Supplements suggestions?

[D'Elle]

Kelso was rescued from a puppy mill in Texas recently. You can follow his story in the Rescue section. He is between one and 2 years old, is overweight, rather than thin, but has no muscle tone at all. I think he must have been in a cage his whole life. He can hardly walk. Our new exercise program consists of me carrying him to the back of the yard (50 ft.) and he walks laboriously back again. As of today, three times is all he can manage, but I plan to add one time per day as we go along. I believe in this dog and am determined to let him be a success story.

 

He is not eating much. I have to put roast chicken on the kibble and mix it all in to get him to eat it, but he is eating better today than he was three days ago. I think a really high quality supplement would probably be in order, here.

 

If you know of a good one, please let me know.

Thanks.

D'Elle

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

Kelso was rescued from a puppy mill in Texas recently. You can follow his story in the Rescue section. He is between one and 2 years old, is overweight, rather than thin, but has no muscle tone at all. I think he must have been in a cage his whole life. He can hardly walk. Our new exercise program consists of me carrying him to the back of the yard (50 ft.) and he walks laboriously back again. As of today, three times is all he can manage, but I plan to add one time per day as we go along. I believe in this dog and am determined to let him be a success story.

 

He is not eating much. I have to put roast chicken on the kibble and mix it all in to get him to eat it, but he is eating better today than he was three days ago. I think a really high quality supplement would probably be in order, here.

 

If you know of a good one, please let me know.

Thanks.

D'Elle

 

They seem to like fish. You would try canned mackrel and see if he will eat it. Our momma's coat has turned nice with fatty fish but, no matter what it takes about 3 weeks on good food to their coats to turn around. I think they were eating old roy type before the resturant scrap only diet.

 

Your guy sounds like he many have been in one of the raised cages. Look and see if his feet look splayed. If so then he got food and didnt have to struggle for it like the others but, since it was cheap stuff it left him bloated.

[Jedismom]

I've heard good things about Missing Link.

 

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Missing-Link-Canine-Formula/168001.aspx

 

Good luck and I look forward to hearing more about his progress!

[WildFlower]

I would recommend a good salmon oil on his meals and also maybe a digestive enzyme and/or probiotic.

 

I use Grizzly Salmon oil:

http://www.healthypets.com/grizzsalmonoil64oz.html

 

And I used this probiotic for quite some time:

http://www.healthypets.com/gentledigest.html

 

For the life of me, I cannot remember the brand of digestive enzyme I am using right now... And I am at work. I can check when I get home.

 

Having a strong/healthy digestive tract will help him absorb the nutrients from his food better. So, I would highly recommend using a digestive enzyme.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

I've had the best luck with cold water fish oil opposed to salmon oil. Only because the salmon oil made my dogs super gassy. But if you want to try and entice him to eat, I'd second the canned mackerel.

 

In addition to walking into the house for exercise can you get him doing stuff in the house, like practicing something like a puppy push-up (sit/down/sit) for a few reps each day. That will help with his muscle tone and cardio.

[Maralynn]

I'd honestly just try a quality food and a fish oil supplement along with getting him to exercise more. Good food makes a world of difference.

[D'Elle]

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I am certain that Kelso was one of the dogs kept in a cage all of the time. His feet are splayed from the wire mesh and he is overweight, with no muscle tone. He has no energy or endurance. Sorry, but I had to laugh at the idea of doing sit-down-sit with him. It's a great suggestion for later, when he is actually physically able to do that, though! Right now it's a huge effort for him just to get to his feet and walk a little bit. However, every day there is progress. At first he had to be carried everywhere, as he could not walk at all. then I started being able to walk him along as long as I kept my hands on him to keep him from collapsing. And he would just stand and stare at the ground.

 

Now, if I get him up (he still needs help with that) he can actually walk on his own, and even manage the three steps up into the house.

 

At first I had to feed him by hand and hold very still and make no noise and not look at him to get him to eat. And he would only eat chicken. Now, he'll eat kibble mixed with canned dog food and I can talk to him while he eats out of my hand. I hope soon to get him to eat out of a bowl.

 

All of this is amazing progress considering that this is only his 5th day with me. Honestly, in that first 24 hours I thought I would be carrying him everywhere for at least a week, he was so catatonic.

 

Although he is flabby I am not at all concerned about getting weight off him because once he gets strong enough to move around more I will help him to build his strength and the extra weight will turn into muscle. I sure look forward to that. He's a trooper, and will be a success story.

 

D'Elle

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

I talked with mom about this today. I doesnt seem that any of our dogs run. It's like playing and exercising amoung the groups wasnt allowed. I could have also been to conserve calories. Some of ours act like water may have been a premium too.

 

I totally think this man made an extra effort to socialize his females to help sell pups but, extra males were left to ferral. All of ours are people friendly.

 

A funny aside. We thought all along the biggest Dog we had was a breeding age male. Nope it's a female. So add more to the thought that the females were better socialized.