If your dog is underweight then first, try to find out if there is a health reason that is causing the weight loss.
You may have a bitch that is an underweight pet because she may have just given birth to puppies and is raising them. You may have a dog that was treated badly by its last pet owner. In such straightforward cases, you can easily help your dog to fatten up fast.
Monitor your dog so that you can get to understand the reason why it is an underweight puppy. If you have many dogs then it could be that a particular dog is underweight/dog’s weight because the other dogs are stealing its food.
Assess The Health Of Your Dog
Any kind of illness can interfere with how your dog is processing the food. This may be the reason for weight loss.
If that is the case, then you will see that your dog’s appetite loss, lack of energy, and an increase in thirst.
Weight loss conditions could happen because of diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, liver disease, cancer, etc. If you notice any such symptoms then get your dog checked by a veterinary nutritionist.
Get Your Dog Examined By a Vet
If you think that your dog is ill and there is an unexplained loss in weight then it is best if you do not delay and consult the vet.
This is better done before the problem starts to get out of control. Once the vet says that everything is fine with the dog then there are ways in which you can make your fussy dog eat better and gain weight.
Help Your Dog To Gain Weight Fast
Here are a few ways, which can help your underweight dog to gain weight or a weight gainer.
Your dog may be suffering from old age/older dog or may just have to gain some pounds. These tips can help it to gain weight fast.
To make sure that your dog maintains a healthy weight, you should give it a balance of a healthy diet and exercise.
- Start a new schedule for feeding your dog
Dogs do not process the puppy food as humans do. However, it may be similar in a few ways. Like with humans who eat food less/picky eater than an hour before they go to bed are more likely to be overweight. The body stores the nutrients in the form of fat and causes weight gain. For dogs, you may want to use this logic and help it to gain some weight.
If your dog eats twice in the day then give it a small portion in the morning and a large portion at nighttime. This will let the body to store the dry food or canned food as fat and not burn the energy. This will also ensure that the extra calorie intake is not burnt when the dog exercises throughout the day.
Another method to help your dog to gain weight is to feed small meals to its at infrequent intervals. You spread your dog’s food through the day and this provides it with the extra nutrients. This change in schedule can help your dog to gain weight. If you want to take your dog like a german shepherd to excise then wait for 30 minutes after feeding your dog. This will avoid bloating.
- Feed food that is rich in fat and protein
Your puppy needs food that is high in fat and protein. These nutrients are essential for their development and growth. It helps the puppies to grow to healthy adult dogs. These foods are expensive but are essential for your dog.
If you have an underweight dog then you can use this food to help it to gain weight. A diet that is rich in protein will help your malnourished dog to gain weight fast. Your dog will start to show improvement in its health in a weeks’ time itself.
If you are already offering a meat protein to your dog then find a dog’s meal with a higher protein percentage. If you, however, have to switch to a new meat protein then add a small quality of the new wet food into the old diet of your dog.
This will not let your dog have a stomach upset here is a guide on the best dog food for sensitive stomach and gas to help you better in your decisions. Increase the new food into your dog’s diet gradually
- Include sweet potato and pumpkin in your dog’s diet
Pumpkin and sweet potato are great to help your dog to gain weight. This can be added if you do not want to add extra meat to your dog’s diet.
This helps to include fiber and fat and lets your dog gain some extra pounds. The nutrients in the dry dog food will take care that the dog does not have an upset stomach.
- Whole food treat and peanut butter
The extra calories that your dog gets from treats are also good. However, keep this just for a few occasions and do not substitute regular raw food with treats. Giving your dog some treat that is high in fat and before bed can help the dog to gain weight. Peanut butter is also rich in fat and lets your dog gain extra weight.
Peanut butter is healthy and helps dogs gain weight. You may want to give a vegetable piece along with the peanut butter. The fiber-rich vegetable will take care that your dog does not have a stomach upset. Avoid giving food that has high acidity along with peanut butter. This will cause stomach problems in your dog.
- Exercise
The dog has to gain muscles/muscle mass and for this, exercise is necessary. When you let your dog exercise daily then this will help it to maintain its ideal weight.
A high protein and fat diet along with exercise help to give you a healthy dog with the correct weight.
Conclusion
For the pet owners/dog owner who are conscious about the nutritional needs of their pets, they can use natural and healthy formulas to feed their dogs. The vegetable base human food is also good in case you do not want to add extra meat to your dog’s diet.
Even after trying all these tips if your dog still does not gain weight then consult the veterinarian who can chalk out a diet and lifestyle plan for your dog.
Sources:
https://www.wikihow.com/Fatten-Up-a-Dog
https://blog.worldofangus.com/6-easy-steps-to-put-some-weight-on-your-skinny-dog/
