How To Help A Dog Gain Weight

It might appear as a very odd circumstance in which a pet owner would need to help their dog gain weight, but the necessity is more commonplace that one may think. Dogs can lose weight very quickly due to an number of causative factors including digestive parasites and other illnesses, and enabling a dog to gain weight can help to restore lost health and vitality. With a good nutrition plan conceived by a pet owner and a veterinarian in unison, a dog that may be on the brink of death can be literally be brought to to it's former self in a reasonably short time frame.  

An ill or weak dog may have associated digestive issues that need to be recognized and addressed if there is any hope of gaining weight. Meals that are given to a dog to help gain weight should be moderate in size to allow for easier digestion, and new foods should be introduced into the diet gradually. The general concept in helping a dog gain weight is to approach the task as a long range goal, as too rapid a weight increase can cause undue stress to a dog's system. It will become a necessity to weigh the dog in question on a weekly basis in order to establish progress, and if there is none more in depth medical testing may be required to discover the reason.  

A Veterinarian will most like suggest that human foods of good quality be incorporated into the dog's diet, and meals to be served at regularly scheduled times approximately 3 to 4 times daily. In addition, it will be necessary to enlist the benefits of a daily multi-vitamin for dogs to make certain dietary requirements are met in addition to increasing calories. The changes in a dog's diet to help with weight gain are directed toward a protein and fiber increase, and will incorporate eggs, cheese, vegetables, beef, poultry and fish in addition to a nutritionally balanced commercial dog food. A dog owner will soon discover that the human foods are more readily consumed if given to the dog mixed with dog food rather than separately, and the dog will become accustomed to the mixture.  

A falsehood related to helping a dog gain weight is to feed them fatty foods that are extremely high in calories. Fatty foods of poor nutritional value have much the same effect in animals as they do in humans - obesity, hypertension and circulatory issues. A pet owner needs to remember that the goal is to help the dog gain weight as lean muscle mass to ensure good health, not to make a dog obese.