Weight Issue

[Circle C]

Flye will be 2yrs old on December 15th. She is so thin! She's not "going to die" skinny, but she's much too thin. I have wormed her (for everything under the sun) using Safe-Guard and I started to mix some canned dog food in with her dry so it was more appealing to her. She doesn't seem to eat her kibble well. It takes her 2-3 days to eat a full bowl. I also have been putting Cocosaya oil on her kibble. She was eating better with the canned in it, but I havn't seen any weight gain at all. She is a very active dog. I have also tried a different kind of kibble, with the same results. She just doesn't eat much.

 

Do you think she's just maturing late (like most BC's) and she'll fill out down the line? My male really didn't start filling out till he was 3yrs old, but he was never quite that thin. She is a petite dog, but she's built like a whippett!!!

 

I'm going to call and make her a vets appointment, but do you guys have any ideas?

[borderlicious]

Does she still have good muscle mass or is she atrophied? She could just be very, very lean. When my dog was working over the summer, he didn't have an ounce of fat on him. People thought he was too skinny, but he was simply in his "working shape". He had big, strong muscles and a healthy coat, definitely not starving, kwim?

 

My BC has always been pretty good about eating, but my Papillon was anorexic for the first 1.5 years of his life.

 

if you think she really needs fat on her, satin balls are pretty good for that. I feed them to Dakota when he needs an extra energy boost, and fed them to my Papillon when I wanted him to gain a little fat.

 

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

[Shetlander]

At some point has she been checked out by a vet to make sure she doesn't have something that only a test would show? Some dogs are just skinny by nature and perfectly healthy or slow to gain their mature adult weight. But it's a good idea to make sure there isn't something medical going on.

[RaisingRiver]

Is she lethargic? Frankly, if she eats well, has lots of energy and isn't dropping weight, then I wouldn't worry at all.

[MaggieDog]

Check the thread in the People's Gallery on "what a healthy BC should look like"...you can compare your girl to some of the pictures there; many of our dogs are naturally skinny, and the rest of us try to keep them in good condition with little extra weight.

 

Here's the link: http://www.bordercollie.org/cgi-bin/ultima...c;f=14;t=002630

[Alicia]

RR and MD, that's what I was goin to say

My vet always says, if they're energetic, coat is shiny and act healthy, then ribs are fine. Border Collie esspecially seeom to be more lean. Before I knew about this, and had my own, we had so many coming into the clinic that I thought were so thin, real ribby. They were perfectly healthy and my vet described that they were just that way and that it was much better for them to be so.

 

So, is she bright, alert energetic, healthy coat.. then dont worry about it

 

And do check out the Gallery, to alot of people the BCs there may seem thin but, they are all the healthy weight of a BC.

[Kat's Dogs]

I agree with the others that if nothing else is wrong - it isn't a bad thing as long as there is plenty of muscle, just no fat.

 

Do you free feed (leave the food out all day)? If you do, instead only leave the dish down for about 20 mintues. If she doesn't eat it - to bad. I know it might sound mean for a dog that is already skinny but it gets the dogs to eat their food all at once rather then eating at their own, slow, all day pace. After the first day or two of doing limited feeding - the dogs will usually start eating all they can right when you put the dish down.

 

ETA: Alicia - I wish I had your vet!! Mine still thinks that Dazzle could use 5 or more pounds.

[Alicia]

Lol, my vet sees mostly farm and ranch dos so understands If they arent lean ranch dogs, then they are obese lap dogs and family dogs so he always recommends they be skinnier lol

[Circle C]

Originally posted by RaisingRiver:

Is she lethargic? Frankly, if she eats well, has lots of energy and isn't dropping weight, then I wouldn't worry at all.

She eats.....not as much as I would like, but she eats. She'll ABSOLUTELY FULL of energy and is doing something nonstop! She isn't dropping weight, just not gaining.

[Circle C]

Originally posted by Kat's Dogs:

Do you free feed (leave the food out all day)?

I feed once a day. I fill her dish completely up. (My bowls are large)

 

After looking at all those photos.....I don't think she's as thin as I suspect. She just doesn't have much hair (she's semi-smooth coated) so she looks even thinner. I'll post some photos tomorrow after work and you guys can tell me what you think.

[Alicia]

I'd try feeding 2X a day. In one setting, most dogs cant finish off too much, they get full. If ya feed her 2X a day then she can fill up 2x as much. She'll probably eat more.

[Kat's Dogs]

I agree with Alicia 100%. Dazzle will get a few meals a day rather than just 1 (with the limited time to eat it). As a result, she eat like crazy whenever she gets the chance!

[juliepoudrier]

Circle C,

You might also consider that many dog foods are sprayed with fat to make them more palatable. If they sit out all day, those fats may "evaporate," making the food less tasty the longer it sits.

 

I think it's a good idea to feed once or twice a day and leave the food down only for a set amount of time. That way the dog learns to eat when the food is there and not fiddle around. If she's not hungry, she won't eat and it won't kill her to wait till the next regularly scheduled feeding.

 

By feeding on a schedule, it will be much easier to tell when she's really off her feed. Plus you just got a new pup, and unless you keep them separate all the time, you'll have no idea who's eating what (which again makes it difficult to actually monitor food intake). Most of my dogs eat 2 cups of food or less a day. If you're filling a really big bowl, you may just be overfeeding--in which case count your blessings she's not a food hound who chows on every bit and turns into a porker....

 

J.

[Circle C]

My dogs are in separate kennels (outside), so I know exactly how much they eat. The pup is in the house right now. I like to keep them inside untill about 6-8 months so I can spens a lot of timje with them. Then they get a kennel outside. I feed at night (5pm) when I feed horses and they have all night to eat. I fill her bowl b/c she doesn't eat well. I only fill my males halfway b/c he's a hog LOL!!!!

 

I guess I don't see much reason in feeding her twice a day b/c it takes her 2 days just to eat her bowl full.

 

I will try feeding 2x per day and see what happens. I can't hardly believe she'll eat more though! Thanks for the thoughts and ideas

[juliepoudrier]

Circle C,

It's not about feeding her *more*; it's about feeding her the right amount. If she only ever eats, say, 1.5 cups of food, why fill the bowl with perhaps 5 cups? Having a bunch extra just means that bugs, flies, etc., can have at it while it sits out all night. Food sitting out also attracts other critters, some of whom can get in the kennel (like rats and mice) and some who may not, depending on how the kennel is built (like possums and coons) and none of whom I would want to encourage to come around. I guess I'm just confused as to why you think feeding *more* to a dog who doesn't want to eat it is somehow going to make her eat more. If you know how much she's actually eating, as you say, then feed her exactly that and be done with it. No need to feed twice a day (as in, you won't be helping anything by dividing her current portion in half and putting it out twice a day if she's not eating the full bowl when offered once a day). The point people were trying to make with the 2x/day feeding is that you can offer the food for 20 minutes and then pick it back up. Your dog will soon learn that it has specific times when it has the opportunity to eat and if it doesn't eat then, there will be no food till the next specified time. This sort of feeding program, whether done once or twice a day, will go much further toward getting a picky eater to eat than just leaving food out all the time.

 

As I noted before, food that sits out loses flavor and palatability and it attracts vermin.

 

Obviously you're going to do exactly what you want to do, but why ask for advice if your response is to simply argue why you don't want to take that advice?

 

J.

[Circle C]

Originally posted by Circle C:

I will try feeding 2x per day and see what happens. I can't hardly believe she'll eat more though! Thanks for the thoughts and ideas

How is that arguing?