Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 2: Diagnosing underweight
• Method 2 of 2: Increasing the calorie intake of the dog diet
• Warnings

It is an important responsibility for any dog ​​owner to keep track of its normal weight. Even a healthy dog ​​may be underweight or overweight, but disorders caused by illness or injury are of particular concern. After being properly checked by your veterinarian to rule out potential health problems, most dogs can be helped to gain weight through dietary and lifestyle changes.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Diagnosing underweight

1. 1 Keep a record of your dog's weight. If you suspect that your dog is underweight, you should start keeping track of it so that you can notice the decrease in weight, and then follow up on its increase when you begin to implement your weight gain plan. Be sure to provide this information to your veterinarian.
2. 2 Check with your veterinarian. You need to make sure your dog's weight loss is not underlying any medical problem. The dog may suffer from a disease or be infected with parasites, which is not always visually noticeable on your own, so a veterinary examination is necessary.
   • Diseases such as diabetes, cancer, hepatitis, inflammatory processes in the intestines can manifest themselves with weight loss, but they require separate additional treatment. Therefore, in this case, a pet with an unknown diagnosis will not recover only on enhanced nutrition. In reality, things will get much worse without proper treatment.
3. 3 Determine the ideal weight for your dog. Talk to your veterinarian about the dog's body condition assessment to objectively determine if it is too thin, overweight, or in perfect order. An example of a scoring table can be found here. If it is clear from your dog's body condition that the dog is emaciated, you should consult your veterinarian about the approach to use to gain weight.
   • In general, your dog has a healthy weight if you can see its waist, when stroking the sides, you can feel its ribs, but they are not visible, and the belly line is slightly raised towards the hips.
   • If you can easily see most of the dog's ribs, spine and hip bones, then it is too thin.
   • Some dog breeds, such as Greyhounds, some hunting and herding dogs (Border Collies, Pointers), tend to be slimmer than other breeds like Mastiffs and Labrador Retrievers.
4. 4 Deworm your pet. It is best to have a stool test for intestinal parasites with your veterinarian, but if this is not possible, then you yourself can diagnose and cure helminthic infestation right at home.
   • A dog infected with worms may be underweight due to the parasites sucking nutrients from the food it has consumed before it is processed by the intestines.
5. 5 Make sure your dog is getting the right exercise. A dog's weight reflects the overall health of a dog, which in turn depends on getting the right physical activity.
   • Be sure to check with your veterinarian before embarking on an action-packed training plan with your dog. Some dogs have arthritis, neurological problems, or metabolic disorders that lead to a decrease in muscle mass and require a special approach under the supervision of a veterinarian so that the dog can recover without additional injury.
   • Gradually increasing the duration of controlled leash walks is generally safe for all dogs and carries a lower risk of injury to the pet. For those dogs that have nothing against water, swimming can be a wonderful and completely safe exercise. Make sure there is safe entry and exit by the pool, lake or river to prevent accidents on the water.

Method 2 of 2: Increasing the calorie intake of the dog diet

1. 1 Introduce additional feeding into your dog's daily diet. If you are feeding your dog once a day, add a second feed. If the dog already eats in the morning and evening, introduce a midday feed. You don't have to change your existing diet, just add one meal to increase your calorie intake.
   • Remember that by introducing additional feeding into the diet, you change the walking needs of the dog, which may require changes in the walking schedule.
2. 2 Rate the quality of the dog food. Dog food is available in a wide variety of quality characteristics. You need to make sure that the food you feed your dog provides it with the right amount of calories and the right nutrient balance.
   • It is easy to check the information on the content of proteins and fats in the feed by reading the composition on its packaging.
   • You may not always see the number of calories per serving on a packet, so you may need to visit the food manufacturer's website or call the company for information.
   • On a pack of food, its composition must be indicated. Look for foods that start with protein in the form of beef, chicken or lamb instead of carbohydrates like corn or wheat.
   • You can check the quality of your canine's ingredients here.
   • Check with your veterinarian for the recommended daily calorie intake for your dog. More information on this subject can be found here.
3. 3 Supplement your dog's food with suitable human food. Introducing some tasty and safe human food into the dog's diet can help increase the dog's interest in food. Low-fat unsalted chicken, beef, or vegetable broth, heated and poured over, will make the food tastier. In grocery stores, you can find low-fat broths without added salt for a relatively low price. A few spoonfuls of broth will add a pleasant flavor to the dog food.
   • A few tablespoons of skinless fried chicken, a boiled egg, or regular sardines (or mackerel) will usually help whet the appetite in most dogs and are a healthy source of protein and calories.
   • Dogs can get sick if given too much fat, so try to use protein and carbohydrates to add healthy calories to your food.
   • You can also try giving your dog canned tuna broth, low-fat cottage cheese, plain low-fat yogurt, or regular canned pumpkin.
   • Avoid giving human food that could be hazardous to your dog's health, such as chocolate, raisins, grapes, onions, garlic, and any moldy foods.
4. 4 Try a different food. If your dog is not responding well to the food it eats, try offering another (high quality) dry food or high quality canned (wet) food, or switch to proven homemade food recipes. In high quality feeds, protein ingredients such as beef or chicken tend to come first.
   • If you are preparing your own dog food for an extended period of time, it is extremely important that it is a complete and balanced recipe. It is recommended that you consult your veterinarian as a source of proven feed recipes, and remember to include all the required recipe ingredients in your feed when cooking.
   • No diet can be “perfect” for absolutely all dogs, so with the help of your veterinarian, do your own research before moving on to self-preparation of food for your dog. As a starting point for exploring possible feed formulations, you can visit the homemade food recipes page and the natural dog and cat food recipes page.
5. 5 Add water to dry food. If your dog is not enthusiastic about dry food, try adding hot water to the dry food and then chilling it until it becomes mushy. This often makes the food more attractive to dogs.

Warnings

• Be aware that abrupt changes in your dog's diet can lead to digestive upset. Consult your veterinarian for a gradual transition to a new feed.
• If you are introducing human foods, such as pumpkin, into your dog's diet and the dog's stool softens, then you may need to reduce the amount of human food added to the feed.
• Do not overload your dog with serious physical activity if he is not used to it. As with humans, the exercise should be increased gradually.
• Do not force the dog to eat, it can only be seduced by food.