, but the soft stools/diarrhea are a bit concerning.
It's probably the peanut butter and the bully sticks.
Huskies and German shepards should be skinny when they're young. If you really want him to gain weight give him raw meat, bones, eggs or a supplement like Nutro mixed into his high quality, grain free kibble. Not yogurt, rice, pumpkin, carbs and other non dog food items. His joints will thank you in 10 years.
posted by fshgrl at 2:52 PM on January 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's probably the peanut butter and the bully sticks.
Huskies and German shepards should be skinny when they're young. If you really want him to gain weight give him raw meat, bones, eggs or a supplement like Nutro mixed into his high quality, grain free kibble. Not yogurt, rice, pumpkin, carbs and other non dog food items. His joints will thank you in 10 years.
posted by fshgrl at 2:52 PM on January 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Short-term, I would add a little yogurt and/or pumpkin just to see how it affects his stools. And, if he gobbles all that down, he might just not like his food.
You can do some research on what you're feeding him here. We kept feeding our dog the same puppy food that the breeder had been feeding her that was just okay. I did a bunch of research when we switched her to an adult food and choose something that was MUCH higher quality. It was immediately obvious that she liked the higher quality food much much MUCH better. So much better that, for a while, she liked her food as much as she liked most of the treats we gave her.
I'll 2nd fshgrl that the loose poops might be from the peanut butter and bully sticks. I notice some...soft spots/streaks running through our dog's otherwise very solid poops. Yogurt/pumpkin might counter-act that in the short term. She is another spitz breed, an Akita, which are related to Huskies for what little that's probably worth.
Even if the food you're feeding him now is really high quality stuff, he might not like the flavor/smell and it's possible that the poop issues are unrelated.
If like me, however, you discover that the food you've been feeding him isn't so great and switch (slowly) to something better that food will likely be a lot more nutritionally dense so you'll feed him less of it. That will translate into little change in your dog-food budget (higher cost per bag but more meals per bag too) and a little less poop (even if he had already been pooping normally) since he'll fully digest more of what he eats. There are other health benefits that aren't so readily apparent but it's nice holding the line on costs while having to remember to buy it less often and picking up less poop.
posted by VTX at 3:11 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
You can do some research on what you're feeding him here. We kept feeding our dog the same puppy food that the breeder had been feeding her that was just okay. I did a bunch of research when we switched her to an adult food and choose something that was MUCH higher quality. It was immediately obvious that she liked the higher quality food much much MUCH better. So much better that, for a while, she liked her food as much as she liked most of the treats we gave her.
I'll 2nd fshgrl that the loose poops might be from the peanut butter and bully sticks. I notice some...soft spots/streaks running through our dog's otherwise very solid poops. Yogurt/pumpkin might counter-act that in the short term. She is another spitz breed, an Akita, which are related to Huskies for what little that's probably worth.
Even if the food you're feeding him now is really high quality stuff, he might not like the flavor/smell and it's possible that the poop issues are unrelated.
If like me, however, you discover that the food you've been feeding him isn't so great and switch (slowly) to something better that food will likely be a lot more nutritionally dense so you'll feed him less of it. That will translate into little change in your dog-food budget (higher cost per bag but more meals per bag too) and a little less poop (even if he had already been pooping normally) since he'll fully digest more of what he eats. There are other health benefits that aren't so readily apparent but it's nice holding the line on costs while having to remember to buy it less often and picking up less poop.
posted by VTX at 3:11 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Great advice upthread. Also wanted to say that my dog's name is Hazel. She had soft poops for years, was a picky eater. We switched foods, she scarfs it down, and it's been tootsie rolls ever since. You might just need to find the food that works well for her.
posted by gnutron at 3:13 PM on January 20, 2015
posted by gnutron at 3:13 PM on January 20, 2015
He is adorable! Good luck with him.
My dog is not from a shelter, but from a somewhat strange environment, and I can recognize several things you describe.
To answer your question: I have stopped feeding him dog-kibble, because he either didn't eat it or got sick from it alternately. Instead, I buy the cheapest supermarket wet stuff intended for small dogs (my dog is not small). This is because where I live I cannot find proper supplements to the raw food he probably needs. My former dog ate a varied diet of raw meat, inestines, fish and a specific supplement with carbohydrates and vegs from Royal Canin that I cannot find today.
Instead I feed him two 300 gram packages a day of this cheap wet-food, and supplement with doggy-snacks, bones, skin of beef, carrots, dried inestines, dried fish etc. to get up to his daily needs. His favorite is dried fish. He is now very healthy and balanced.
When I have forgotten to buy dog-food, I make a paste of cooked chicken liver (very cheap frozen stuff) and grain (whatever I have). Sometimes I thaw the cheapest frozen fish I can find, and it stinks, but he loves it. Again, I might throw in a carrot. And I often give him cottage cheese and yoghurt when I have leftovers.
Peanut butter seems wrong to me.
Normally I am person who trusts science and medicine. But in this case, I can see that my vet is much too engaged in selling dog-food and has been down-right unethical in promoting the products he "sells".
As an aside: is there any possibility you could drive him cross-country? If not, don't worry, dogs, like humans, live through bad experiences and survive. But he would certainly have a better time driving with you and the kids.
posted by mumimor at 3:24 PM on January 20, 2015
My dog is not from a shelter, but from a somewhat strange environment, and I can recognize several things you describe.
