New Puppy-Underweight Diet

Discussion in 'Irish Wolfhound' started by Britt&Moose, Jul 8, 2019.

  1. Britt&Moose

    Britt&Moose New Member

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    New Puppy-Underweight

    Ok guys...I have my new baby, Moose, now 13 weeks. He is 37lbs. I have had him for 3 weeks, and he came to me with a gastrointestinal bug of some kind that caused a couple days worth of diarrhea. He fully recovered from that and has been, to my standards, eating and drinking well. He is my first large/giant breed puppy so despite all of the research I am not the expert in this field. He's eating about 5 cups a day right now, and has put on 4.7lbs per week since he has been with me on The vet says he's a little skinny, but he is a lazy eater, and trying to get more food in him is proving to be difficult. In one breath she says he's going to look a little skinny during this rapid growth phase and in the other she says he could put on some weight because he's a little skinny. Naturally she has me kind of worked up about it. I am struggling for ideas to put some weight on him without causing any tummy upset. Any ideas you guys have would be suuuper helpful. Just for information he is eating Purina Smartblend Large Breed Puppy and we are currently mixing in some purina canned puppy food with his dry kibble as well.
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  3. mjfromga

    mjfromga Member

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    My baby boy looks sorta thin too. He is around 9 weeks now.

    I feed him what I think is a lot and he eats like a monster.... But he isn't round looking like most puppies. He is of mixed breed origin so I cannot be sure what he should weigh, but he is extremely active so I figure he is simply burning off most of the food.

    He also came to me with a ton of roundworms and tapeworms... And a bad case of coccidia which caused explosive diarrhea for a while as well. He didn't gain any weight for the first two weeks I had him, so I figure maybe he is just catching up.

    He is parasite free now and seems okay. Poops all look normal. He eats Pure Balance Salmon dry formula mixed with the Pure Balance canned puppy chicken and rice. I also give him duck and chicken jerky fairly often.

    I'm going to hitch a ride onto this thread as well... Hopefully get some info.
  4. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    I wouldn't worry too much about trying to get weight on your IW puppy too quickly. If he has had an upset tum, it is better that he puts on weight steadily, without upsetting his digestion again, and also that he doesn't pile too much weight, too quickly, onto those giant sized, but very immature joints. Although a roly-poly puppy is pretty to look at, it isn't always the best thing for a large/giant breed.
    The IW breed standard only provides a minimum weight, which is 120 lbs for males, and 90 lbs for females. Although they can only be a rough guide, I ran your boy's age and weight figures through two puppy weight calculators, and their predictions were for him to make 137.4, and 148.2 lbs. Make haste slowly, and allow him plenty of time to develop.
  5. Chris B

    Chris B Member

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    I agree with Carole. Putting on weight as he he doing at a steady rate is far healthier for him than trying to force weight on to him.

    If he is happy and healthy and eating and drinking well stop worrying and let him grow and mature at his own pace.
  6. Britt&Moose

    Britt&Moose New Member

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    The struggle...lol. Our baby is super lazy. He sleeps a ton and then gets up and plays super hard for a while and then crashes again. He loves our other dogs and is fascinated by the cat. I think he is just a combination of easily distracted and lazy. :) Hopefully he will grow (pun intended) out of it.
  7. Britt&Moose

    Britt&Moose New Member

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    Thanks guys. :) The vet just got me all worked up about it. He's happy, plays with the other animals, drinks plenty of water, and he does eat, he's just more of grazer. Put some pictures in for fun. :)

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  8. Malka

    Malka Member

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    Aww - Moose is a lovely big baby! :)
  9. mjfromga

    mjfromga Member

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    My little man is of mixed and unknown origin. He is high energy and fairly small. There's no way he gets as big as your boy. I should have his Embark DNA results soon though. Your boy is super cute.

    One issue with my boy is that he doesn't much like water. He doesn't drink much and if I mix too much water in his food, he won't eat it. Only a tiny bit to get the canned mixed evenly with the dry.

    He will eat just the kibble on its own, but not very quickly and I would be concerned about him getting enough food and moisture, which is why I added the canned for now.
  10. Britt&Moose

    Britt&Moose New Member

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    Have you tried a broth? Little homemade chicken broth might do the trick.

    "A standard serving of bone broth for a dog is 1 ounce of broth for every 10 pounds of body weight. Therefore, a single serving for a 100-pound dog is 10 ounces. Your dog can eat up to two servings per day."
  11. mjfromga

    mjfromga Member

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    I tried low sodium beef broth at first with his Nutro Max puppy kibble... But he won't touch it at all. This was a while back before I realized that he simply hates that brand of food. It might work better on the Pure Balance kibble that he will actually eat. I don't think he is 10 lbs yet. I haven't tried home made broth and I didn't want to give him much of that store bought stuff... As even the low sodium kind isn't great for him.
  12. Britt&Moose

    Britt&Moose New Member

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    We've had a few dogs throughout my life, and none of ours or my family's dogs seem to be too found of beef flavor. Chicken is usually your best bet. :)
  13. Askildson

    Askildson New Member

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    I have a 9 week old IW pup-facing the same issue, so following this post

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