weight gain issue - Page 1

Heyy, 
I have a german shepherd who due to a severe housebreaking problem (he was dirty in kennel and didnt care, and wouldn't house break) so many people advised me to keep him as a outdoor dog till he caught on that sleeping in his own poo & pee wasn't so lovely after all. Well he started dropping weight because it took more energy to keep himself warmer at night (he's been to the vet and came out clean). He does have a dog house but it's not heated as this is our last resort to keep him cleaner and teach him to only potty outside, plus washing him 4x a day wasn't ideal. I want him inside but till then i'd like to know some dry dog food brand's that would help him not only gain weight but keep it on during his outdoor stay. Any idea's will be taken to heart as I hate seeing my boy being skinny. Thanks! 

How skinny is he? Can you post a picture?

Just wondering because most peoples idea of  "skinny" is actually a healthy weight. I have had alot of people say my dog is too skinny but in reality he is in good condition.

Seems like people think that a healthy dog is a fat dog! LOL

Sounds like he could have been eating the wrong dog food and that made him have trouble house breaking.

I feed my dogs Fromm Gold, when we're not raw feeding.

Start feeding him once a day and early so you'll have no accidents at night.

I stop crate training a dog that is eliminating in his/her crate and tether them to a chair in my living room so they only have enough room to lay down, and at the first whine we go out to go potty.
  I will even feed a dog outdoors that seems to have to go to the bathroom right after they eat, that works good.

Remember, even and mostly after a dog drinks water they are going to go #2.
He will never be housebroken unless you let him know the difference between indoors and outdoors, almost like how you teach a dog boundaries, you're telling him, don't go indoors go outdoors, and we will let you indoors to hang around with the humans more often.

Keeping him on a short leash while he's indoors will work, that way you can discipline accidents in the house right away and his body will learn bio-feedback, which is controlling his bladder & bowl movements.

He's looking for more attention from you and it seems he's getting that at bath time!

Maybe the House Training...Crate Training Process wasn't being done properly...Some dogs ARE harder to train then others...

~Bob~

It DOES take more energy to keep the body warm...compared to being inside the house...

Some people will change their dog food (protein intake) during the Wintertime as compared to what they feed during the warmer months...

I agree that leaving him outside all the time isn't going to help you in the housebreaking arena, when he's outside he just goes where and when he wants (of course).  The easiest way to housebreak is to PREVENT accidents in the house, not wait until he has one.  Put him on a schedule feed at the same time, and take him outside at scheduled times.  Make them very frequent at first.  How did you correct him when he went in the house? When he is in the house I do agree with attatching the leash through your belt loop then to his collar, so you can keep him from going in the house, and throw him a party when he goes outside.  I sure wouldn't tether one of mine to a chair, first there isn't a chair here they couldn't drag all over the house and that includes the couch, but second mine would chew the crap out of the chair, and if you are asleep you might not hear him whine and if he has to go he'll just go right there.  I have found the schedule works the best and preventing the accidents. Hope that helps.

 Nikie 

To piggyback on Donnerstorm, if you or anyone else corrected him, especially physically when he went inside he is very likely going to think you think pooing or peeing itself is bad and so the natural inclination will either be to hide and go when you are not looking (even if you just spent an hour outside and the only place he could hide and do so is inside) or he will hold it until he can't hold it.  Unless your dog has a medical issue, and I will assume you already had him checked, this is most likely how the problem was created somewhere down the line. (Rapid wt loss especially with muscle atrophy ca be a sign of serious illness).

As Donnerstorm said, catching them being good (outside poo, outside pee..in our house we have names for that) and throwing a party is the fastest way to housebreak.  Often if that is done first, then if one sees them getting ready to go inside and say no or nothing nd just quickly take them out and praise when they go outside.  Also helps if they know a word for inside. and out, because if they do they can combine the word poo, with good outside poo or no inside poo.  I have never had a healthy dog that took less than one day to housebreak that way.  I always made sure I took the week off when I had a new pup.

That might not help you now, but you can start all over again.  No punishement for any inside in crate accidents and huge praise for catching him going outside.  In the meantime, Fromms is probably the best next to raw.  That is also what I buy even though I have to drive an hour to get it.  It might seem expensive, but if you look at, for example, Purina One, which has corn and other low quality ingreadeients , but markets itself has having meat as the first one, a bag is about 20.00 and a much larger bag of Fromms is about 42-45, but you get almost twice as much and it is made from duck and salmon and has no wheat or corn.  You also get a bag free for every 12.  I would also supplement with hight fat meats.  

I really encourage you to start again using only the technique Donnerstorm suggested.