food question - Page 1

what non grain free food would you recc for a dog that has trouble keeping on weight? (vets orders) anyone else have dog with high metoblism? what food worked? Right now on orjen isnt doing the trick i think the non grain thing is making her stools one day runny next day hard and also keeping her too lean according to my vet.

any non grain free foods but high quality?

I feed Taste of the Wild lamb to my male. It is a grain free food. The one thing I really like about the Taste of the Wild is that the protein level is not too high. I think sometimes a dog that has a high metabolism when fed a high protein level food seems to burn it fast. I have noticed that some dogs can not tolerate a high level protein and they will have inconsistant stools. Some dogs are just lean in general. My female is the same way..she burns caleries FAST.
I think Orijen is a good food. Maybe try a different protein source, but stay with the Orijen?! If not I would maybe try the Acana too or TOTW

Hope this helps!

Although I havent fed the newer recipe, I used to use Barking at the Moon on kibble fed dogs that needed to gain weight. Another food which is high in fat is Canadae grain free. Ive fed it short term (because I feed raw most of the time) and dogs gained weight on it. Just curious what your gals weight is. It seems these days that vets like fat dogs, maybe so they can have regular clients. Post a pic.

http://www.petcurean.com/index.php?page_id=44
Someone on here posted this would be a good choice for a dog that needed weight. I'm trying Acana on a couple of dogs. Too soon and still mixed with other food but stools are hard.

The highest calorie food I could find is EVO red meat;  535 per cup;  most others are in the 400 range per cup.  I liked it and you can buy regular size kibble or smaller size kibble;  I have a skinny old boy that is very hard to keep weight on and picky at the same time;  he liked this and ate it well.  BOL  Nan

Also others on this forum are having good luck with Earthborn Primitive;  also grain free, good weights and good energy;  if I remember right around 450 cal per cup??  give or take a little.  Nan

I'd like to see pics of the dog. Vets are so used to obese dogs, that fat dogs look normal and lean ones look emaciated to them. 

Earthborn Holistic Primitive and I like Canidae GF, but raw will keep weight on mine who won't keep it on kibble. Lots of green tripe and ground beef (look up the recipe for satin balls).

Something I just noticed in the first post; the same food isn't going to cause runny stools one day and ok stools the next, but a parasite or protozoan might. Giardia will make a dog hungry but keep it skinny sometimes, as it interferes with digestion in the small intestine. I am surprised (not really though) that your vet didn't suggest that something besides food could be the problem. 

Does your dog eat grass? Are his/her stools ever greasy looking? If it were my dog, I'd do a course of fenbendazole, at least 5 days. 

Go! Naturals by Petcurean.  I work in a Holistic and Natural pet supply store and training center. This is the food we recommend for working dogs who also need to maintain weight.  Unlike some other just high protein or High Kcal and meat source foods this particular food is our best for agility, performance or just pet dogs who are thin and need to maintain a better weight while not over doing it with a food they will not tolerate or having to feed too much kibble to get results and loading the gut. Most thin dogs are not going to be huge eaters sometimes too so calories need to count. While still providing a super premium grain free food.  I spent an entire day with the vendor at our spring fair here 3 weeks ago and we discussed many situations and dogs who had been put on this food and the huge difference in them as well as their product line and missions. I am currently using Go! as a trial with one of my dogs here at my kennel who has always been a challenge to maintain weight on ( perk of the job, we get a bag per month by nearly all vendors who's products we supply... adds up to almost $400.00 a mo. in free food for my dogs... Great way to try what we sell...Love this place!! ) But Go! Naturals is a really excellent food. Very palatable, nice stool production great coats everything I would look for in a high quality kibble food. Excellent company values and manufacturing processes. I like this product! Dogs do very well on it without running into some issues people have reported with EVO (loose stools, dog not being able to tolerate the food etc or just burning too high which does not help when you are trying to put weight on).... usually when you are dealing with a dog that has difficulty maintaining they do not always do well on Evo products. We do carry it it is just not our top seller and not one we recommend for weight gain. I also recommend supplementing with a high quality probiotic and prebiotic supplement in addition.