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food for putting weight on dogs

  • 16-05-2012 4:05pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8


    Anyone reccomend a food for gaining some weight on a 11mth saluki. Shes quite active!!! Has a resonable appetite has been wormed. Had a v dry coat which is improving but is v slow at putting on condition .


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 14,008 ✭✭✭✭tk123


    What are you feeding her now? Dry coat can often mean the food isn't the best for her.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8 suggs


    Hi thanks for reply she is on dry food called breeder supreme for adult breeder and working dogs she had a very dry coat when i got her about a mth ago but its starting to improve just her weight im not overly worried as shes quite energetic and happy in herself but i wld like to see her weight improve .


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,712 ✭✭✭lorebringer


    Dogs, particualrly taller dogs, can go through a gangley phase where they look too thin for thier own good. Often, given time and food, they will fill out. If she is healthy and happy, I wouldn't worry too much about her filling out. Adding some carbs to her food will add to her calorie intake (things like potatoes, pasta, rice etc - generally, whatever you are having with your own dinner!), we have done this with a few rescues and it works a treat. You wouldn't want to do this forever though, just until she reaches a good weight and then maintain it with regular dog food.

    Just to note, some dogs don't do well on wheat so if you are going to give her pasta, do so in small amounts at first to make sure it agrees with her. Because she had a bad coat when you got her, give her a few more months and then look into it - it can take a while for these things to clear up totally.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,634 ✭✭✭TooManyDogs


    Also bear in mind that saluki hounds are very slim dogs naturally, my neighbour tried for a year to get weight on her saluki before finally accepting that the dog was actually a healthy weight for the breed.
    Have you spoken to your vet regarding her weight? I would also weigh her and see what the average weight for a saluki is and how she compares.


  • Registered Users Posts: 653 ✭✭✭girl in the striped socks


    Pasta is great for putting weight on. I've heard of people mixing puppy nuts in with adult nuts because they are higher in calories.
    If you have a check up soon in the vets ask them. They might be able to recommend a diet & maybe supply a supplement of vitamins & minerals to help her gain weight & improve the condition of her coat.
    Even ring them & ask & I'm sure they will be able to point you in the right direction.
    Also if her coat is very dry you could rubs a small amount of baby oil onto your hands & gloss over her coat for a bit of shine.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 158 ✭✭callmekenneth


    eggs! scrambled..


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8 suggs


    Thanks for the replies. I had her at vets when we first got her she was weighed and is underweight for her breed. I didnt ask about what food to give as figured with some tlc she would come right. She does like a bit of spud and pasta wasnt sure if this was ok for her on a more regular basis . At 11mths would it be ok to put her on maybe a puppy food diet i kno there are some good ones on the market . Must try the baby oil shes changing her coat too at mo. I hav also been adding a little veg oil to her food not everyday about 3 times a week is this ok and will it make a difference?


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,008 ✭✭✭✭tk123


    I always forget this stuff! cos I mix it in once a month when I make up my dogs food.:rolleyes: My dog had his leg shaved in october for an operation - his beautiful retriever 'britches' gone! :( I got a bottle of the Lupoderm since there was nothing to loose and his coat was GLEAMING after a week and the hair did seem to grow back much quicker than last time (he had an op on each leg). I've since switched to barf/raw (cereal free) and his coat got really soft and thick - it was always quite thin so I've kept up adding the oil in to see if it'll thicken the coat more /make it grow longer.


  • Registered Users Posts: 364 ✭✭kassie


    i had a similar battle with my dane, tho we did get through it, i ended up having to change his diet completely to BARF but it was the right decision.

    As your dog is only 11 months old she's still growing so don't be too keen on trying to load her up with weight too quickly as it might interfere with her growth and maturing. I'm not an expert on saluki's but from seeing them at dog shows they are quite a lean dog by nature. have you contacted the person you bought the dog from to see if they have any advice for you or join a saluki forum???

    But to help, in my experience, tripe (green if it can be got) and lamb were the best to help with weight gain. I tried the pasta (with the dry food before switching to BARF) but my dane ended up picking up an stomach infection due to the change in food.

    On the dry coat - Don't put anything directly onto her skin and coat, for a healthy coat and skin it has to come from the inside... give her a teaspoon of sunflower oil with every meal, its great for the skin and coat, or if you can afford it buy salmon oil or flaxseed oil (google for irish companies who sell on line) which i can personally vouch for, it really does make a difference to the coat and skin!

    Good luck


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 360 ✭✭DogsFirst


    suggs wrote: »
    Anyone reccomend a food for gaining some weight on a 11mth saluki. Shes quite active!!! Has a resonable appetite has been wormed. Had a v dry coat which is improving but is v slow at putting on condition .

