putting weight on a neglected puppy

[pahntr760]

I recently got a Chesapeake puppy from some people that apparently didn’t care for it too much. She is a good bit underweight for her size and age. (6 months)

I want to know what is suggested to safely help her gain weight. I am currently feeding her Purina One puppy food. I realize there are better options foods wise, for her, but that is what I have for now.

Could I add something to her diet to gain weight? I.e.; lard, beef suit, etc?

Any advice / techniques are appreciated.

[Mite]

Doc would know more about this than I. Personally, I wouldn't be concern about it but I would change foods. Pro Plan (pet stores and made by Purina) would be the minimum. Whatever you feed the dog, check the first two ingrediants. Make sure its not a grain or corn (or corn meal - meal is just ground up corn). Also, make sure protein content is atleast 25% and fat content is atleast 15%.

Keep watch for the dog's stools. It should be dark and hard. Canned foods with high moisture content will cause the stool to be soft. Hard stools also help express scent glands located in the anus (why dogs sniff each other under the tail).

The dog should put on weight as the body will absorb the nutrients in their food. The amount of food given should be labelled on the package. On active dogs, you should just be able to make out the last rib.

Also, after feeding, don't run the dog for atleast 1/2 - 1 hr or the dog may develop 'gut twist'.

Good luck.

[skiftcky]

Mite, you know enough to keep a healthy dog and it is all good advice.
Diamond makes a good dog food... it has a variety of foods that you could choose from. Hi energy and extreme athelete have upwards of 30% protein and 20% fat. However, the chicken and rice has a main ingredient of chicken and has a 26/16% on protein/fat. Also, what I do to get my dogs wight up prior to season is add a premium canned dog food to her dry food. I usually mix 12 ounces of canned per serving of dry. One thing tho is to not get your pup used to this or it will only want dry/can mix.
excersize is still very important as you want your pup to not only gain fat reservs but also lean muscle ( it weighs more than fat) My dog runs for about 15 minutes and swims another 15 minutes every few days prior to her dinner by the time we get back to the house she is calm enough to eat.
Something I have heard and seen is to allow your dog to have a free diet, this means to have food available for it 24/7 as a dog will know when it has had enough to eat. However, my buddies lab is obese due to this. post season his dog went from 94 lbs to 120lbs.

[JW]

My advice is take the pup to a vet and ask the same question.

JW

[Topgun 3006]

Follow the advice of JW and make an appt with a good Vet that you will continue with on a regular basis (at least annually) as long as you have the dog. They will probably also want you to take a couple of stool samples in to check for worms in the digestive tract and will also draw a blood sample to check for heartworm.