Hi! As most of you know I've recently changed my Dane puppy over to raw (3 weeks now) and I've seen great changes already.
When I first got him at 8 weeks he had a tummy bug (Isospora)which took 3 weeks of antibiotics to clear it and in that time he lost an awful lot of weight. The vet was quite concerned at one point he was so thin. Anyway after that I continued feeding him what I regarded as a good 'human grade' kibble. (now I know it wasn't so good as it was packed with grains) Every month I went to the vets to have him weighed for his wormers and she commented that he could still do with putting on some extra weight. If I fed him more kibble, it went straight through him and I even tried adding starchy foods and oils to help but even though he was gaining weight due to growth, he wasn't gaining the extra that was needed.
I was then 'converted' to raw by a lot of the members of this board and I have seen a slight increase in his weight. I realise it's still early days.
I regularly email with the breeder as she likes to know how they're doing and today (him being 5 months) I emailed her a pic. of him and she immediately replied with 'How much does he weigh?
He weighs 60lb and she said he should be weighing around 77lb and is clearly underweight and asked me what I feed him. I told her the diet and she said she didn't have a problem with raw but thought a 5 month old growing Dane pup should get more than what I give him.
He gets 4lb of rmb's per day, then on alternate days, he gets on top of that some organ meats, muscle meat with veggies and fish.
The raw diet says growing pups should get up to 10% of their bodyweight - 60%rmb's/40% veggies etc. That's what I give him. Should I give him more? Any ideas how long it should take for a pup to gain an extra 17lb? She said she likes her pups to gain a stone a month plus a half. So in a months time he should weigh 91lb. That's a 31 lb increase for him in a month <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> If I feed him more will his body use it or will it go through him like kibble does if you overfeed?
Please can you help as I don't know what to do? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Thanks Mike, did you mean you had to look up the word 'stone' or how to 'gain a stone'? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I realise now when I've heard on U.S. shows they always say thinks like I'm 140 pounds. We'd say I'm 10 stones <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

OK, now I am responding to food questions. Must be cold outside. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

You could try some yogurt to help with the goood bacteria so more nutrients are processed.

The other thing is that you need to look at your feeding "guidelines" not "law". <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I had some club members walking around with a really skeletal Mal, but boy he had a nice coat <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> I suggested that they double the amount he was eating, and of course got the % of bodyweight crap. So here is a different way of looking at it. Subtract the % of water from the weight of the food you are feeding, and then see what that comes out to. With that dog it was about 6 oz, a day. This is what seems important to me.

I, of course know absolutely nothing about raw, or dog food. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

 Quote:

You could try some yogurt to help with the goood bacteria so more nutrients are processed.

The book "Natural Nutrition for dogs and cats" lists yogurt, a dairy product, as a food to avoid

Jason

Yogurt in small quantities does have benefits to the digestive system due to the live bacteria. Especially during illnesses requiring antibiotics. I don't think in small amounts it is as likely to cause problems for dogs with dairy sensitivities.

Since you can't edit, I'll repost. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> It doesn't sound like you're starving him; it just sounds like he's been through a lot in a short life. My 96lb GSD, who I admittedly keep very skinny, eats about 3-3.5lbs/day, and often less. Of course, he's not growing that fast, but it doesn't sound like your pup should be wasting away on that amount. Of course, he may benefit from more until he can "catch up" and someone already suggested some higher cal/fat foods. I'd worry less about what the breeder says he should weigh. If YOU think he's too thin, feed him more. I have to ignore the occasional "he's so SKINNY comments" myself.

I'll make the highjacking complete, and screw the whole thing 2 inches to the left. My friend Wendy has a Lovebird that is 15 and drinks milk just about everyday. Very cute though. What crdentials does this guy have?? What sources does he quote?? These are things to check before you start wholesale belief of an author. He could just be full of poop. I read a study that some author had used as a source, and the guy was an out and out nutter. Look at the research Luke, it could just be fodder. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Oh, and hey, not for nothing, but where do you get these wonderous degrees she has???? AHI??? CCN???? That isn't one of those T.V. commercials is it??? I smell poop in the air. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Jim Jones? paging Mr. Jones. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />