How To Help Your Dog Gain Weight?

Is your dog underweight or losing weight?

There might be many reasons behind dogs losing weight. The most common reasons include depression, anxiety, genetic conditions, digestive disorders, etc.

Without identifying the cause of weight loss, many pet dog owners start feeding their pets in excess to make them gain weight.

However, overfeeding can cause some serious health problems in dogs. It is important to figure out the real reason behind your dog’s weight loss before trying anything.

Take your dog to a veterinarian for diagnosing any underlying cause behind your dog’s weight loss. If there is no physical or mental issue found, ask your vet to provide a weight gain diet for your dog.

Here are a few tips from our end to help your dog gain weight naturally.

1. Slowly increase the food quantity

Firstly, give them the food that they really like. Increase the number of carbs and proteins in the diet. If you believe in going for a natural diet, do check our post on what diet you can give your dogs as per Ayurveda.

Secondly, make sure to never feed your dog one hour before and one hour after exercise. This will help you prevent bloating and life-threatening gastric torsion.

2. Give full-fat cottage cheese to them

Adding full-fat cottage cheese to your dog’s diet is an excellent way to add more calories to their diet. It contains probiotics and calcium that will help your dog gain weight. Dogs love to eat cottage cheese. Its yummy taste makes the perfect topper for any kind of diet.

Feeding ideas:

• You can give one or two tablespoons of cottage cheese to your dog by adding fruits or vegetables to it for a nutrition boost.
• You can also feed them cottage cheese with high-fat plain yogurt.  This will also help in increasing food cravings in dogs.

3. Add raw egg to your dog’s food

Raw eggs are high in protein that will help them in gaining some weight.  Adding raw eggs to your dog’s food along with sweet potato, pumpkin, apples (without seeds or the core), green beans, etc. will be tasty as well as nutritious.

4. Peanut Butter

Another great way to help your dogs gain weight quickly is to give them high-fat treats throughout the day and before bed. Peanut butter is the best option!

Dogs love peanut butter and it is healthy as well. You can add peanut butter to their morning and evening treats. Make sure not to overfeed them as well.

Feeding idea:

You can give peanut butter with vegetables such as carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato, etc.

5. Feed nutritious food to your dog

Give healthy treats and snacks to your dog. It is a good way to add extra calories to your dog’s diet. Nutrition plays a major role in overall physical growth. Make sure to set up a good exercise routine to help them maintain a proper weight.

6. Feed smaller meals throughout the day

It will allow your pup to eat throughout the day and consume more calories. Free feeding is usually not recommended because it can lead to weight gain since that is our goal in the situation, it is fine to free feed your dog.

7. Supplement meals with snacks

Consider adding some supplemental food made with meat sources like bison that are high in protein and fat. These foods, usually canned are labeled for supplemental feeding.

Do not replace them with a balanced formula for your dog. You may also want to talk with your vet about adding supplements like vitamins or others that may help to keep your pup healthy.

8. Use fresh or wet foods

These may be more appealing for your pup as they have a stronger scent than dry food. If kibble doesn’t appeal to your pup, you may need to consider an alternative.

One note on food safety: If you elect free food, follow any food safety guidelines that will help you to make sure that the pup doesn’t spoil. Most fresh and wet foods need to be refrigerated after opening at the very least. Fresh food like Ollie is thawed and frozen in the refrigerator. It must be kept cold until it is time to serve it.

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