To answer your question: I have stopped feeding him dog-kibble, because he either didn't eat it or got sick from it alternately. Instead, I buy the cheapest supermarket wet stuff intended for small dogs (my dog is not small). This is because where I live I cannot find proper supplements to the raw food he probably needs. My former dog ate a varied diet of raw meat, inestines, fish and a specific supplement with carbohydrates and vegs from Royal Canin that I cannot find today.
Instead I feed him two 300 gram packages a day of this cheap wet-food, and supplement with doggy-snacks, bones, skin of beef, carrots, dried inestines, dried fish etc. to get up to his daily needs. His favorite is dried fish. He is now very healthy and balanced.
When I have forgotten to buy dog-food, I make a paste of cooked chicken liver (very cheap frozen stuff) and grain (whatever I have). Sometimes I thaw the cheapest frozen fish I can find, and it stinks, but he loves it. Again, I might throw in a carrot. And I often give him cottage cheese and yoghurt when I have leftovers.
Peanut butter seems wrong to me.
Normally I am person who trusts science and medicine. But in this case, I can see that my vet is much too engaged in selling dog-food and has been down-right unethical in promoting the products he "sells".
As an aside: is there any possibility you could drive him cross-country? If not, don't worry, dogs, like humans, live through bad experiences and survive. But he would certainly have a better time driving with you and the kids.
posted by mumimor at 3:24 PM on January 20, 2015
My puppy had poops exactly like that. She was small and not growing or gaining as much weight as she should have. We tried a bunch of foods because her poop wasn't great, and eventually we found one that worked. After that, she grew super fast!
She was on science diet and some others before. Orijen grain free puppy food did the trick, then orijen adult dog or six fish variety. We since determined that anything containing pork makes her stool soft.
Try switching your dog's food, is what I'm saying.
Also, if yours is anything like mine, canned food will get gobbled up in a heartbeat while kibble will hang out in the bowl for a while.
posted by J. Wilson at 5:32 PM on January 20, 2015
She was on science diet and some others before. Orijen grain free puppy food did the trick, then orijen adult dog or six fish variety. We since determined that anything containing pork makes her stool soft.
Try switching your dog's food, is what I'm saying.
Also, if yours is anything like mine, canned food will get gobbled up in a heartbeat while kibble will hang out in the bowl for a while.
posted by J. Wilson at 5:32 PM on January 20, 2015
Better-quality food. With a raw egg cracked in top.
Anecdotally, my rescue dog turned up her nose at the (highest-quality available) dry kibble I'd bought her. As I'd just spent $120 on a 15kg bag, this was disappointing. Then someone told me to crack a raw egg on top and mix it in; magic - she went nuts for the stuff. (To the point that the vet told me yesterday that she's fine and v healthy, but 'don't let her get any fatter').
You do get what you pay for with dog food, though. The cheap kibble is mostly low-quality grain and added flavours. Read the labels, and make sure you're feeding stuff that has a high protein content and is nutrient-dense.
(I feed twice a day, raw food + the kibble.)
posted by Salamander at 5:38 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Anecdotally, my rescue dog turned up her nose at the (highest-quality available) dry kibble I'd bought her. As I'd just spent $120 on a 15kg bag, this was disappointing. Then someone told me to crack a raw egg on top and mix it in; magic - she went nuts for the stuff. (To the point that the vet told me yesterday that she's fine and v healthy, but 'don't let her get any fatter').
You do get what you pay for with dog food, though. The cheap kibble is mostly low-quality grain and added flavours. Read the labels, and make sure you're feeding stuff that has a high protein content and is nutrient-dense.
(I feed twice a day, raw food + the kibble.)
posted by Salamander at 5:38 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
One countervailing data point - my dog looks quite a lot like your guy (except he's bigger and black) and had the same poop problems. I tried a lot of the grain-free, fancy foods people are recommending and the poop problems just got worse. I switched him to a german-shepherd specific food (eukanuba) and his poops are totally perfect now. It's got more grains and lower protein than a lot of the other foods, but it's really made a difference for him and he was able to gain weight on it.
Do switch the foods gradually though - it should take a week or more to switch over.
posted by snaw at 5:40 PM on January 20, 2015
Do switch the foods gradually though - it should take a week or more to switch over.
posted by snaw at 5:40 PM on January 20, 2015
Response by poster: This is all super helpful. We give him Innova, not sure if it is "Puppy Food" or "Large Breed Puppy Food" but the first two ingredients are meat, and here's no corn at all. Still, we may look into some of the other kibble, gravy, yogurt, pumpkin suggestions.
And I took some photos this morning, just for reference. I can see his ribs but everyone else at the park was like "you can? I can't." So there's that.
posted by amandabee at 6:39 AM on January 21, 2015
And I took some photos this morning, just for reference. I can see his ribs but everyone else at the park was like "you can? I can't." So there's that.
posted by amandabee at 6:39 AM on January 21, 2015
Your Bear looks just like my Gertrude! Gert was a stray and always very skinny - and totaly unmotivated by food. You could feel her ribs, even though the vet said she was very healthy, and that it was actually better for her to be a bit thin, rather than chubby. She lived to the ripe old age of 16. We attribute her long life to home-made "gruel", as we call it, made from the oatmeal-based (with pumpkin!) recipe in this book. You probably don't want to start making dog food when you are in the midst of a move, but maybe it's something to think about when you get settled.
posted by sarajane at 9:04 AM on January 21, 2015
posted by sarajane at 9:04 AM on January 21, 2015
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posted by poffin boffin at 1:05 PM on January 20, 2015 [7 favorites]