sdunshee Posted January 23, 2010 Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 I just picked Mia up from the shelter 2 weeks ago and I really do feel she is way too skinny. Her rear hip bones are poking up pretty good and you can easily feel her ribs and spine. The vet tech at the shelter told me she has been eating the same amounts of food for the time they have had her(on/off for a year...thats another story in itself) and she hasnt gained/lossed more than 1lb. She looks so much like a wolf because she is tall and slender. I'm feeding her Natural Choice High Energy dog food. She wont eat in the morning and eats 2 scoops in the evening and I leave her food out overnight and might have another scoop or so at night. Should I mix some puppy food in there to get the calories up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted January 23, 2010 Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 How much does she weigh and how old is she? Stress can lead to weight loss, you may find she picks up now she's with you If you want to put weight on her, try feeding some raw food - eg raw chicken wings / legs / frames Cheese is also good to use as treats when training Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkyries Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 my Loki was very thin when i got her from rescue i took to this site for advice and was told to give her raw chicken wings and you would not think she was the same dog lol she needs to go on a diat, i've had her about 6 month now so try that. pluss she will eat her food better if you don't leave it out if it's not eaten straight away take it away after about 10/15 mins she will learn if she does not eat it goes. she will start to eat and get the benefit good luck xxxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdunshee Posted January 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 she is about 3.5 and weighs 51.8 lbs, she is a tall girl though. To be honest I'd probably eat all her training cheese...I cant resist cheese cubes, I'll try that though. Its safe for dogs to eat raw chicken and the bones too?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 Yeah raw chicken and bones is fine Dont give cooked bones as these splinter and can get lodged in their throat There's lots of threads on here about raw feeding and BARF - there's a range of food you can feed - have a look here http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/index.php?/topic/2713-raw-feedersbarf-diet/ this should help you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid_Wolf Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 i feed raw to kira, and i found that when we 1st stated she put on a lot of weight, so this could be worth considering. things i feed are: chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, rabbit, tripe - all in mince form fish - tinned, but only in sunflower oil. chicken wings, legs, thighs, carcusses, lamb breast, pork shoulders hearts, liver, trotters, kidney, giblets fruit & veg (rarely, about once a week, and just because she likes it) whole raw eggs the general rule is to feed 2-3% of the ideal weight, or the weight you would like her to be. Tho if you want her to put on weight quickly you could feed up to 5%, just remember to put it down once she reaches that weight. the amounts i usually feed are: 5 days a week 400g mince split into 2 meals (i vary what type) i meaty bone (like a chicken leg or trotter) small cube of liver 1/4 heart or handful of giblets if i can get them twice a week she will get a tin of mackrel mixed in with the morning meal 2 days a week 200g mince in the morning whole chicken, lamb breast bone or a pork shoulder in the evening small cube of liver 1/4 heart or handful of giblets if i can get them none of the meals are set in stone and if i can get something extra i will, if i cant get the chicken, lamb or pork she'll have her usual mince dinner. Im also going to be getting some wild rabbits soon hopefully (i will have to video it and post it up lol). it all sounds complicated when you 1st start or look into it, but its really not, it all just becomes 2nd nature after a little while lol good luck getting the weight on her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 Raw lamb bones (neck, forequarters, flaps - any scraps the butcher can give you) are good for fattening dogs up. I would also consider adding yoghurt, goats milk, tinned sardines/mackeral, etc into her food - also great for adding weight and good for her coat and digestion too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocspirit Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 Have you ever considered satin balls? They are very popular hear in North America's rescues for adding weight to malnurished dogs. There are many variations on the recipe, if you google it you will come up with the different versions. Here is one I pulled off quickly for you 1 lb ground beef 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese 1 jar all natural peanut butter 1 jar (smaller of the sizes) wheat germ 1 doz egg yolks 1 cup or so of flaked oats soaked in heavy cream Mix up, form balls, freeze, feed as treats or food supplement. NOTE: As soon as your dog reaches close to ideal weight stop feeding the satin balls!!!!! They are for weight gain only and are very unhealthy if fed for a prolonged period of time (ie as their regular food source for their whole lives). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdunshee Posted January 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 Nice!!! thank you everyone!!! I just dont know what her ideal weight is supposed to be. Should I keep bulking her up until she physically looks healthy(no hips/ribs showing)? Or should I just keep checking her weight. I think another 3-5 lbs is all she needs but I am new at this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunc Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 Cant add much to the good advice the others have given you other than say don't over feed her as it will have the reverse affect, if her stools a loose she will not again weight she will lose it and if she is not having loads of exercise she should not be on a high protein diet as that will give her loose stools. Good luck with her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindog Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 if she is not having loads of exercise she should not be on a high protein diet as that will give her loose stools. What Dunc said! Huskies have an amazing metabolism and can function on much less protein than similarly sized breeds. Too much protein will simply make her hyper and as Dunc says, you will lose much of the goodness from the food out of her rear end. How is her appetite? Does she wolf her food down or does she pick at it? I would do as someone else suggested and try her on raw chicken wings. Feed her a good quality maintenance grade adult food 5 days a week and give her a dozen raw chicken wings twice a week. You'll find she puts weight on! Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdunshee Posted January 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 her poo is firm, it takes her probably 10 minutes to eat her two scoops of food. Im gonna get her some raw chicken tomorrow and see what happens. So i give her 3 wings at each meal twice a week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jalday Posted January 25, 2010 Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 I just picked Mia up from the shelter 2 weeks ago and I really do feel she is way too skinny. Her rear hip bones are poking up pretty good and you can easily feel her ribs and spine. The vet tech at the shelter told me she has been eating the same amounts of food for the time they have had her(on/off for a year...thats another story in itself) and she hasnt gained/lossed more than 1lb. She looks so much like a wolf because she is tall and slender. I'm feeding her Natural Choice High Energy dog food. She wont eat in the morning and eats 2 scoops in the evening and I leave her food out overnight and might have another scoop or so at night. Should I mix some puppy food in there to get the calories up? My girl started to get skinny on us because she is so energetic and she loves to be outside in the cold. I used an over the counter de-wormer that hits 4 kinds of worms just as a baseline preventative. (I would definatley make sure your dog doesn't have worms especially if she came from a rescue/shelter situation). Then I started her on Diamond Naturals Extreme Energy which has 32% protein and 25% fat. It works really well for her and and she is filling out nicely, I feed her a cup twice per day. At night, I also give her 1/2 a can of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul Adult dog food (wet canned food). The canned food is excellent, the first ingredient is Chicken! It is has 420 calories per can and it really increases her drive to eat while giving her extra calories. The thing that I like about both the dry food and the canned food that I am using is that it isn't filled with a bunch of crappy grains and fillers-and therefore has no gas and minimal poo. I know that some dogs would not do well on this because of the high protein, but I thought it might help give some ideas. There are other grain free products out there with less protein. Another tip that I have is to take the food up after about 10 minutes, she will be more interested in it if it is not in front of her for long periods. The wet canned food should really peak her interest in the food too. Hope this helps good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohhsweetness Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 my girls just strating to eat after 2 months of havin a nibble here n there ... she has stayed 17 kilos all the way through her not eating stage ..... but hopefuly she puts on more weight soon .. and yes you can see her pins and she gets wormed regularly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidjk Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 she is about 3.5 and weighs 51.8 lbs, she is a tall girl though. To be honest I'd probably eat all her training cheese...I cant resist cheese cubes, I'll try that though. Its safe for dogs to eat raw chicken and the bones too?? 52 lb is 23 kg, a good weight for a female siberian husky, how tall is she. in the shoulders and how long from kneck to tail base Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 welcome to the pack - nuffin eelse i can add every1 has given sum great advice do u have any pics ov her so we can see roughly how tall and how skinny she is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdunshee Posted February 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 im gonna try to get some pics up this weekend, need to borrow a digital camera. thru some research I found that a lot of people say the white huskies look skinny because their coats arent as thick, is this true?I'll get some measurements too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KERNOWHUSKIES Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I've never heard of the white Husky thing but there r plenty on this site. As 4 the food my boy was the same, he had lots of test etc found out he had problems with meat so put him on rice n fish n he bulked up really good. All 3 of mine r on a varied diet of raw, kibble n wet food. Just give it time n things will settle down. Hope everything goes well x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 im not sure bout the white fur thing my boys a wolf grey but we do have a few whites on here who will know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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