# Help putting weight on GP?



## Ford Zoo (Jan 27, 2012)

We acquired a working 14 month old GP that had to be kenneled at her home as the new neighbors across the street were trying to shoot her when she was on her own land and Law enforcement wasn't too concerned unless they hit her or the owner's children! After being kenneled, she started dropping weight. The vet checked her, found no problems, and decided she was depressed from not being allowed to work. The owner made the choice to rehome her to a working home rather than have her shot and that's how she came to us. 

We currently have her in with a few goats, she will eventually be turned out with more.

After a few days, I noticed she was not eating much of her dry food that she came with-Diamond Lamb and rice, and her teeth are fine, they have been checked. We had just cleaned some chickens, so I stewed some parts, mixed the broth and bits with her food, and she devoured it. She now gets a mixture of that with some boiled potatoes twice a day, and 2 tbsp. flax seed oil, 2 raw eggs, and 3 to 4 cups of fresh goats milk a day. She also has free access to her dry food, which she barely touches now. Her spirit has picked up, she is energetic, but I'm not seeing any weight gain yet.

How long is it going to take to start seeing weight on this young gal? She does not have a large area to roam and does not pace, so I know she is not burning off all of her calories. She interacts with the goats nicely and loves the extra attention she gets at feeding time. Any ideas? I don't have a good picture from above, and she still has some undercoat on this picture.


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## calmgentle (Jun 12, 2013)

My 4 year old GP (Angel Babe) came home to me two weeks ago, and I've also been trying to put some weight on her. I think I'm making some progress as I don't feel the ribs and backbone quite as prominent as they were.

This is what I've been doing. I feed twice a day. I put two cups of the Diamond Chicken & Rice in her feed pan and top with about 2 tablespoons of goat cheese (Ricotta - heat milk to 180*, stir in 1/3c vinegar per gallon, cool, strain and add some goat milk yogurt to it) and feed this with water added to it over the dog food kibbles and some fresh goat milk in a separate bowl (or you could just add the goat milk to the kibbles and cheese). I think your broth and bits would probably be about the same to substitute for the goat cheese. 

What I'm aiming for is to make the dog food kibbles more palatable and nutritious so she will continue to eat it. Then I can back up on the amount when she reaches optimum weight without changing what she's eating. This is how I fed my beloved Great Dane who lived to just short of her 12th birthday even though all the "experts" kept telling me that Great Danes don't live much past 7 years.

My daughter reminded me that Angel Babe is needing to gain muscle mass as well as just gain weight, so it might take a while before she gets to her ideal weight.

Good luck with your girl. She sure is pretty, and will be stunning when filled out.

Karen Bailey
Calm & Gentle Dairy Goat Farm


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Your girl looks alot like my Maggie. Mags is 17 months, and weight wise she's almost half her brothers size. They get the same food ration, Diamond Lamb and Rice, with about a pound of raw mixed in. While Murphy is weighing in at 156, he's always loved his groceries, Maggie is still just around 100. I have no idea what the answer is. She looks good, not bony, just thin.

Maybe the girls just like to watch their figures more than the boys do?


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

My little Karakachan is only 5 months old. She was a fat little fur ball when I got her. Then she maintained good weight for about 2 months. Now she is getting much, much taller and looking quite thin, though not skinny. She is eating well! I'm thinking this is just part of a growth pattern in her; so I'm continuing with what I was feeding her and not changing it, i.e. non-grain dry food (Taste of the Wild), raw meat/bone weekly, egg (raw or boiled) daily and her cheese bits (whenever I catch her doing something I especially like). If I'm right, she'll start gaining weight once she reaches the height she is going to be.


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## Bret4207 (May 31, 2008)

Both my working Pyrs are rather skinny, to my eye at least. They've just really shed out the last of their winter coat and you can see what they really look like. They are offered all they can eat of the premium dog food my wife feeds her other 11 (!!!!!) dogs. Some feedings they'll eat the whole bowl, other times just a bite or 2. They are active, very healthy, in good spirits and don't seen to want for anything. I've tried adding canned food and scraps to the food but they do the same thing after a day or 2 of it, some meals they eat it all, others just a bite. I figure if they want it, it's there, if not, so be it. When colder weather comes closer I'll start worrying a bit more. 

FWIW- our other Pyr who is more of a house dog eats the same way and several other folks with Pyrs we've talked to say the sme thing, they just aren't big eaters.


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

A skinny dog, especially a large breed is healthier in the long run. There is a lot less stress on those joints If the dog is eating and acting normal I would not worry about adding weight.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Most people feed their dogs cheap dog food with high carboydrates. We are used to seeing fat dogs. Is your dog really skinny, or just lean? Being able to feel her ribs is fine. You don't want the spine sticking out or the hips looking like a skeleton. As Jason inMN wrote, thin is really better in the long run.

