underweight dog

[Jamie & Odin]

OK, I know weight questions are asked all the time...

But, Foxy weighed 68 lbs when she was spayed on April 29. The Vet said I should get her up to about 75 lbs. I'm not sure how tall she is, she's a good couple inches taller than Odin, and he's healthy at 70 lbs.

Well, I weighed her last week and she is at 77 lbs and still way too skinny. I was feeding Eagle Pac Lamb and Rice.

A local pet store just started carrying Wellness (Yeah!) so I am switching to that. I guess I am supposed to feed her according to the label and the weight I WANT her to be at not the weight she is actually at right now. However, I'm not really sure what that weight should be. I'm guessing 85-90 lbs. So she would get about 3-4 cups per day.

Any advice on getting some weight on this girl? She is walked about an hour and a half a day. At the end of an hour she's really pretty worn out. I don't want to overwork her, but definately want to get her stamina, energy level etc. back up.

Should I be adding anything to her food that will increase the calorie count without adding a lot of bulk? or any supplements she should be on at this time?

Thanks!

[mmgy]

She's gained 9 pounds in 3 weeks? Seems to me you would want to maintain whatever you're doing, because I don't think you would want her to gain any faster.

I like your new choice of food, but I think I'd feed the same amount I'm feeding now until the transition was complete, and then reevaluate.

[Rott-Wiley]

The amount of food you should feed (according to the bag) is the current weight of the dog, not the desired weight.

Your dog should not gain more then 2 pounds per week or a max of 10 pounds per month, especially while they are growing. Their bones can't adjust to the change faster. Maybe if you cut back a few minutes (maybe 10 or 15) on your walk every day that would put weight on her but I would just switch foods and see how she does for awhile on that.

[Carina43]

Sounds to me like she doesn't need to gain weight any faster than she already is. I'd shoot for a very gradual weight gain until she's in a good, healthy condition.

[Judi W]

Jamie,
How old is she?

[Jamie & Odin]

She's two years old.

I can see almost every rib, hip bones protrude etc. but she is gaining energy and is happy and otherwise healthy. Maybe I'm asking too much too quickly. I just hate to see her like this:( and am glad I didn't see her at 68 lbs.

I'm going to stop in to the vet's today and weigh her again. She was moving around a bit on the scale, so I'm not sure if we got a real accurate reading last week. I'll measure her height also.

She can play rough with Odin and run around the house with no problems. The vet said two hours of walking are fine for her, and she gets a 1/2 hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. I think I will shorten her evening walk though, she really doesn't seem to enjoy the last 15 minutes or so.

The other thing I'm noticing is that her front legs seem a bit weak. If she gets pushed or mis-steps the front leg that takes the weight kind of falters. She does not seem to be in any pain. Is this just a strength issue? She does have a health check next week, so I'll bring it up.

Thanks, guys!