Pup is too skinny - Brittany

[KFhunter]

any ideas to put some more weight on the pup?

Feeding taste of the wild puppy,  2/3 cup 2-3 times a day. 
It's enough food that her stools will change from a nice dark hard stool to a softer brown in trying to make her look healthier.

wormed 3 times, no visible indicators of worms in the stools.  Vet suggested a feed change and listed off some lower quality feed than what I was already giving 

ribs easily visible, hip bone knobs visible.  Her spine isn't protruding ridges like an emaciated animals will.   


energy wise she's good but does get cold easy, everything else looks good eyes, gums, coat

[AspenBud]

One of my Pointers had a hard time keeping weight on with TOW. I switched to Fromm Gold and have not looked back.

Depending on your dog's activity levels I have heard REALLY good things about this feed...

http://drtims.com/

I know of several field trial oriented guys whose dogs really burn the calories who use the stuff and are very happy with the results now.

[BULLBLASTER]

When our shorthair was little we needed to freefeed him to keep his weight on. What we did is fill a bowl twice a day and if ue was still hngry we would add more. Now he is older and we feed less.

[quadrafire]

KF
Doubt there is anything wrong, Just up the calories a bit, like Bullblaster said. Maybe not free feed, but up the rations per feeding.
Skinny is not a bad thing. Don't want to start off a dogs life obese 

[vandeman17]

What kind of dog? I fed, at the recommendation of my uncle who is a trainer and also breeder on this litter, my black lab pup 3 cups in the morning and 3 cups at night. I was feeding her 2 and 2 but she also was pretty skinny so I upped the food amount and she looks much better. I eat a lot of eggs throughout the week so I will also add some eggs to her food here and there to get her some more protein and calories.

[KFhunter]

really leery of free feeding, she gulps the feed down and I'm not sure she'd stop filling her belly until it was jam full packed...then go lap up some water and swell it all up.

I'll look into some different feed, I landed on TOW as it was one of the highest rated feeds I had local access too.  Choice is limited when you live rural.


Here is the review I was going by: Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/taste-of-the-wild-dog-food-dry/

[vandeman17]

really leery of free feeding, she gulps the feed down and I'm not sure she'd stop filling her belly until it was jam full packed...then go lap up some water and swell it all up.

I'll look into some different feed, I landed on TOW as it was one of the highest rated feeds I had local access too.  Choice is limited when you live rural.

My uncle doesn't recommend free feeding either. Do you put water on her food? He also prefers doing that because it helps them digest it a bit, or that is his theory.

[KFhunter]

What kind of dog? I fed, at the recommendation of my uncle who is a trainer and also breeder on this litter, my black lab pup 3 cups in the morning and 3 cups at night. I was feeding her 2 and 2 but she also was pretty skinny so I upped the food amount and she looks much better. I eat a lot of eggs throughout the week so I will also add some eggs to her food here and there to get her some more protein and calories.

Brittany,  I added the breed to the thread title thanks for asking.

[jetjockey]

Skip the puppy food and go buy a bag of Purina Pro Plan Performance 30/20 All life stages food.  There is no reason to feed them puppy food, and many Pros feed Performance food right from the start.  My 3 month old brittany, and her entire litter are all on it, and they all look great.

[AspenBud]

really leery of free feeding, she gulps the feed down and I'm not sure she'd stop filling her belly until it was jam full packed...then go lap up some water and swell it all up.

I'll look into some different feed, I landed on TOW as it was one of the highest rated feeds I had local access too.  Choice is limited when you live rural.


Here is the review I was going by: Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/taste-of-the-wild-dog-food-dry/

Thanks to the internet your choices are not as limited as they used to be. You can order via these guys and their shipping isn't that bad...

http://www.chewy.com

Dr Tims rates higher than TOW

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/dr-tims-dog-food/

[BULLBLASTER]

If your worried of overfeeding you can let the pup rest after eating for a hour or so the. Place more food out. If the pup is full it shouldnt want to eat more. I hear  ya on worries of overeating. Ours ate so much his belly looked real big but after a nap and abathroom run outside he was playing amd running crazy!

[ctwiggs1]

Our Brittany breeder told us to we would never over-feed these puppies.  She was right.  We've never had an indigestion issue or a weight issue.  We walk our dogs almost daily and they exercise all the time while playing together outside and (much to my frustration sometimes) inside.

If you're exercising your Brittany, it won't get fat.  I would slowly start upping the calories until you get to the point where you just keep food in bowl. 

I know I don't hunt my dogs or work my dogs nearly as hard as other people on here, but they are never fat.

Curtis

[Happy Gilmore]

need some carbs in the food. grain free and high protein isn't always the best road for all animals. My dogs have never looked better since opting away from TOTW/Natures Domain. They did well on it, I was happy with it... But, since feeding ProPlan Performance 30/20 I've never seen better stools, eating, and their coats look better than they ever have.

[constructeur]

I'm a fan of Dr. Tims as well, if you buy it off chewy.com they'll ship for free on orders over $50.

You may want to do a little research on TOTW, it's made by Diamond Pet Foods, a company that has had a number of recalls in the last few years. Salmonella, that kind of fun stuff...

Before you feed your puppy adult food, research panosteitis, essentially growing pains in the joints and ligaments. Some vets believe adult chow is tied into all that.

One of the cool things about Dr. Tims is that if you e-mail the company with a question, you'll probably get a response from Tim himself...

[scottr]

Your dog sounds like she's in good shape. Too many people over feed their bird dogs and they get portly.

My setter was on the same food and was getting bored with it so I bought some Taste of the Wild soft food and mix it in with the kibble. This keeps him interested in it.