Help my 3yr old is skinny! - Page 2

I have to say i am not very good at knowing how much he eats a day. I used to fee him like 8 cups or more a day...still no weight gain. Things got crazy busy around my house (divorce, new baby, i had to go back to work after being a stay at home mom...lots of stuff) so i put an automatic feeder outside after miscommunication between us humans led to too much forgetting to feed the dogs. i know that is horrible but i admit it happened quite a while ago. so just to make sure they had food no matter what, outside went the feeder from farm n' home. i hate to say that i resorted to that. they aren't cattle...but i couldn't bear thinking that i had forgotten to feed them. so it stays full...all the time. the dogs love the big back yard and between them they can drink a few gallons of water a day. I am thinking i will be going back to the bowls in their kennels and having doggie meal times again, since i need to track his weight better.

I believe he was only two when he was neutered. it's been sometime this last year.

his stools are normal? no loosness, he seems to pass them with out blood or pain. they aren't exactly dark either.

I will get him into the vet soon. He hates the vet and there is only one vet in town that will even see him. He has never been tested for EPI.

What foods do you think i could pick up at a Petco? or even Sam's Club? would be best to feed him with out having to spend an arm and a leg. (i will if i have too, but i need to feed four kids and another dog too! lol)


Thank you all for your help....Sorry for my slow reply, i've had a rough week. thursday i discovered i have an eptopic pregnancy while on the merina...(i didn't even have the IUD for a year) so IUD out, ultrasound confirmed tubal, shots in my butt...now i'm waiting to miscarry. :-( Needless to say my Luca has been more loving then normal...isn't it wonderful how they just know when you are hurting? <3 them doggies.

I have read through the thread about the 9m old with hind leg issues. Poor baby! I will be making a trip to our local petco and pet supply plus stores maybe tomorrow (if they are open) to find what grain free dog foods they offer. I will say that Luca has no problems with his limbs and his gait is nice and smooth. He is very energetic and while outside is constantly moving. I was going to take a video of him...but it's rained for the last few days here and turned my backyard into a mud hole!

I asked about the age @ neutering simply because having it done before 18 months of age usually results in the dog being taller and 'lankier' than he otherwise would have been.  If he was 18 months or older, then the neutering isn't of any consequence as far as his structure is concerned.

OK, so you free-feed with an automatic feeder, and you say your female is on the fat side, while this guy here is too lean.  First thing that comes to my mind is that the female is eating the bulk of the feed anbd getting fat, and Luca is getting the short end of the stick and has lost weight as a result.  Best to feed twice a day on a schedule that will work for you, and make it a structured feeding:  measure out the feed into each bowl, add some warm water (if you like--that's optional), and put the bowls down with the food. Give the dogs 10-15 minutes to finish their meal; if either dog walks away from the bowl, that dog's meal is over and you pick up that bowl--feed in their crates if you think there could be fighting over food. If either dog is still eating steadily after 15 minutes, leave them alone until they stop eating, though.  They get nothing to eat until the next meal time. It's OK to offer them the same food they didn't finish at the previous meal--no point in wasting the food--but it's best to put it in the refrigerator until the next meal, and then add warm water to it to make it more appetizing.

As for what to feed, it's my (unpopular) opinion that a normal dog--that is, one without any health issues that are affected by what the dog eats, such as allergies or pancreatic insufficiency--can be fed just about any dog food that's on the market and do live a long and healthy life.  If you don't care how much poop is created by the dog, you can feed a product that is primarily grain-based, such as Purina Puppy and Dog Chows; you'll need to feed a greater quantity of such a food, and because the dog's digestive system doesn't process grains well, a lot of what you feed will be returned to you in the form of massive amounts of dog poop.  A food that has an animal protein source as it's first ingredient, OTOH, will not create as much waste, and you won't need to feed as much of the product in order to get the same amount of nutrition into the dog.  I've used Iams Mini Chunks for my GSDs for nearly 25 years at this point, and my dogs have lived to a minimum of 14 years old, and were basically healthy until they started getting the usual old age health issues.   When you compare the cost of a feed like Puppy or Dog Chow to that of a product like Iams Mini Chunks, it appears the latter costs more, but when you consider that you'll feed about 1 cup of the Iams for every 2 to 2 1/2 cups of Dog or Puppy Chow to get the same effect, the Iams becomes less expensive than the Chows...AND you're not picking up ginormous piles of poo two and three times a day, either.

