Adding weight/muscle to a dog

I was wondering if anyone can help me out. What can I add to Dukes food to help him develop muscle or even just put on some weight. I dont know Dukes exact weight/height but hes the height of a tall lab and maybe weighs 60 pounds at most. You can't see ribs but he does look very lean and could easily add 10 pounds and not look different. He doesnt eat much at all. He free feeds and eats when he feels like it. He maybe goes through 2 cups a day give or take, and hes just over a year. He does have a very sensitive stomach any food with too much fruits or vegetable makes him very sick and gives him diareaha for days on end. Right now he is on Performatrin (sp?) and does wonderful on it, coats great/energy level is awesome, very healthy. He is very active and we spend easily 2-3 hours offleash running around. Is there anything I can add to add weight and also help develop his muscles??

Reading around on the food thread I noticed people give there dogs eggs? What does an egg do for them?

Thanks for reading and any advice would be great.

Eggs are my savior!

My Male Am. Pit Mix was a scrawny little thing for the longest time because he would just NOT eat. He was very uninterested in his food, no matter the brand, We went through Royal Canin, Eagle Pack, Solid Gold, and even some not so good brands like Purina. Now we're on Canidae, and he likes it just as much as everything else, but if I throw an egg in there, mix it around and micro it for 30 seconds that bowl is clean and hes looking for seconds.

Since you really cant change foods or things like that, try an egg and see how he reacts and how his stomach reacts as well.

Good protein.

You could increase the amount of food he is eating to increase his weight.

I think my dogs are too thin and each time I increase their food 1/4 cup they get pudding poo unless I mix in pumpkin. I also mix in tripett and that's not working for adding weight. I'm at a loss. I'm told they will fill out soon, but in the mean time do I just wait? (I hope this is not a high jack to the thread, I was going to start a post til I saw the same question)

For a 60lbs lab getting 2cups aday is NOT enough, my lab is 10mo and 68lbs and gets 5cups a day and is perfect condishion. Take a look at the back of the dog food bag and see how much it reccomends you feed, its a chart that you have to find the dogs age and weight, then it will tell you how many cups to feed.

^^^ He is not a lab. Sorry out of all that I didnt put his breed in. He is a dutch shepard/australian cattle dog cross. He is the height of a large lab, havent actualy measured him to be exact. I got him at 4 months and hes never been much an eater. He eats when hes hungry and never anymore than that. Now he is just over a year. I dont limit him to the 2 cups aday thats just what I put in his bowl at one time and when he does finish it I fill the bowl agian and he wont touch it till the next day.

Whackichic "I also mix in tripett and that's not working for adding weight"

What is tripett??? I really dont know to much about food and nutrition and all that. I know the basics but besides that, nothing.

I had someone suggest to me to put him back on puppy food to see if that would add a few pounds. Should I try this??

My 60lb husky/shep only eats 2 cups a day, and she is at an optimal weight! My 190lb Saint Bernard only eats 3 1/2 cups a food a day. It depends on the kind of food that you are feeding, a dog needs to eat less premium food than supermarket food. Are you sure that he needs to gain weight? Alot of the time people think that they have to put weight on their dogs they are actually a good weight! What most owners think is a good weight is actually a little heavy for their dogs. BUT if you do need to put weight on a dog try satin balls- they will pack the pounds on a pooch!

http://theherbs.info/Pets/satinball.html

Some people rather like adding oil.
Fish oil works well, however it can go bad and doesn't not change in odour or texture so you've no way of knowing in which case it does more harm then good.
Olive Oil is apparently the best non fish oil, however it is rather expensive.

Some people I know like to add a bit of meat.

It depends on your dog... but if they are one of those walk by eat a mouthful and continue on there merry way, increasing the amount of food you put down will likely just result in more food being left in the bowl at the end of the day.

Some days I think he could use a few pounds, other days I think he looks fine. He's just a really lean dog. Everyone else that sees him thinks he should put on a few pounds. He has great muscle tone in his hind end. You can see it all when he does his "look at me Im so handsome" stand. lol. I want him to build a bit more muscle mass but to build muscle you need some mass to do it. Thanks everyone so far for advice given.

All of this talk of cups/day is confusing!

First of all, what foods are you feeding? If you're feeding Pedigree Large Breed then you would probably feed 5 cups a day to reach the same number of calories in 2 cups of Eagle Pack (or other healthy food).

