Thin English Pointer

[pearlbaker]

Hi;
I'm new, so forgive me if I have chosen the wrong forum. I have an English Pointer. She is very active and loves to run the fields. The problem is I can't keep any weight on her. I keep good food and water available to her at all times and she is wormed, yet her ribs and back bone stick out and she has no belly. Table scraps and high fat make her sick, but I can't find a dog food for high activity dogs. The trend seems to be weight control. I hate to contain her as she loves to run and we have the land for it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Kags]

Have you considered raw feeding? My Weim was terribly thin in his adolecence (males are prone to this in the breed) and I tried all sorts of high quality commercial foods to no avail. I switched to raw 2 1/2 years ago and have not looked back.

I would have your dog checked by a vet to make sure that she is not suffering from a malabsorption. If she is healthy perhaps BARF or RAW feeding is the option. My male looks fabulous since I changed him and I now feed my Saluki pup raw too. My dogs have only needed a vet for booster shots in the past couple of years too.

[Mark Fynney]

Hi;
I'm new, so forgive me if I have chosen the wrong forum. I have an English Pointer. She is very active and loves to run the fields. The problem is I can't keep any weight on her. I keep good food and water available to her at all times and she is wormed, yet her ribs and back bone stick out and she has no belly. Table scraps and high fat make her sick, but I can't find a dog food for high activity dogs. The trend seems to be weight control. I hate to contain her as she loves to run and we have the land for it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi from South Africa
Friends of mine have had the same problem and recently changed threi dog food to food for elderly or older doge and immediately notes a positive change in weight and filling out
Also try a sammon oil supplament in capsules
If nervous or highly strung try Valerian and passiflora such as Biroal
Best of LUCK
Mark

[Tammylyn]

Hi there!

I too have had a problem with a young German Shepherd/Cattle Dog mix, we have the land and she loves to run all day or even days on end without coming in the house, I had to have her shaved because unable to keep up with the burs and swamp compost...LOL..I have heard lots of good things about the raw diets too, but have some personal reservations about it. I asked my vet (who is my hero...very good vet!) and he suggested that I add another 1/2 cup twice daily of puppy food, in other words she gets 1/2 adult large breed (which she is not...but I have a RR and a Lab Mix that are) and 1/2 puppy food...it has helped alot! She filled right back out and actually has a little energy boost. I also give her interceptor monthly, it helps with all intestinal worms on top of heart worm...just an idea if you want to stay with commercial....I think if you look into raw and like it and you can do it that might be the way to go too.....GOOD LUCK!
Tammy:D

[lyonspointers]

Hi,
I am an English Pointer owner/breeder and have a couple solutions that should help you keep the weight on your dog. Try using Eukanuba dog food. It is for high energy dogs. Plus a lot of field dog trainers use Purina Pro Plan and like it.
Sometimes we use broth or cream of chicken soup and/or cottage cheese (the higher fat kind) as an additive to their dry food for dogs that need to gain weight. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please contact me. I would be happy to help!
http://www.lyonspointers.com