How to Help Your Dog Gain Healthy Weight

When raising a dog, it's important to ensure they maintain a healthy weight. While dogs can be either underweight or overweight, extra care is needed if your dog is losing weight due to illness or injury. It's essential to take your dog to a vet to rule out potential health problems and then adjust their diet and lifestyle to help them gain weight.

Monitor your dog's weight. If you suspect your dog is underweight, keep track of their weight to better manage the weight loss process and calculate how much weight they gain after implementing weight-gaining measures. You should share this tracking information with your veterinarian.

Consult with a veterinarian. It's crucial to ensure that your dog's weight loss is not caused by an illness. If the dog is sick or infected with parasites, you may not notice right away, so it's important to take the dog to a veterinary clinic for diagnosis.

• Conditions such as diabetes, cancer, hepatitis, and enteritis can cause weight loss in dogs and require further treatment along with medication. A dog with an undiagnosed condition will not recover by simply changing its diet. In fact, the dog's condition could worsen without proper treatment.

Determine the ideal weight for your dog. Discuss with your vet about body condition scoring (BCS) to objectively assess your dog's weight status (whether it's underweight, overweight, or normal). BCS is typically shown through a sample chart. Once you identify that your dog is underweight based on BCS, you should consult your vet on how to help the dog gain weight.

• Generally, you'll be able to tell if your dog's weight is healthy by looking at its body, feeling the hips, and palpating the rib cage. The dog's belly should curve upwards to cover the hips.
• If you can easily feel the ribs, spine, or hips of your dog, it may be severely underweight.
• Some dog breeds like Greyhounds and certain hunting and shepherd breeds like Border Collies and Pointers are naturally leaner compared to breeds like Mastiffs and Labrador Retrievers.

De-worm your dog. It's best to have a veterinarian test for intestinal parasites. Alternatively, you can also diagnose and de-worm your dog at home.

• Dogs with intestinal parasites may lose weight because the parasites can consume the nutrients in the food before the dog can digest and absorb them.

Provide your dog with appropriate exercise. Weight is related to the overall health of your dog, and gentle exercise can improve its health to some extent.

• You should consult with a veterinarian before starting a rigorous exercise plan for your dog. Dogs with arthritis, neurological disorders, or metabolic disorders may suffer from muscle wasting, requiring special treatment as guided by your vet to improve health and avoid further injury.
• To reduce the risk of injury, you should attach a leash to your dog's collar to control and gradually increase the frequency of walks. Swimming is also a low-impact sport if the dog enjoys water. You should supervise the dog when entering or exiting the pool (lake) to prevent injury.

Feed your dog an additional meal each day. If your dog is currently being fed once a day, consider adding an extra meal. For example, if your dog is fed in the morning and evening, you can introduce a midday meal. There's no need to change your dog's entire diet, just add an extra feeding to increase caloric intake.

• When adding another meal, also consider adjusting your dog’s bathing routine and walking schedule.

Evaluate the quality of your dog’s food. Dog food varies in quality, so it's important to ensure your dog is consuming food that is high in calories and nutritionally balanced.

• Check the protein and fat content listed on the packaging.
• The calorie per cup value is often not clearly labeled, so you may need to research the information on the manufacturer's website or contact them directly.
• Look at the ingredient list to ensure the primary ingredients include protein sources like 'beef', 'chicken', or 'lamb' instead of carbohydrates like corn or wheat.
• You can verify the quality of the food's ingredients through product information websites.
• Consult with your vet about your dog’s nutritional needs, including recommended daily caloric intake.

Offer your dog suitable human food. You can give your dog some human food that is safe and tasty for them. Dogs often enjoy vegetable soups or broth made from lean beef or chicken, without salt or fat, warmed up. For convenience, you can purchase unsalted, fat-free broth at the grocery store. A few spoonfuls of broth will make their meals more appetizing.

• Regularly offer your dog some grilled, skinless chicken, boiled eggs, or sardines (or mackerel) to provide extra protein, calories, and stimulate their appetite.
• Too much fat can make your dog sick, so pair protein with carbohydrates for a healthy caloric intake.
• You can also give your dog canned tuna water, low-fat cheese, low-fat yogurt, or canned pumpkin.
• Avoid dangerous human foods for dogs such as chocolate, raisins, grapes, onions, garlic, and moldy food.

Try giving your dog a different type of food. If your dog refuses to eat, consider offering dry (high-quality), wet (canned), or homemade food. High-quality foods often have proteins like 'beef' or 'chicken' as the main ingredients.

• If you decide to cook homemade food for your dog long-term, make sure to balance all the necessary nutrients. Consult with your vet for reputable food sources and ensure no essential ingredients are missed while cooking.
• No one diet is considered 'perfect' for all dogs, so do thorough research with your vet's guidance before adopting a homemade dog food regimen. You may want to explore the books *The Whole Pet Diet* by Andi Brown and *Dr. Becker's Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats* by Beth Taylor.

Add water to your dog's dry food. If your dog isn't fond of dry food, you can add hot water. Let it cool until the food softens, then serve it to your dog. This method makes the food more appealing to them.