Putting weight on a skinny dog?

[gsdmom]

Ok so we have picked up a skinny dog and by skinny I mean ribs and back bone showing, he has been to the vet and all checked out so he is healthy but I am wanting to put weight on him. Would a high fat diet do it? We will be switching him to RAW so can he gain weight with RAW? I have never had to get a dog to gain weight so when we fed RAW it was pretty easy to maintain the dogs weight. If RAW will do the trick what is the best foods for gaining weight.

[DaneMama]

Welcome!

Glad to hear that you are going to be switching to raw.

I would suspect that he is skinny from lack of continuous nutrition and neglect. With constant nutrition and care he should regain weight easily. I don't recommend that you feed a high fat diet or try to fatten him up in any extra way shape or form. Just give him the amount of food for his *ideal* weight per day and go from there. If you give him a high fat diet or try and fatten him up, most likely he will get sick and have diarrhea and vomiting because his system is just not used to it. He will gain weight back quickly just from adequate nutrition alone, especially on raw.

I would start the switch just like with any other dog. Here is a getting started guide that I recommend you follow:

How to get started | Prey Model Raw

Good luck!

[gsdmom]

Thanks, Yes he was found as a stray and was painfully thin, matted, he also seems to have been knocked around as he is way worried about being hit :( when found. The good person who picked him off the street was unable to find his owner and so she had him a month and we got him recently, she was feeding Iams. I just hate to see his back bone, he also lacks muscle tone. It kills me to see this beautiful magnificant animal so thin.
Thanks off to read the link

[DaneMama]

Definitely, here to help

Once he gets on a more nutritious diet (raw) and gets some much needed TLC, you can start getting him back in shape...not just weight wise but in good physical/muscular shape.

Come back with any and all questions you might have