# Weight Gain



## Little Brown Jug (Dec 7, 2010)

Boone is loosing weight, he's been looked at and can't find anything medically wrong so I'm assuming it's an anxiety thing even though he doesn't seem to upset like he normally does. The only thing that's changed is he's being crated at night and when no one is home as that is rule in my new place, that during the nights and when I'm not home the dogs must be crated. Boone has always loved his crate though so maybe its just all the packing that is upsetting him. I really don't know but he looks like a starving child you see on those commericals despite being fed two cups of kibble a day and half a can. That's a lot of food for a 37lb dog and still no weight gain.

It's time for another bag of food so I was thinking maybe putting him on Go! Natural Chicken Fruit and Vegetable. I do grain free as grains seem to give him eye boogers but it has a lot of calories. Thoughts? Woof's ears tend to suffer on grains and he is at a perfect weight so I'll have to buy him a different kind.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

It's possible that the packing is causing this, although my dogs won't lose weight over nothing! Lol Have you had a fecal done recently? Just a thought.


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## Little Brown Jug (Dec 7, 2010)

He is parasite free.  Had him to the vet for blood tests and fecal and everything came back fine.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

If the "Go" is grain free why would you have to buy a different kind for Woof? You could just feed him less? I have only used this line for my cat's and they did wonderful on it.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

when a dog has a blood test do they check for diabetes or is that a
seperate test??



Little Brown Jug said:


> He is parasite free.  Had him to the vet for blood tests and fecal and everything came back fine.


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## Javadoo (May 23, 2011)

Some dogs can't maintain their weight on grain free foods.
My girls maintain wonderfully on it...they did lose weight initially when I switched, but now they hold steady.
A couple members of the lab board I am a member of have commented that their dogs continually lose weight on grain free though.


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## DogLuver (Oct 19, 2011)

hmm...this is shocking news to me about dogs losing weight on grain free. I suppose it depends on which grain free formula you use. But I experienced the opposite results with my "hard to put weight on" Golden Retriever.

My experience was this. I have a Golden Retriever who is now 4 yrs old and 85lbs (and 28" at the shoulders, very tall for a Golden apparently). For the first 3yrs of his life he was (and still is) EXTREMELY active, also an active staple in my boyfriends hunting so he needs the extra energy. For the first 3 yrs he was 75lbs-ish...and looked so boney and skinny that people thought something was wrong with him. He was health tested, and ate TONS of food, and could not gain weight. At that time we were feeding him all kinds of grain inclusive foods, trying this trying that (it slips my mind the brands we went through, but there were many)...and I had always paid attention to the kcal/cup content to make sure it was high. I aimed for 500kcal/cup foods, and even these grain inclusive failed to put weight on him. I was scared about the grain free stuff...but eventualy I tried it, and ......ta da! Like magic, Trooper gained 10lbs and is now a healthy, handsome 85lbs. 

I feed him Acana Grasslands, and Orijen 6-Fish. If I had access to Acana Ranchlands I would be alternating with that one too. But the food that made the difference initially was EVO Turkey and Chicken, that was the first "grain free" formula I tried, and saw amazing results. I stopped feeding it because Trooper was gaining on it, and he didn't need to gain anymore, I want to keep him lean but not emaciated skinny....and more importantly I don't want him to be OVERWEIGHT because that's so bad for his health...so I switched to Orijen/Acana, and feed slightly less, and this has kept him on a maintained weight for months now. 

EVO's levels of protien, fat, and kcal/cup content are all so high, I believe this is why Trooper was able to gain on this food. I'm not sure that being "grain free" has anything to do with the weight gain actually, but I know that "grain free" has so many other benefits I've seen in my dogs, that I would never go back to grain inclusive. That's just my opinion of coarse. To each their own


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## Little Brown Jug (Dec 7, 2010)

He doesn't show any signs of being diabetic, and his glucose levels were fine. Pretty sure its just his anxiety levels causing it. The Chicken Fruit and Vegetable flavor has grains. I've had them on the Go! Grain Free and they've done excellent on it. 

