How to fatten a dog up?

[BadgeBunny]

I know, right?

I think I'm gonna bow out of this discussion before my head explodes.

But please, for the love of God and your dog's pancreas - don't give him bacon grease or fat trimmings.
*drops mic, exits stage left*

I keep waiting for some busy-body to say something to me at Petsmart ... You know how I treat my dogs ... He's laying here at my feet right now with a full belly, sound asleep, farting and snoring to beat the band. Ribs and hip bones showing everywhere. When I brush him the brush bounces off his backbone, poor guy ... He's not wormy and he's not sick. He's just a happy dog who can eat anything he wants and stay skinny as a rail ... I'm kinda jealous if you want to know the truth!!

 

[gfercaks33]

I just noticed your name. I was looking for healthy ways to do it. He has weighed as much as 24 lbs but he's at an all time low.

One other thing that could cause it is he has really bad allergies. I used to live in an apartment where the people under me smoked like chimneys so he got really bad (lots of eye goop) because of this Iv taken him to the vet for a yeast infection in his ear.two different vets said it was allergy related my current vet gave him a cortisone shot and the infection cleared up tremendously but it never quite cleared (still at the apartment). Now I'm in my own house and his allergies are better but still there so he gets some benedryl. Could this be an issue to weight loss.


Thinking about it the reason she may want him to gain weight is he has lost a bunch.

 

[grwd]

use quality dog food. Most dog foods are just filler.

 

[nofearfactor]

We have 3 dogs- my 3 yr old Boston, one kid has a 10yr old Beagle and the other has a 4 yr old Beagle. All the dogs eat the same high protein quality food but the 4yr old Beagle has always been a little thin with ribs showing, etc, and she is usually always the first one at the bowl at breakfast and at dinner. The other Beagle is normal sized and my Boston is a little bull, a thick looking fella instead of the usual skinny Boston. They all 3 run and play all day and are always together. No people food. The Boston comes up to the back door trying to get in the house with birds and moles but I think the Beagles are the ones who snag em and dont like the taste so he gets em.

 

[beast1989]

I know, right?

I think I'm gonna bow out of this discussion before my head explodes.

But please, for the love of God and your dog's pancreas - don't give him bacon grease or fat trimmings.
*drops mic, exits stage left*

Its funny how the people advocating to get the dog up to a "healthy" weight are recommending grease and fat trimmings. lol There are MANY ways to raise weight without that.

 

[leemozoid]

Put a GPS unit in his collar and leave him outside an Asian restaurant. They fatten him up real good in a week or two. Track GPS and hope you get to him before dinner time!

 

[nofearfactor]

Put a GPS unit in his collar and leave him outside an Asian restaurant. They fatten him up real good in a week or two. Track GPS and hope you get to him before dinner time!

 

[O4L]

Bacon, steak, ribs, brisket, hamburgers, cookies, cake, ice cream, jerky, sausage, fried chicken.

All of this plus lots of biscuits and gravy have always worked for me!

(I would imagine it would also fatten up a dog.)

 

[Blitzfike]

Once fattened, which breeds taste best?

 

[badrinker]

This guy has it right. You put that much weight on that dog and you'll have an obese dog.

In a healthy dog, you should be able to feel the spine. You should be able to feel, but not see, the ribs (though in a dog with a thick coat, you often can't see the ribs no matter how skinny they are), and they should have a nice little tuck up in the flanks. They should have a visible waist when viewed from above.

We have so many obese dogs in this country I think we've forgotten what a healthy dog looks like.

If* your vet told you to put 5-10 pounds on your corgi, RUN, don't walk, RUN to another vet for a second opinion.

To answer your action question, though - the safest way to do it would be to switch him to a good quality puppy food. But please don't do that without discussing it with another vet.


And, finally, if your vet really did say that, I can't emphasize this enough, go see another vet. Now.

EDIT: Now that I've seen the other pic - please don't try to put 10 pounds on that dog - oh please. You've got yourself a healthy, active dog. Why would you want to screw that up! Americans are known to be portly, too, but we don't typically encourage healthy ones to get fat!

I must concur with my colleague, dog appears to be of a healthy weight.

Do you know how hard it is to agree with someone with "sooner" in their handle?