Working at a pet store I see all shapes and sizes of dogs. Some carry their weight differently. I know my chow mix carries her weight much more leanly than other chow mixes. As long as you can't visibly see the ribs, but can still feel them, and there's a defined waistline, you're good. As far as getting her to eat her dog food, you might try going to a grain free food to see if she likes it better. Blue Buffalo Wilderness, Natures Variety Instinct, and Orijen are just a few excellent brands you can look into. (I spend a lot of time reading labels.) Many dogs do fine on cheaper dog food, while other do so much better on a higher quality. Higher protien like Wilderness and Orijen have can also help fill her out if she doesn't just happen to have very prominent hip bones. I know every dog food has horror stories, but these are the ones I've seen the least horror from.
It's really difficult to say what the "ideal" weight of a dog is. It depends largely on the build and body type of the individual dog. Speak to your vet they can tell and recommend if she needs to gain or lose weight, and how much.
Thanks, he is my fuzzy teddy bear the big silky sweet heart. Sigh.... Yea this tax season all three go for their check ups and the boys get neutered. Fun fun. I figure get them both done together. My vet is a good country vet. He took in my terrier free of charge and wormed him and gave him a once over since he was covered in cow poo. He was concerned with the bacteria. He had him in a week later and vaccinated him with all but the rabies since he wasn't old enough for about 20 dollars. Good guy.
She looks beautiful to me. Some dogs are naturally slender, even if it technically 'defies' their 'breed standards'. I've read adding boiled chicken/rice can help add a bit of weight to her.
I'm honestly pretty amazed that you're brave enough to say your dogs eat Ol Roy! Haha! I was on Dogster.. and knew that if I even whispered about putting 'Ol Roy' and 'healthy dog' in the same sentence, I'd be nagged on forever! I say whatever food keeps the dog happy & healthy. Perhaps looking for a food where meat is the first ingredient though? Most dog food has corn or some other grain as #1, some dogs that are inactive, it's fine. But dogs who have a high metabolism need more meat in their diet. After all, doggies in the wild eat pretty much nothing but meat ;)
One brand that is very good quality for how inexpensive it is - "Nutra Nuggets". [I make sure to get the lamb & rice kind, lamb is the first ingredient] It's not a whole lot more than Purina Dog chow/ pedigree/ol roy/etc, but it has some better quality ingredients in it.
Perhaps consult your vet about supplements that might help her as well?
I wouldn't say she is underweight, but I wouldn't say she is overweight either, if you feel she is too skinny then I would say you know her best, you're probably right. I feed eve fish4dogs, and when she was young I gave her scrambled eggs with it, to help with her muscles, maybe try giving her some eggs with her normal dog food, and then slowly wean her off of it when you see her starting to gain weight.
LoL yea Nuts4Mutts, around here Ole' Roy is the food of choice. Must be a thing in my area. If I feed my terrier anything else he gets sick. I almost lost all three of them once when I switched them to the Dollar General brand and mixed it in because I couldn't get to the store. Mistake learned from. I don't have any type of opinion on dog foods really because they all have their horror stories that someone out there has. It's all about what your dog can handle. I do believe Ole' Roy has a meatier option than what I am using. Thanks for your input on her.
Beckyfish* I think that I am going to try to switch her diet up and see what happens. She will be going for a vet check shorty with my boys when I get them neutered. I am going to have him weigh her and give her a once over just to be safe.
Hey...just thought I'd pop on here real quick to say hi. Your dog looks like she's the ideal weight to me, and if you feel whatever brand food you feed her works, then that's all that matters! But I had a similar worry about my Dakhota when we first got him. He was actually very skinny. The vet recomended Taste Of The Wild dog food--it's high in protein, and he put on 5 pounds in about 4 months. But hey--to each their own. lol Maybe give it a look, if you are thinking of changing up her diet? I also feed it to Dakhota because he has really bad food allergies, and it seems to be the only food he can eat w/o upseting him. Hope all is well!
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