I don't have anything against the Chows (other than the amount of poop that has to be picked up from it); if your dog is doing well on it then it's clearly a good food for that dog--but it would appear that it's not a good food for Luca if he's not able to hold his weight on it, and from the more recent picture, he most definitely DOES look too thin.  If the trouble is that your female is getting the lion's share of the food in the auto feeder, then Luca should start picking up weight even on the Puppy Chow if you start feeding them individually and on a set schedule twice a day.  If you make that feeding protocol change and he still doesn't pick the weight up, then it's definitely worth considering a change in feed.

If you have a Sam's membership, I know people who swear by Exceed. Not something I would feed, personally, but I'm a nut about food. It's kept good weight on a lot of dogs I know, though, even in extreme conditions- very hot, very cold environments and hard work. Something to think about trying if Sam's is convenient for you. 

Some good points above. To me, almost two different dogs and yes the pics are for but a second. Whole demeanor, looks is different in second picture. The second pic it looks as if his pelvic bones are very noticable, above the base of the tail BUT that could just be his stance or his coat? If you can pick up the dog, weigh yourself on a scale then pick up your dog and weigh both of you. That will save you the trip to the vets. But when going to the vets keep the paperwork, weight is on it. If you can't remember info then keep records. The weight loss didn't happen overnight. You stated you had changed his food a million times..... Keep a log book, get a decent or great food if you can afford it. Observe what his intake is, keep a record and if it was me I would stay on one food for a ? 45 day period. Maybe even add a yolk in the food?

Hexe:  I worship the ground you walk on most days, however, I am not sure what you mean when you say you have nothing against the chows..... I have to assume you mean the breed and not the dog food. 


Puppy Chow Ingredients below:

Ingredients: Whole grain corn, corn gluten meal, chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of vitamin E), soybean meal, egg and chicken flavor, barley, animal digest, calcium phosphate, fish oil, calcium carbonate, dried yeast, salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, l-lysine monohydrochloride, added color (yellow 6, yellow 5, red 40, blue 2), zinc sulfate, vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, dl-methionine, manganese sulfate, niacin, vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite

SO WHERE IS THE MEAT??

@Hexe, your assumption of Leila getting the food first would be a normal one, but i assure you, Luca always eats first. One head can only fit in there at a time and it is always his. Leila is quite the submissive one, always has been. When i give treats she won't even eat them when Luca is around. He has always been above her from the day i brought her home as a pup. But i will try feeding them in the house instead. It's worth a shot.

@Jenni78,
I actually work at Sam's Club. It's where we buy the puppy chow. :-) i get to make the pretty cakes.

@Alboe299, I started him off on purina puppy chow soft or healthy morsels as a puppy. He also has had Iams puppy food. Possibly back to Purina dog chow. then I once tried a sport mix from our local Khols Whole Sale. I forget that it was called. Some lady i worked with at the City Animal Shelter just swore by it. i think this is when i noticed he was growing up but not out anymore. So he went back tp puppy chow and some of the weight can back, just a tiny bit, if you can believe that.

I will try and get a better picture for you guys. I wonder if i can get my new hubby to hold him while on the bathroom scale. hahaha. Luca's head comes up to my waist and i'm not supposed to do any heavy lifting per the O.B. His back hip bones do stick out and i really dislike how easy it is to feel his ribs and back bone.

@Hexe, your assumption of Leila getting the food first would be a normal one, but i assure you, Luca always eats first. One head can only fit in there at a time and it is always his. Leila is quite the submissive one, always has been. When i give treats she won't even eat them when Luca is around. He has always been above her from the day i brought her home as a pup. But i will try feeding them in the house instead. It's worth a shot.

@Jenni78,
I actually work at Sam's Club. It's where we buy the puppy chow. :-) i get to make the pretty cakes.

