My boyfriend has a dog, and everyone who sees her thinks she’s underfed, too thin, etc. We feed her as much as she cares to eat, and change her food when she seems to stop eating. She often skips meals, refuses to eat, etc. We’ve talked to vets about it, but they don’t seem to be too concerned.
Nor am I, for that matter. I’m of the old-school mindset, “She’ll eat when she’s hungry.”
She is otherwise a normal, active, healthy dog. She isn’t sick or anything. She’s just not much of an eater, and a picky eater at that.
I guess we are just tired of everyone thinking we are starving our dog. We try to tell our friends about her, about how she gets as much food as she wants, etc.
So what can we do to put a few pounds on her? Just feed her a bunch of table scraps? Maybe dribble a few teaspoons of fat drippings on her food to make it more appetizing?
Again, I’m not really looking for medical advice. She’s in no trouble of starvation. She’s just been very thin for years. We don’t want her to get too fat, just a few extra pounds would be nice.
Talk to a vet about how to help her gain weight. Don’t just try to feed her more fat or table foods, this could damage her pancreas among other things and make things worse.
Tell your friends your vet says the dog is fine. Period.
If they absolutely refuse to drop it after that, tell them their viewpoint is addled because their dogs is too fat. Then stop being friends with that person, because they are an asshole.
Seriously, if you have people constantly berating you because they think your dog is too skinny (when it is fine) you know too many meddling shitheads. Find a better class of friends. Don’t allow dumbasses to get into your headspace. Your dog does not need to gain weight; you need to gain confidence standing up to these jerks.
I give my high-metabolism boxer a raw chicken back every day when he gets too thin. The dog trainer at PetSmart recommended this, and it really does help him keep a little more weight on.
That being said, his vet says she’d rather see him a little thin than overweight. (I have a fat dog too, and it’s harder to help her lose than to get him to gain. Story of my life!)
I have one of those too and when I think she’s skipped too many meals I drop a little pumpkin in her bowl but I realize that it’s purely to make me more comfortable. She’s perfectly healthy and she always has food available and she eats when she needs too.
I would tell your friends your vet says the dog is healthy and leave it at that.
Probably around a 2.
Like I said, I’m not too worried about it myself. I agree that if the vet says she’s fine, then there’s no reason to be concerned about health. It’s more of a vanity thing. My boyfriend and I just want her to look a little less thin, that’s all, as long as it’s not detrimental to her.
You could start dressing the dog in outfits or sweaters if you’re worried that others will think she looks bony.
Personally, I’d leave well enough alone and not try to get the dog to eat more if she is healthy eating this way. If anything, a dog that doesn’t eat much (without being malnourished or starving) is probably more likely to live a long and healthy life than the norm, if you believe some of the research on calorie restriction.
Is she a full or part husky? I had a husky that ate every day until she had puppies. After that she would skip days of eating so she was a little thin. I read somewhere that this is fairly common with huskies.
I agree with everyone else - don’t worry about it as long as she’s healthy. Overweight dogs are so common, many people assume a naturally lean dog is underweight.
FWIW, my longest-lived dog to date was a very lean, eat-just-enough-to-live dog, about a two on the chart above. She was always very healthy and active. More than once I had people ask me if she was sick, or tsk-tsking that she looked starved. Their opinions were of no consequence to me.
I agree with those who say not to worry about it if the vet thinks the dog is fine. I’ve had comments that my dog is too thin (even one woman who rudely insisted he looked like a rescue case) and the vet insists my dog is at his perfect weight. Not a “a bit thin but healthy” weight. His perfect weight. People are too used to seeing overweight dogs.
If the vet agrees the dog could stand to gain a few pounds, then look into what he’s eating and whether it’s the right mix for him. Some dogs aren’t big eaters, so you need a food that’s higher in calories because they just won’t eat larger servings. Or you add a bit of something really yummy (like moist food if all they get is dry, etc.) But only do it if the vet thinks there’s a problem.
My experience with my dogs it that I feed half of the daily measured out kibble for the normal to plump dogs twice daily. They have access to food for half an hour each time and then the bowls are removed until the next meal. My thin dogs (a couple of older guys) are allowed free access to kibble, with the occasional added egg, bits of hard cheese, cooked ground beef or chicken. Drain the fat from the cooked burger meat, and I scramble the egg in the microwave, no added fat.
We’re seeing the same thing with our older cat - she got very skinny all of a sudden, so we took her to the vet. It was the same deal - she’s perfectly healthy, but people are used to seeing overweight cats. To look at her and feel her, you’d think she was starving - there’s very little fat on her, but the vet says that’s what cats should look and feel like.
She eats like your dog, drew - she eats as much as she likes, and leaves the rest (for our other, fatter cat).
It is common in some breeds, Boxers, Shepherds, Great Danes, and Salukis are god awful. Believe it or not, I had a Lab that was that way. Yes, one more vote for let well enough alone. As for comments from others, are not all members of SD dedicated to fighting ignorance? Are any of you having trouble finding ignorance to fight?
One point I fight constantly on dog forums is satin balls. Enough fat to destroy a dog’s pancreas plus raw egg risking salmonella. Yes raw feeders dogs do die from salmonella.
I’m curious what kind of dog the OP’s boyfriend has. As noted above, certain breeds or mixes with those certain breeds in there somewhere will naturally be thin, or look too thin to many people. Greyhounds and Whippets and Italian Greyhounds come to mind, too. A friend of mine has, as best as we can tell, a Boxer/Greyhound mix, he’s got a Boxer head and face (less brachycephalic than a normal Boxer), with a tall, lean body. He’s gorgeous, but (ignorant) people think he’s too thin though he’s really perfect to anyone in animal health care.
Any chance of seeing pics?
Oh, and just an aside, I’ve rarely seen a fat Greyhound, but they exist - and they look really funny and totally wrong. Makes me want to smack the owner.
My brother and his ex used to foster racing greyhounds until the dogs got used to being pets instead of racing mechanisms. Racing greyhounds are kept very, very lean, and while my brother and his ex didn’t want to get the dogs fat, they did want to put a little weight on them, so they’d give the dogs some canned pumpkin.
However, if your dog seems to be healthy and the vet is OK with her weight, I wouldn’t worry about it. Some animals are just naturally thin, and they aren’t going to put on flesh very easily unless you confine them.
Same. I’ve gotten comments that my at-the-perfect-weight dog is skinny just because people can feel her ribs when they pet her (she’s too fluffy to look obviously skinny). On the other hand, no one but my mother has ever mentioned what an utter fatass my other dog is.
I have a thin standard poodle. Very lean and rock-hard muscular in the legs. She’s 9 years old, given all she wants to eat, and has never been sick. It’s just her size. I’d rather have a slightly thin dog than an overweight one (I have one of those, too). Dogs that I’ve adopted that are truly thin from starvation readily gain weight when fed.