A lot of foods have the metabolizable energy (ME) on the back of the bag. If it tells you the number of kcal/cup, please calculate the number of kcal that you are feeding. That will give all of us a better standard!

Some dogs love to eat, some dogs don't. Some dogs gain weight easily, others never fill out. Some dogs are extremely active, others are happy with being couch potatoes. It's impossible to compare dogs, especially of different breeds/mixes.

Whackichic, have you considered switching to a high protein/high fat food like Innova EVO, Timberwolf Organics "Serengeti" or "Wild and Natural", or Solid Gold Barking at the Moon? You will feed less of these foods (due to the high caloric content), but dogs that do well on them seem to fill out nicely.

It sounds like he's in great shape and doesn't need to gain any weight. I'm not sure if he would appreciate being forced to do so, either!

Shepherd dogs are naturally lean and a lot of people mistake "in-shape" shepherds as being underweight. Sadly, a lot of the shepherds I see are overweight and people think that they're in perfect form.

I agree. If you can't see ribs your dog is fine. Why push him to gain weight especially while he is young and still growing? Extra weight can lead to joint problems down the road. I think too many people don't understand their dog's build. Some dogs have heavy bone and others do not. Adding fat will only make your dog unhealthy and out of proportion for his frame...

This is a dutch shepherd cross. Dutchies are very closely related to Belgians and have similar body type. They are light dogs.

My male is 25" tall and 64 lbs. He's a bit overweight and I'm working on bringing him down to 60 lbs. I have another adolescent (2.5 year old) male Belgian who is 26" and 51 lbs. I'm working on putting weight on him because he is definitely underweight.

On Dutchies and Belgians, you want to easily feel their ribs. "Good weight" is LEAN. A layer of fat over their ribs is too heavy. The best way to tell if your Dutch Shepherd cross is too thin is to put your hand between his hips. If there is a divet (dent) between the two hip bones, then he is too lean. If you can feel his spine, he is too lean. But, you should be able to feel his ribs easily, and if he is a short coated dog, you should be able to easily make out the line of the rib cage.

This is a picture of Viper the Belgian Malinois. She is in perfect weight for her age. She's five. Belgians, and Dutchies too, don't really start to fill out and get "solid" until between the ages of three and four, particularly the boys.



As for putting on muscle, the only way to do that is exercise. Exercise, exercise, exercise.

My 67 pound foster Lab eats 2 1/2 to 3 cups a day and she's perfect. Lean and muscled.

I personally think dogs look and do better when slightly on the lean side.

My dogs eat Innova adult. The male 3 1/2 cup and the female 3 1/4 cup mixed with 1/4 can of tripett canned food.
http://www.thedogathlete.com/eats/tripett/14/#more-14

They are both 18 months old and too young for Evo. I picked Innova adult cuz it's such a good food. The female has a wicked sensitive stomach. I hate changing foods because of that.

A Dutchie and ACD are not supposed to be real big dogs. 60lbs is probably a good weight. At just over a year, he's not done growing yet, so be patient.

If you can feel his ribs under his skin but not see them, I'd say he's just fine. On my GSD you can see the last rib or 2 when he's running, and feel them under the skin, and he looks great. Most people think a dog that they can see or feel ribs is too thin, but actually that is where they should be. We're used to seeing fat dogs and consider that normal.

Thanks everyone with the input. I was on the fence with his weight and with everyone saying he was to thin made me really debate it. I know you dont have a pic to really see but from what people said to determine if hes underweight or not and going by that then hes perfect.

Spiritus - Thanks for the post. It put my mind at easy alot.

I was thinking the same thing as another posted. With so many over weight dogs its easy to think Duke is to skinny. I'll just keep doing what Im doing with him and be glad hes not over weight. I do forget at times that he still is young and has still time to fill out abit. Thanks again everyone

Try Satin Balls, I used this on my ACD when she was going through the gangly stage. I'm not using it right now because shes at a good weight, but try it out.

http://www.njboxers.com/satin-balls-recipe.htm

oops, also, don't free-feed. Give him two small meals a day. I prefer to feed once a day. (My dogs only eat once a day) This way you can guage how much he's really eating and if he goes off of his food you will know ASAP. If he is underweight he probably isn't responding well to free-feeding anyway. They have to get in a habit of eating regularly. It also helps if you travel, you will know exactly what time of day the dog needs to potty.