If you are serious about a home made diet check out the locked sticky on the Companion Animal forum.


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## Ford Zoo (Jan 27, 2012)

Thanks for all the advice. I should add her spine and ribs stick out. But since she acts fine, perhaps I am just too impatient?


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## EvoQ (Dec 23, 2012)

In My Years of experience with Great Pyrs and in discussion with Great Pyr owners, these dogs are known picky eaters on the whole. Yes Isolated cases where a particular great Pyr is voracious eater but for the most part the breed are picky eaters. This should explain the eating issue. Another Most important fact as it relates to Dog Food. Read READ the Label. The first, second, third ingredients tell the tale. Also particular amount of ingredients correspond with the label, if for instance Rice is #1 ingredient that means Rice is the majority makeup for that particular feed and so forth down the ingredient list. Corn is HUGE No-NO. If you are feeding your dog with a Dog Food that has Corn in it you are taking Years off of their lives and will in the end pay larger vet bills because CORN is a known poison to dogs. Not just because of the Carbohydrate makeup but the type of sugar that comes from corn, in that corn produces short chain sugars that are not digestible. The more Corn in the dog food the more corn the dogs eats and it becomes a daily toxic battle in your dogs stomach. READ That Label, if Salt is say #7 on that List then look for another food. yes a better Dog Food costs more, but trust me in the end your vet bills will be much less if you feed your dog a quality feed. Also supplement your dogs with Real Meat products, Chicken Gizzards for instance are cheap and easy to cook, many many other great ideas of ways to give your dog the Nutrition they Need and More Likely Want in their diet. A Happy dog is a Healthy Dog.


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## Rock (Jan 5, 2009)

If the dog is happy leave it alone, why you want a fat dog?
She dont look too thin, cant see backbone or hip points, plus she is still young.
If you was cooking me up all that special feed, I dont think I would bother with the dry stuff either.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

If your dog was in good weight then kenneled, there is a good chance she picked up internal parasites, particularly whip worm. Whips do not often show up on fecal samples, they don't pass eggs all that often. However, the eggs are persistent for years in the environment, even with bleach, etc. A kenneled dog is a good candidate to have them. They cause bony backs, poor appetite, hunched up loin, dry coat and, with a heavier load and some stress, mucous and blood in the stools. Because they damage the intestines so badly, they can also cause food intolerance and allergy symptoms. 

Because I used to show my dogs and travel with them often to areas where other dogs had been in quantity (dog show grounds), I ended up with whip worm here. Now I routinely worm any dog I have 3 - 4 times a year, I used to worm my show and breeding dogs every other month to keep prime condition and coat. I use the horse formulation of Panacur (the horse version is off label, do ask your vet before using it, I did.) The dog dose for the tube wormer fenbendazole is 10 times higher per lb of body weight than for the horses. For a 60 lb dog, you'd give enough for a 600 lb horse and do it three days running the first time. If you see an improvement in your dog's condition, then do it again in a month for one day and then any time you see your dog looking thin or her coat is bad. You can also get the dog fenbendazole in liquid form now from your vet - when I started using it, the dog wormer was only in powders to mix with their food. After the first day, they wouldn't eat that food again...oops! 

Anyway, that's a thought that comes to mind with her losing condition after being kenneled.


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## BoldViolet (Feb 5, 2009)

If they're in a growth spurt, they'll get skinny.

Here's the recipe for satin balls - helps put weight on a dog pretty quickly:

http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Satinballs/satinballs.html


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## Ford Zoo (Jan 27, 2012)

BoldViolet said:


> If they're in a growth spurt, they'll get skinny.
> 
> Here's the recipe for satin balls - helps put weight on a dog pretty quickly:
> 
> http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Satinballs/satinballs.html


Great recipe! I ended up taking her to my own vet. She checked out fine, other than a temp of 102.8. Fecals are still clear. Blood work came back the next day for high positive of anaplasmosis (which can cause inapettite). We started her on Doxy twice a day for 4 weeks. Hoping to get some weight on her before winter! 

Thanks for all the advice, I so appreciate it! My vet is very worried about her lively hood with the broken pelvic issue, he was quite surprised at how well she gets around and her activity level.


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## Ford Zoo (Jan 27, 2012)

Guess I forgot to mention in the original past about her crushed pelvis. You can see in the picture how she turns the left hind out a bit...hit by a car at 10 weeks old. Doesn't seem to slow her down and she has been spayed so as not to risk problems with carrying a litter.


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## Ford Zoo (Jan 27, 2012)

Update on Winnie: Took her to my vet. He could find nothing wrong other than a fever, fecals remain clear. But she tested 'very high' for anaplasmosis. After just one day on Doxy, her appetite increased a bunch, after three days she is bouncing around like a pup, trying to get us and the goats to play with her. Like the 'tuck your butt and wiggle' run!


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

So glad you could pinpoint it! Now she will feel great and be healthy.


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