    Gain weight: Fatty meats is a quick fix for v active / high energy dogs! Chicken thighs with skin (very fatty), any cheap mince (which is normally 30% fat, remarkably only 15% protein, the rest is water! - that will lash the weight on). But like us it's lean, mean muscle mass you want (lots of protein), not love handles (fat)! Whatever you've feeding them, just give them 20% more. Measure with cloth measuring tape and keep an eye! No weight gain after one week? 20% more!!!! Don't forget bones during growth phase. Raw meaty bones, chicken necks whatever, lots of fat on and in these too.

    Dry coat: zinc & protein - the skin and coat, changed so often, consume 50% of the protein your dog eats, if you're feeding him a dry food with 20% protein there's less for the coat factory as it's needed for more vital roles such as organ function and joint maintenance. Hence so many dry fed dogs with dry crispy wiry coats. Dogs need lots of protein - bulk up with meat.

    Zinc is the other vital missing bit. Zinc is deficient in dry food for two reasons - binds with phytic acid in cereals so body can't absorb or included in zinc oxide which is unnatural and the body doesn't like. Without zinc (and magnesium and selenium) you get poor skin and coat (does your dog have elbow bald patches?? typical of zinc / vitamin E defiency - rub some almond oil or give zinc supplement and they will hair over in a week - I thought it was from lying on concrete, even though I don't have any!!!). Theres lots of zinc in the cheap vit C tablets in Lidl, highly recommend for young dogs - quarter of a human tablet a day over two feeds.

    Quick fix would be primrose oil, safflower even better (lots of vitamin E in there, the right omegas). Teaspoon a day maybe.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 425 ✭✭Vince32


    Just a small thing... don't feed mince meat, cooked or raw, it gets stuck / lodged in the teeth and can cause damage etc. Unless ofc your willing to clean him afterwards.

    Rest is spot on, Chicken, Duck, Beef, with raw bones (cooked bones kill dogs sometimes), In my own opinion, feeding real food is the only way to go for all domestic animals, it can be sourced cheaply, provides RDA/month and reduces the amount of poop by 70%. In fact I'm saving 50% of my feeding bill using raw foods, or another way to say it is Ki**le is twice as expensive. Discount meats, Just out of date, wholesalers, even slaughter houses, can give you cheap meats and bone, and save you money, just remember if the food is fit for human consumption it will be fine for the dog, and if it's not, don't expect your dog to eat something you won't.

    If your interested in raw feeding, there is a website called eskimo huskies, all about raw feeding and working dogs, a very good site that will explain everything far better than I could. But in my world, Ki**le is a bad word, worse than ******, ****, ********* or ************* lol.

    But if your not a fan of raw feeding,(not everyone is) the best bet, would be to get a high protein dry food(40%+), and exercise regularly, 2x55 min walks daily, and at least 3 45 mins Runs a week, than should help build muscles, spend energy and gain weight.

    Hope it helps.

    Vince


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,634 ✭✭✭TooManyDogs


    Vince32 wrote: »
    Just a small thing... don't feed mince meat, cooked or raw, it gets stuck / lodged in the teeth and can cause damage etc. Unless ofc your willing to clean him afterwards.

    Never heard of mince damaging teeth, in what way?


  • Registered Users Posts: 240 ✭✭juniord


    ,( just remember if the food is fit for human consumption it will be fine for the dog, and if it's not, don't expect your dog to eat something you won't) if you can get spoiled meat your dog will eat it and do just as well on it as meat fit for human consumption, its a dog your feeding not a child , dogs will find dead animals that are rank and gladly scoff it down


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,634 ✭✭✭TooManyDogs


    juniord wrote: »
    dogs will find dead animals that are rank and gladly scoff it down

    But not all dogs will be ok eating spoiled food, quite a fed get very ill from it. Not worth the risk in my book


  • Registered Users Posts: 240 ✭✭juniord


    if the meat was contaminated with some sort of poison it would cause a problem but not meat gone bad over time i have fed my dog rotten meat and never a problem


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,634 ✭✭✭TooManyDogs


    juniord wrote: »
    if the meat was contaminated with some sort of poison it would cause a problem but not meat gone bad over time i have fed my dog rotten meat and never a problem

    Like I said, rotten meat doesn't agree with all dogs. I know plenty of dogs that will get stomach upsets from eating a small bit of scraps, never mind rotten meat. You're lucky your dog can eat anything but that doesn't mean it's a fact across the board


  • Registered Users Posts: 240 ✭✭juniord


    the reason my dog is fed raw is because he has allergies to certain foods so im not lucky he can eat anything , i didnt gamble and just feed spoiled meat i consulted an animal nutritionist first


  • Registered Users Posts: 425 ✭✭Vince32


    Minced Meat, won't do any harm in the short term, don't get me wrong :) but over time, just like humans, the plaque and tartar can get out of control if left unchecked, I was told along time ago to avoid it unless there was literally nothing else to offer. That's all, like I said a small thing.