@Alboe299, I started him off on purina puppy chow soft or healthy morsels as a puppy. He also has had Iams puppy food. Possibly back to Purina dog chow. then I once tried a sport mix from our local Khols Whole Sale. I forget that it was called. Some lady i worked with at the City Animal Shelter just swore by it. i think this is when i noticed he was growing up but not out anymore. So he went back tp puppy chow and some of the weight can back, just a tiny bit, if you can believe that.

I will try and get a better picture for you guys. I wonder if i can get my new hubby to hold him while on the bathroom scale. hahaha. Luca's head comes up to my waist and i'm not supposed to do any heavy lifting per the O.B. His back hip bones do stick out and i really dislike how easy it is to feel his ribs and back bone.

Sorry to disappoint you, Eldee, but while I don't have anything against the Chow breed (though they aren't my cup o' tea, as they say), I also don't have anything against the dog food Chows, either.  Yeah, I know the ingredient list send shivers down the spine of many folks, but I also can't deny that I've seen literally HUNDREDS of dogs, mixes and purebreds, live wonderfully long and healthy, happy lives being fed nothing but Purina Puppy Chow and Dog Chow their entire lives.  Heck, I've seen far too many dogs that only saw the vet for their rabies vaccination every 3 years that were fed plain white wrapper dry dog food forever, and the dogs had good coats, bright eyes, clean teeth, normal stools and outlived far too many of our patients who were eating specialty diets (raw, grain-free, home-cooked, etc.--not medical specialty diets).

My own parents had a Schnauzer/Westie mix who lived to 17 1/2 years old, and for the majority of his life, he ate that 'plastic' semi-moist food that looks like Play-Doh; it wasn't until he develop diabetes at 11 years of age that he went off the plastic food and onto <clutch your pearls now> Hills KD canned and dry food, to help keep his kidney function strong against the effects of the the diabetes.  He also got cooked white chicken in his meals and as substitutes for any kind of treats, to keep his caloric intake high enough to get his glucose levels stable and insulin dose regulated.  Prior to the diabetes, the only illness the dog had in his 11 years was a few episodes of pancreatitis when my brother refused to believe that the dog's system didn't tolerate turkey skin and fat very well. Once brother had to clean up the diarrhea and vomit on the third Thanksgiving it happened, he stopped slipping the skin and fat to the dog and that was the end of the pancreatitis.

So while I don't feed either of the Chows foods, I DO feed Iams, and plenty of folks throw me a side-eye for that...but my dogs have always done well on it, it's not something that's going to be difficult to find should I ever have to relocate unexpectedly (evacuation for weather or some sort of civil emergency, for example), and it doesn't create a pound of poo for each cup of feed.  My 65# bitch eats 3/4 cup twice daily when she's being a slugabout and we're not doing agility or OB classes, and my 100# male gets 2 cups twice daily; these amounts, along with two teaspoons of yogurt in each meal, keep their weight steady, coats shiny, skin normal, and this regimen doesn't exacerbate the discoid lupus the male's had his entire life (I just got him as a 7 yr old last Sept.). 

The worst thing I can say about the Chow foods or any other grain-based food is that you're overpaying for poop, because so much of the product is undigestable that it just passes through the dog as waste, and you've got to feed tons of it in order to keep the dog's weight up. Switching to a food that's got animal flesh as the primary protein source works out to be less expensive in the long run, because you can feed less of it and get the same physical condition on the dog, while having to scoop up a whole lot less poo.  But the facts are, if feeding old leather workboots and potato chips keeps your dog healthy and in good condition, it's hard to argue with that...

Sorry to burst your bubble, Eldee. I expect there's some other sacrilege in my belief system that will disappoint you further at some point. Don't worry, I don't hold it against you. 

boy he didn't wanna stand still! I'm making the hubby dig out a scale just now. Luca skept standing on my feet and i think he was a little over joyed to get some puperoni. I'm not sure if you can see how his hip bones stick out in the pictures or not?  the scale bounced a bit, it was hard to get him to be still...but it looks like he is 76lb give or take a little bit. He is a lil heavier then he used to be...so there has been a little improvement. What do you guys think? is 76lbs ok for a tall GSD that is super active?