We just finished a bag of Orijen 6-fish, I usually rotate that with Regional Red and Go! Grain Free. But work also just got in Acana and Oven Baked Grain Free. Not sure what the calorie content is like in either of those. Boone was on Acana as a puppy and did well on it though. I'm not a fan of grains but the highest calorie food we have (or had have to look into Acana and Oven Baked as I said) is Go! Chicken which is 570 calories I think per cup. Evo isn't available around here.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

DogLuver said:


> hmm...this is shocking news to me about dogs losing weight on grain free. I suppose it depends on which grain free formula you use. But I experienced the opposite results with my "hard to put weight on" Golden Retriever.
> 
> My experience was this. I have a Golden Retriever who is now 4 yrs old and 85lbs (and 28" at the shoulders, very tall for a Golden apparently). For the first 3yrs of his life he was (and still is) EXTREMELY active, also an active staple in my boyfriends hunting so he needs the extra energy. For the first 3 yrs he was 75lbs-ish...and looked so boney and skinny that people thought something was wrong with him. He was health tested, and ate TONS of food, and could not gain weight. At that time we were feeding him all kinds of grain inclusive foods, trying this trying that (it slips my mind the brands we went through, but there were many)...and I had always paid attention to the kcal/cup content to make sure it was high. I aimed for 500kcal/cup foods, and even these grain inclusive failed to put weight on him. I was scared about the grain free stuff...but eventualy I tried it, and ......ta da! Like magic, Trooper gained 10lbs and is now a healthy, handsome 85lbs.
> 
> ...


If your dog was doing well on EVO, why not just cut down on the amount of food you're giving him as opposed to switching to another food?

A dog's caloric requirements change just like yours: if he puts out more energy, he needs more food; less work, then he needs less food. During hunting/trialing season Zio needs a lot of food because he's running more miles than I can count. So we up his EVO &/or add other protein sources like chicken, salmon, etc. 

@ Little Brown Jug: as others have said, I'd change foods. Zio was in a similar situation a few years back where he was up to 4 cups of food/day & still looking like some starving stray from Africa. After doing some research we switched him to the EVO. He gets LESS of it and has a wonderfully shiny coat & is well muscled. It's a great food for any active dog, esp hunting breeds.


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## Javadoo (May 23, 2011)

DogLuver said:


> hmm...this is shocking news to me about dogs losing weight on grain free. I suppose it depends on which grain free formula you use. But I experienced the opposite results with my "hard to put weight on" Golden Retriever.
> 
> My experience was this. I have a Golden Retriever who is now 4 yrs old and 85lbs (and 28" at the shoulders, very tall for a Golden apparently). For the first 3yrs of his life he was (and still is) EXTREMELY active, also an active staple in my boyfriends hunting so he needs the extra energy. For the first 3 yrs he was 75lbs-ish...and looked so boney and skinny that people thought something was wrong with him. He was health tested, and ate TONS of food, and could not gain weight. At that time we were feeding him all kinds of grain inclusive foods, trying this trying that (it slips my mind the brands we went through, but there were many)...and I had always paid attention to the kcal/cup content to make sure it was high. I aimed for 500kcal/cup foods, and even these grain inclusive failed to put weight on him. I was scared about the grain free stuff...but eventualy I tried it, and ......ta da! Like magic, Trooper gained 10lbs and is now a healthy, handsome 85lbs.
> 
> ...


Not ALL dogs lose weight on grain free. My girls did initially, but now they maintain their weight beautifully.
But some dogs do lose weight and have a harder time maintaining weight or gaining weight on grain free foods.

I agree with you-I will NEVER go back to grain inclusive foods either!! At least not for these 2 girls..


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## DogLuver (Oct 19, 2011)

SubMariner said:


> If your dog was doing well on EVO, why not just cut down on the amount of food you're giving him as opposed to switching to another food?


Price was another reason for the switch, also availability. Orijen/Acana are available at my local retailer for $62-$80 depending on the flavor/brand, while EVO was only available at a store 20min away for $70-$90. I also feel better supporting Champion as a company vs P&G. I will still throw a bag of EVO into the mix once in a blue moon  I agree it's a great food.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

DogLuver said:


> Price was another reason for the switch, also availability. Orijen/Acana are available at my local retailer for $62-$80 depending on the flavor/brand, while EVO was only available at a store 20min away for $70-$90. I also feel better supporting Champion as a company vs P&G. I will still throw a bag of EVO into the mix once in a blue moon  I agree it's a great food.


With two excellent dog foods like that, price & availability are good reasons to switch. 

If I lived in Canada, I probably would be considering Orijen/Arcana as well.


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