I need help find treats/supplementing a diet for my underweight allergenic dog.?

Question

My German Shepherd dog is almost 2 years old, male and only 75 lbs, he's very skinny and I can see/feel his ribs and this is a big concern for me. I feed him according to his food's instructions, but I'm looking for ways to put some weight on him, but it seems to be very difficult since he is allergic to beef and wheat for sure and possibly chicken and corn. Can anyone recommend, good affordable treats that can help put a little weight on him, or does any know any home-made dog treat recipes for allergenic dogs? Thanks. :3

I feed him Natural Life Lamaderm, he has been to the vet to verify that he is allergic to beef and wheat and I feed him aprox 4-5 cups a day, however; the bag says feeding more than their recommended amount may cause diarrhea, basically I'm after treat ideas, not so much food info, it's been a long road trying to find something he eats and likes, and he's very happy with this one.

Answer 1

If he is doing well on his current food, why not just add another meal or half a meal during the day? If you are feeding him twice a day, that will add 25-50% more calories and he should put on weight fairly quickly.

Some dogs are thin (lean) but very healthy. If he is otherwise active and energetic, just increasing his caloric intake a bit may be enough. He may also start to slow down this year as many dogs do. 3 years seems to be the time when they start to sit on the couch more and snooze.

Answer 2

first, make sure you have him checked by the vet to make sure there's not a physical reason for his skinnyness (like worms or illness). If he gets a clean bill of health, what brand are you feeding him? I feed Timberwolf Ocean Blue to my dogs, its great for allergies because it has no grains and fish is the only protein. Switching foods might help bulk him up. I did some research when I needed to but our Basset on an allergy diet and while timberwolf cost the most PER BAG it cost the least to feed PER DAY by more than 50 cents! thats alot of money. That means that even the the bag is expensive, it lasts twice as long as the next food, making it significantly cheaper. A higher quality diet (like Timberwolf)with more accesible nutrition could certainly help. You could also try supplementing with canned food- be sure to read the ingredients! Just because it says "lamb anbd rice" flavor on the can does NOT mean that it doesn't contain corn or chicken. For treats, Eagle Pack makes some nice fish based treats that are good for dogs on alergy diets. Or you could try cooking for him and treating with store bought fish, lamb, liver, whatever you can find. :) When you cook, you can give him the grease from the pan (assuming its a non-allergenic meat) on top of his kibble. My dogs are fond of bacon grease. Not alot! But it is very fatty and good for adding bulk. Also gravy if you can make it without adding allergens (like flour) Hope that helps! -Neb

ps- you say you are feeding him according to the food instructions, they are feeding "guidelines" if his wieght is low you can adjust the feeding and feed him more until you find a daily amount of food that keeps his wieght up- some dogs simply have different metabolisms!

Answer 3

Try a dog food (change very gradually if you decide to make a switch) like Nature's Recipe Venison and Rice. Vary the diet some with their Duck and Potato blend or Fish and Potato. These blends do not have wheat or corn in them, which are common allergens to dogs.
I supplement my dogs food with Vet approved fish/flax oil caps and sprinkle Brewer's Yeast on top. It has been great for their skin and coat and the food has been tolerated better since I have three dogs and two have sensitivities to chicken or lamb, and react negatively to wheat and corn.
For treats, they do not get any rawhides or cooked cured bones that pet stores sell, or from anywhere. These made my German Shepherd dog very sick and a hard bone broke one of her canine teeth.
The treats I give my dogs are hard biscuits like Mother Hubbard, Bark Bars and those small treats that are for teeth and breath, skin and coat, immune system, bones and joints etc and are like hard biscuit bits.
Occasionally they get a Kong with a bit of peanut butter and some of their biscuits to work on.
Once a week they get either a Meaty Bone (basted hard biscuit), DentaStix, Busy Bone.
Sometimes I cook some chicken in water without spices and give them a bit of that. Though chicken causes one of them to react when it is in dog food, they all tolerate fresh cooked chicken well.
Try these changes and see how your dog does- but get a Vet check too, to make sure there aren't parasites causing the thin appearance.
Once the dog has changed diet and is used to the new food, you can add a bit of cottage cheese into the food and that helps to put on some weight.
Check all of this info with your Vet.

Answer 4

Just a suggestion, but what about getting a food dehydrator and making some rabbit or venison jerky. You might consider adding raw rabbit or venison to his meals. Can he handle raw eggs? What about adding cottage cheese or yogurt to his meals (I give both to my dogs)?

I've seen a biscuit made with sweet potato but I can't remember the name off the top of my head. There is a dehydrated sweet potato treat called Bichon Fries. They also offer a dehydrated sweet potato slice that acts like a rawhide or a dried chicken strip.

There is a brand of raw food called Oma's that has rabbit and venison and I believe Primal makes a raw Venison product.

Good luck with your buddy.

I found a couple more - Solid Gold makes a series of treats that are made from Lamb and don't contain any of the bad stuff. Also, I believe that there are a couple of the Newmans Own treats that do not contian beef, chicken, wheat or corn.

Answer 5

have you had him checked by your vet?

what food are you feeding him and how much?

its possible that your dog is not able to absorb nutrients from his food due to inflammation of his gi tract or other issues.

what happens when your dog eats the foods you think he is allergic to? does he itch or does he vomit or have diarrhea?

if he vomits or has diarrhea, there is a very good chance your dog could have ibd which would explain not being able to gain weight.

add- i know you stated you did not want to change his diet, but consider this. your food contains 3,660 kcals/ kg of food. california natural lamb and rice contains 3,990 kcals/ kg of food. california natural also does not contain any beef, corn, wheat, or soy nor does it contain poultry fat or beet pulp like the lamaderm does. more calories per serving certainly couldnt hurt since you are trying to gain weight especially since the diarrhea warning on your current food.

http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products/default.asp?id=3

http://www.nlpp.com/lamadermdog.htm

Answer 6

We do our dog food, using baked chicken, boned out, Save the oils to add back. Mixed veggies, (canned or fresh), brown rice (cooked) and raw oats(soak them in the chicken droppings) Mix together. I even take the hand blender to chop up fine. Mixture can be refrigerated for up to a week. So I only have to do this once a week. But is fast and not much trouble. When I put the serving out, I add Omega 3 tablet once or twice a week, and powdered Juice Plus+ for dogs every serving. (but I don't mix it in the big bowl but add it when I feed them so I can be sure how much each serving gets)http://www.juiceplus.com/nsa/pages/Home.soa?site=Lb53116
This JP+ for dogs also keeps the fleas off of them and it really works and my guys are healthy and happy. Occasionally I'll substitute another meat just so they don't get bored. Lamb would be a good substitute to you guy.

Answer 7

Just look for any treats that don't have the ingredients that he is allergic to.