    Regarding spoiled meat, my sibe might refuse it's meals for a few days, for whatever reason, if the meal gets refused, it goes back down for the next meal, and rest stays in the freezer until its gone, she ate fairly ripe duck quarter after refusing meals for 3 days, and when she did finally eat it, there was nothing wrong with her at all, and that's because in the wild they would revisit kills over a few days to fill up when they need too, and their stomach acids can easily handle ripe or spoiled meat. Never throw out food, they can and will eat when they are hungry, and if you cave in and offer something else, the dog will have you over a barrel for life.

    Some dogs may react with loose stools, or vomiting, but those are in the minority, on the whole, to the best of my knowledge, as long as it's not putrified beyond recognition, most dogs will be fine eating it.


    All the feeding I do, and from the site I mentioned before is based on how they would eat in the wild, ok, store bought meats aren't exactly fresh kills, but I'm ok with that.

    if you really want to know more about raw feeding, from raw feeders and the collective experience of dozens of owners, take a look in eskimo huskies and read the raw feeding section, it's a great guide and I would be lost without it. even if you don't own a husky it's still valid for all breeds of dog.

    I have an external PDF you can read, It's quite long but easy to understand and follow, EDIT< can't see it, unless your a member > sorry..

    anyways, that's what I've learned, happy to share, discuss and learn.

    www.eskimohuskies.com register, wait for validation, read raw feeding section, ask questions, be polite PLEASE.

    Vince


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,634 ✭✭✭TooManyDogs


    Vince32 wrote: »
    Some dogs may react with loose stools, or vomiting, but those are in the minority, on the whole, to the best of my knowledge, as long as it's not putrified beyond recognition, most dogs will be fine eating it.


    That's the thing though, it's fine to feed some dogs rotting meat but not all, it's not a guaranteed thing that all dogs will be ok eating it, some will be very ill indeed. Some breeds are bred beyond any recognition from their wild cousins and do not have the same strong stomach the likes of a husky does, also their stomachs adapt to a certain extent to the diet they've been fed over generations so certain lines of breeds may not be able to deal with it. It's equally true that cavemen would have eaten rotting meatn half cooked meat and anything that could be vaguely described as edible but that doesn't automatically mean all of us could tuck into a day old road kill and be all perfect, some would be ok and some would be violently ill.

    It just needs to be borne in mind when giving feeding advice, a quick mention that rotten meat may make some dogs ill would be no harm.

    As regards the mince, I've fed my lot mince as part of their diet for 4 years now and have 6 sets of sparkly white teeth so not sure that's a blanket fact either


  • Registered Users Posts: 425 ✭✭Vince32


    Your caveman reference made me think of bear grylls eating a day old buck carcass raw and bloody :)

    Thing is this whole thing about eating raw meat has been done to death, the arguments for and against it are pretty well known, and I know Huskies might have an advantage when it comes to raw feeding, because they are natural hunters, but I wouldn't go as far as to say there are some breeds with the inability to eat raw foods, because that kind of evolutionary leap would take thousands of years to come about, and since commercial food has only been around since the 1900's or so there just isn't enough time to breed out that ability.

    BUT, I can't say minced meat will rot your dogs teeth with 100% accuracy, anymore than I could say candy and soda will rot your teeth, regular maintenance keeps them sparkling white. EDIT: raw MEATY bones aka chicken leg type bones. (for clarity)

    anyway, I'll leave it there, I just want to promote raw feeding wherever I can.

    Vince.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,634 ✭✭✭TooManyDogs


    I have fed raw for the last 4 years so obviously a major fan, I'm just saying that there isn't a blanket solution for every dog out there. There's some on here found lightly cooking suited their dogs digestion much more than raw. I agree that kibble is muck but there's also a ton of different ways to feed raw/homemade.

    The majority of dog breeds around today are only recognisable for the last 150 years or so, and some like boxers can be very prone to sensitive stomachs, so evolution may take a thousand years to change things but we're not dealing with only evolution here.


  • Registered Users Posts: 425 ✭✭Vince32


    That's fair enough, we agree raw feeding is far better than any dry commercial food, and individual owners will have to tend to their own dogs individual needs. I always speak in general terms, it's a bad habit.

    Anyway sorry to side track the thread, but it was worth talking about, the original advice still stands, if you want to gain weight on a dog, high protein food a couple of times a day with regular exercise will help pack on the pounds, just watch you don't go over the breed standard weight by too much, the only thing worse than a skinny looking dog.. is a fat one :)

    Vince


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,634 ✭✭✭TooManyDogs


    Vince32 wrote: »
    just watch you don't go over the breed standard weight by too much, the only thing worse than a skinny looking dog.. is a fat one :)

    Vince

    Totally agree with you


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