Help needed to fatten up dog

N9eav

both.......

Lillibet_2

Our spinger spaniel was very underweight & neglected when we first got him (now 7 years on & healthy as larry), we were advised to feed him reglaur dog food so that he got a good balance of neutrients, good quality dried or tinned whichever he preferred with added cooked rice or pasta to fatten him up and we usually added gravy as he loves it so much. I wish we had addded cod liver oil to his food from day one as he has arthritis and this really does make a difference to his general movement now.
Also hand feeding at first isn't a bad thing, as long as it's away from the dining table and not in conjunction with your meals/meal times, it promiotes a healthy master-dog relationship by symbolising that you are the leader of the pack & dog is the follower so promotes good training and also builds up trust as a dog has to be fairly sure of you to accept food from your hand.

HTh

mrsn_2

just wondered if she was bowl phobic, will ask my friend who is newfie breeder if she has any ideas.

N9eav

mrsn wrote:

just wondered if she was bowl phobic, will ask my friend who is newfie breeder if she has any ideas.

Nah just funny.

I think I may have cracked it last night..... A usual bowl of meat and mixer. BUT with a small handfull of cheese sprinkled on top, it all disapeared. Cheese could be the answer??????????????

mrsn_2

Could be - will also help fatten her up.

Karen

pug_in_a_bed

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

It sounds like the dog has been fed on leftover human food and is used to this. I think you'll need to wean her off it. My suggestions ....

Don't give her anything in between her meal times.

Put her food down, leave it for 20 minutes. If she doesn't eat it, take it away. Leave for an hour, put it down again. Take away after 20 minutes ... repeat.

If she eats some, but not all her food, still take the remainder away after 20 minutes and give her nothing until the next mealtime.

Debt Free Chick is absolutely right I think; this is a tried and tested method for my dog, also a rescue pet. The only thing i'd change is put the food down for ten not twenty minutes, and no other food all day apart from the main meal - you will probably only have to do this only one or two days before the dog gets the idea there is nothing else coming. Its best to get the dog into ordinary dog-like eating habits as quick as poss. You can bulk up the dog food with cooked rice, good for large poochs who are used to a lot of carbs.

Having a pooch who had just this problem, my advice is lose the cheese untill the dogs habits are normal and doggish again, then you can start introducing stuff like that as a treat - which by the sounds of the way the dogs been fed before, it doesn't recognise stuff like that as a treat as yet. My experience was the same, finding anything the k9 liked and popping onto of the main dinner to get the appetite going (cheese was one thing also) - problem was the dog put on too much weight!

Well done for rescuing a dog by the way!

N9eav

smam21 wrote:

Well done for rescuing a dog by the way!

I can't take too much credit! The pyrennean club of GB, pretty much keeps an eye on the breeders and where the puppies go. Should anyone find they cannot look after such a big dog then they take them back, or rescue those that have been not cared for (One dog we saw had no hair as the coat was so matted it had to be shaved off). Anyway when our old PMD, died then we phoned and fortunately they had another which was abandonned after a marriage break up. It was top pedigree too. Costa few quid, but she is a fantastic dog, just won't eat and looks too thin for the breed.

pug_in_a_bed

just had a look - its a belle and sebastian dog!

N9eav

smam21 wrote:

just had a look - its a belle and sebastian dog!

???????????

pug_in_a_bed

When i was little there was a cartoon called belle and sebastian about a girl and her dog getting into all kinds of scrapes, it was so good!