Suggestions on kibble for picky eater/help gain weight?

[kady05]

My friend has a 14 month old Dane (intact male) who she's having issues keeping weight on. It doesn't help that he's a bit fussy with food, so she's having a hard time finding something that he likes but that will also get weight on him.

Right now, he's eating Pro Plan (she knows it's not great food, but was giving it a try after some Dane people recommended it to her). She's putting down 14 (!!) cups a day and he's eating maybe 10 of those and is still ribby.

She's not opposed to adding in some canned food as a topper, FWIW.

Anyone have any suggestions? Basically need something packed with calories that's also tasty!

 

[SevenSins]

Has the dog been to the vet to rule out any medical reason that would cause him to be eating THAT much and not be at at least an appropriate weight? And define "ribby." I assume you've seen the dog? Do you have a photo? I have to ask because most dogs I've seen pet people think are underweight are just...not "pet fat." If he's not actually unhealthy, at 14 months for a breed like a Dane I wouldn't honestly be concerned with the dog being a little ribby and wouldn't try to force more food into the dog.

 

[-bogart-]

melt butter and put over food. he will scarf it right up. thats all i have. hope it can be worked out.

 

[PWCorgi]

If she can find Canine Caviar Beaver cans, tell her to buy that, it's nothing but calories. We had a customer when I used to work at Chuck and Don's who bought it by the case as he had 2 skinny teenage daners, and that is the only thing that would help. He fed Orijen large breed puppy with the beaver as topper.

 

[GraceTW22]

Owner Speaking!

Hi all, it's me! The vet says he's underweight, but not enough to put him on appetite stimulants, and he suggested adding canned pro plan in addition. He's a show dog, so he needs to be in flesh, but Danes show with 2 ribs or so, not most of them! The pro plan has put some weight on him, and he does gone from dogs with high metabolism, but I can't handle all the gooey poo from the grains and quantity! Satin balls or other fats tend to give him diarrhea. He's never been food motivated since the day I brought him home- I can only use pieces of cheese to train if there are no distractions, and he wants nothing to do with freeze dried liver. Did I but a dog or a cow lol?

 

[GSchnauzer]

I'd suggest trying something grain free. I have a very picky eater as well. Right now I have him on Wellness Core and I add a little bit off canned tripe. It's some pretty foul stuff but he loves it and will lick the bowl clean.

 

[GraceTW22]

I've tried just about everything out there, grain free and not. I will say he did well on the PureVita Bison until he stopped eating it. I think the trick for right now is mixing the kibble with warm water and a can of food- it really stimulates his appetite and the kibble I chose is 600 calories a can, so that's a nice little additional boost. Please keep your ideas coming!

Now, if it comes down to it, has anyone mixed two different kibbles for their dogs? I've done a preliminary google, and it seems to be considered OK, but the canine caviar by itself is very expensive, plus the canned if I end up needing to keep that going. While I don't mind spending the money, if I can reduce the cost somewhat and use the difference for savings for vet bills, etc., I would much rather do that!

 

[PWCorgi]

I mix two kibble with my corgi because he is a lazy old fart and the Canine Caviar Herring that he eats is super high in calories, so I mix it with another food that he can tolerate at 50% of his meals, and it has half the calories of the Canine Caviar. I've never had an issue with it.

 

[*blackrose]

Abrams has always had a mixed-food diet, and honestly I think he does best on it. It started out on accident (trying to figure out what kind of food he did best on), but the results have been surprising as he actually does better when it is a mixture, as long as the 4Health Salmon and Potato is the base food.

I've actually been trying to figure out the best way to keep mixing his food without buying two bags at a time. LOL I've kind of cycled through Pro Plan, TOTW, and different varieties of 4Health.

 

[SpringerLover]

Gabby has a few different kibbles she's eating right now. She seems to enjoy the variety. I also mix CC Herring with CC Duck for Buzz right now because it's working well. He doesn't tolerate all Duck, but he can do half, like Frodo.

 

[Dogdragoness]

My friend has a 14 month old Dane (intact male) who she's having issues keeping weight on. It doesn't help that he's a bit fussy with food, so she's having a hard time finding something that he likes but that will also get weight on him.

Right now, he's eating Pro Plan (she knows it's not great food, but was giving it a try after some Dane people recommended it to her). She's putting down 14 (!!) cups a day and he's eating maybe 10 of those and is still ribby.

She's not opposed to adding in some canned food as a topper, FWIW.

Anyone have any suggestions? Basically need something packed with calories that's also tasty!

I have a somewhat picky eater, she isn't really picky anymore but she just wont eat the amount she needs to in order to keep her weight up with kibble alone. so I feed her "satin balls" or "fat balls" (I know the name sounds ... weird :rofl1: just tell her to google them and choose thebasic recipe to start with, to lessen the chance of stomach upset the first time). in the winter time and her weight and her coat are so much better.

All the kibbles that have a lot of calories and protein (Acana, Orijin, back to basics ... etc) are too horribly expensive for us, I feed the merrick grain free and all my dogs have done very well on it.

 

[kady05]

Oh she knows all about satin balls haha, most show dog people do See post #5 though!

 

[stardogs]

I switched my crew to Go! Fresh+Free Turkey/Chicken/Trout and it seems to put weight on FAST. I'm feeding about a third less than usual to maintain my pups' weights, PLUS my one dog who likes to eat poop is turning up her nose at the Go! poop - I think the dogs are just utilizing more of it somehow! Maybe it would be helpful for the Dane boy, too?

 

[SaraB]

Have you tried the satin balls yet?

EDIT: Nevermind, just actually read the thread.