Weight Gain

[vonbrugan]

I'm a bit confused in what to do with my 12 month old male, he is a little undeveloped & under weight (skinny, scrawny, lanky). The other day I took him out and some lady who also has dogs thought he was a young 6 month old puppy. I feed my dogs Canidae and my other two dogs, who are older (2 & 3 years old) are fine with it. It's not like the puppy doesn't eat, I believe he is not eating enough and I do feed him 2-3 cups in the morning and again 2-3 cups in the evening. I even leave the food in the bowl in his crate so he can eat when ever he feels hungry. I've heard two sides of the argument with that. It's OK to do that and it's not OK to do that. Either way, they have also mentioned that he should be trained accordingly to his feeding times to know when it's time to eat, that's it. I know that he can also be a late bloomer and I should give him time to develop, rotties do take time (3 years) to develop. After all, the Vet checked him out a few months back (which he is due for another follow-up checkup soon) and found no problems with him. He is going to be 1 years old on 10/9 and weighs about 65lbs. Should I supplement his diet with added supplements? Add dairy (cheese) or ground beef? How about Peak Perfomrnance? All I want to know is how to add substance or mass (not fat) to a dog. I do work my dogs as far as obedience training, walking/running and socialization. I guess there are all kinds and depending on the breeding (pedigree lines) there is a chance that some dogs will be on the relatively smaller/petite side. THXS!

[TrinityRun]

By and large (no pun intended), substance and mass are genetic. You can't create it. You can enhance what is there.

You can roadwork your dog when he's old enough and make him the most fit athlete he can be but if that means he's in his best shape at 90lbs, 4 yrs old. So be it.

Resist the urge to overfeed, over supplement and resist the desire for him to "poof" into a 120lb male. He sounds fairly small for his age and may quite likely not be a big guy - ever.

[spidey]

Some dogs are just small, just like some people are just small. As long as he's healthy, I wouldn't worry about it. Also, please remember that weight in and of itself isn't very important, it's his overall appearance that matters (weight + height + build, etc. In other words: does he look healthy). However, if he's *skinny* and won't gain weight even if you increase his feedings, you may want a second opinion from another vet: there are many different diseases and parasites which can cause a dog to lose or not gain weight.

[tilerspop]

You say he is 1 yo and 65 lbs. How tall is he? If he is only 20" 65# may not be too bad, but if he's 28" he's probably underweight. He may just be geneticly small. Also remember, the skeleton grows first and then mass develops.

Btw, welcome to the forums. The advice you get here is some of the best you can get. I can't begin to tell you how much I have learned from the people here.

[Jamie & Odin]

If your boy is healthy, and not truly underweight for his structure, don't worry about it.

I have a small boy; he'll be two in December and weighs in at a wopping 68.5 lbs. I get asked if he's a puppy too, but usually only by people who don't know enough to realize that, other than the weight/height, he doesn't look like a puppy at all;)

[Leader]

Until Leader was about 2 I called him runt....I thought he was an excuse for a rottweiler....skinny, lank AND short.:( ....Then suddenly we started more training, he got more atheletic (and older,lol) And lo and behold I have a 'normal' medium sized fit well muscled rott. At almost 7 he weighs 92.5 lbs when he's in training...all muscle and 110 lbs when not in working condition. He's 65 or so centimeters tall...and everyone who sees him thinks he's just right for a WORKING rottweiler (even if he doesn't work so very much anymore:p ). So don't worry...unless he's showing signs of ill health. It's not the size that counts...it's the heart.

Leader;)