What can I do for my german shepherd?
I adopted Kalo, (my German shepherd - the best of all the large breed dogs) a month ago. Sence then I took him to the vet. He had worms. He got treated. The problem is he is still skinny. The vet said he could not find a medical reason. He eats like a horse, but not gaining wight. I feed him dog food with no fillers, just like my vet told me. I've seen onter german shepherds, they are heavier then him. Hes not extremely skinny, just thin. What can I do to make him heavier? He is very active.
I feed him Nutro Max.
The name of the food would be very helpful.
Definately change his food. This is not a high quality food. I know dogs who can eat a low quality non stop and look like they’re starving to death.
Try Innova, Canidae, or Solid Gold to name a couple high quality foods.
Give him some time. Since you have only had him a month I would think it would just take time to get his system working correctly. Also if he is very active he might stay on the slender side. Give him a couple of months and I bet you will see a difference.
i think the only thing that will help you is just feed it like normal
I think he is healthy, he just has a high metabolism. He is burning a lot of calories since he is so active. Just feed him good, hi-caloric food (try puppy chow because it has higher calories in it) and relax. He will start to put on weight when his energy level slows down. Then you can start feeding him adult dog food.
A month isn’t very long to get a dog healthy. We took in a dog we found in a dumpster & she was 6 lbs. She should’ve been 15 lbs. Once we got her worms all gone, we had a blood panel done to find what other problems she had. Everytime she ate, which was alot & often, she’d vomit. Due to her starvation, her body started to absorb her organs so her liver was not functioning properly & we had to medicate her for it. It took about 3 months before she gained the weight she needed to. Sadly, it takes more time than we think it should to get them to a healthy weight.
If he is eating well & active, just be patient. And as with people, some are just leaner built than others. And bless you for taking in a pup that appears to need you. You’ll be happy you did.
Time could be the answer-
Maybe experiment with different brands of food…
Whats his Poo like, i know it sounds wierd but it can say alot about his digestive system that the vet may overlook.
many dogs have stomach irritants, for example I have experienced a dog that couldnt eat anything raw or she would get chronic diarohea and couldnt put on weight.
Also age can be a fact, pupies digestive systems are all over the place to start with and are very active, they dont physically ‘fill out’ or thicken until they’re getting toward 8-12 months
I have a 4 yr old shepherd named Oso. At times his weight will fluctuate due to the heat or cold, but he usually rebounds pretty quickly. It may take some time for him to pack on weight, but I don’t think it’s normal if he’s being fed enough. I had an experience where I dropped my dog off at a local boarding kennel with specific feeding instructions and when I picked my dog up, I could not believe what i was seeing. He looked like a skeleton and it took maybe two-three weeks for him to put his weight back on. I fed him 4 cups 2x per day until he reached his ideal weight of around 98 lbs. Then I went back to his 3 cups 2x per day. If he does not seem to improve, get a second opinion, it can’t hurt. You also want to be careful about when you are feeding an active dog, feeding times can actually hurt a dog if they are pretty active prior to or right after good walk or run. You can get the specifics from your vet or trainer. Good Luck
How old is he? Do you know anything about his background? If he was malnourished, it will take time for his body to recover. Keep feeding him a high-quality food. If he is less than two years of age, he is still growing, so it will take even longer for him to gain condition. You may want to try a puppy formula, if his digestive system can handle it (it can give some dogs diarrhea due to the higher fat and protein content).
You don’t want him to be overweight either. Especially since he is a large breed dog, and a GSD to boot. Too much weight leads to joint problems as well as other health problems.
If he is very active, he is burning calories like crazy. But, that’s a good sign too! He feels good and obviously you are doing something right.
Kudos to you for rescuing this pup.