Hi,
Just wondering if anyone can advise my partner and I as to how we can get our year old Dobermann pups to gain weight? We have them on a high energy food but we stick to the recommended feed levels... any more could be harmful we're told.
They wolf there food like they're starving,but they look OK... dobermann are meant to be slim, however my partner thinks they too skinny...
Does anyone know of any really good ideas specifically for weight gain in dogs without feeding or overdosing them on too many fat soluble vitamins or such?

Scoop a little more into their dish every meal. I agree it is true that one of the worst things you can do for a dog is over feed it. No chart or table can tell you how much is too much. Within any breed, dogs vary in size, metabolism, activity, energy level, etc. Most of my Labs, 15 1/2, need about 3-4 cups of Pro Plan from about 6 months on. Lucky needed closer to 6. Peggy came to us at 7 months with her ribs showing. It took 7 cups a day for a couple of months to bring her into ideal body condition. Evaluate them using this guide, LongLiveYourDog.com - Life Span Study - Rate Your Dog (http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx) Adjust what you are feeding them to slowly bring them to their ideal body condition. I have given you the link to a website owned by a dog food manufacturer, which some wouldn't trust. It is available, the Puppy Raising Manual I learned that method from isn't. It was prepared by a large dog guide school solely in the interests of producing dogs with the longest possible active life.

I am curious how you found AMHD. In addition to your question, there were about 3 other questions last night on how to help a dog gain weight. I referred them to the sticky at https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/information-articles-our-dogs-expert-labman-53153.html#post254171 It contains material to help sort out the usual cases of a dog either needing to see a vet or to be offered less food. There are many dogs that refuse to eat more than they need. Did you ever see a fat wolf? The worst thing you can do with such a dog is to tempt it to eat more than it needs with rich foods. Dog chows are carefully formulated to give dogs a complete and balanced diet. There is no need to add any supplements to a modern dog chow.

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone can advise my partner and i as to how we can get our year old Dobermann pups to gain weight? We have them on a high energy food but we stick to the recommended feed levels...any more could be harmful we're told.
They wolf there food like they're starving,but they look ok...dobermann are meant to be slim, however my partner thinks they too skinny...
Does anyone know of any really good ideas specifically for weight gain in dogs without feeding or overdosing them on too many fat soluble vitamins or such?

Most dobermans are slim. I have had several dobermans and have taken care of many more. They all have a slim look to them unless over weight. The average adult female is about 24 inches at the shoulder and weighs 75 to 80 pounds. The male is about 26 or 27 inches at the shoulder and should weigh about 90 pounds.

You didn't say how much the dog weighs so it is hard to say for sure if the dog is underweight, but it should look thin.

If you really want a plump doberman try their cousin the Rottweiler. My female is 22 inches high and weighs about 93 pounds. She is never a picky eater either.

While labman's chart is good, I prefer this version: CatHelp-Online :: Feline and Canine Body Condition Score Chart (http://www.cathelp-online.com/health/bscore.php) because it shows top views as well, which may be helpful for some people. And it divides the weights up into 5 groups instead of three.

Yeah, I think the older version of Purina had the top view too. I had Holly looking good from the top at 11 weeks, but her field trainer pointed out her belly was too big. Holly loves her visits with the field trainer. She doesn't know she told me to cut back on her food and start using the Gentle Leader which Holly hated.

Purina keeps redoing their site. Look back at some of my older answers and you will find a link that no longer works. You will also find

September 07, link to chart replaced with LongLiveYourDog.com - Life Span Study - Rate Your Dog (http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx)

The trouble is, somebody has linked to the above and is chewing up my bandwidth allotment. That is why some of my pictures were unavailable last week.
The sad part about that is that there are 2 better charts available.

Of course, the most important thing is that people are concerned enough about their dog's weight and do something.

Hi Guys thanks for your replies to the question of my skinny dobermann's!
To answer the question the weighs 26 kg and is approx 24 inches in height and the dog weighs 30kg and is 27 inches in height..
We feed them Husse a low volume high energy dog food... she gets Lamb & Rice(she has sensitive skin) and he gets Optimal. They both a super premium food.Its swedish too which is supposed (?) to be very good because of their processing standards.
The dog is still looking too slim and according to that diagram he is definitely underweight.
His ribs and backbone are starting to show clearly. However because we don't want to stop feeding the Husse we have started feeding pasta as well in the hope of building him up a little, a small bit of mince and such mayb along with their egg(Once a week!! ) is also my plan... any thoughts on whether this is advisable or not?
By the way interesting thing but my is also having what I presume to be a phantom pregnancy! She turned one yesterday and had been in heat a few months ago, unfortunately she was mated by the then 7 month old mate and I took her to the vet for a hormone injection... could this phantom pregancy be a reaction to the injection?I know pp's aren't uncommon anyway...

Have you discussed this with the vet? As long as the dogs will eat it, I would just keep increasing the amount of dog chow you are feeding. I can think of a couple reasons not to be adding this and that to the menu. The more different proteins you feed a dog when it is young, the harder it is to work around it if the dog develops food allergies later in life. If you are feeding a dog 3 different things, you are 3 times as likely to get ahold of a bad batch of something, and at a loss to identify which one. I hope you aren't feeding a raw egg. Too many of them are contaminated with salmonella. The vet has tested for tapeworm?

How are their stools? If they seem large and soft, it is possible the Husse just isn't the right food for them. Although most dogs will thrive on most chows, there isn't any diet that is right for all dogs. I never tried to find a better diet for Lucky, but he may have done better on other than what he was eating.

I think the site is removing your term for the female. In dogs, we live with the same censorship as the people oriented forums. It used to come out *****.

And yes phantom pregnancies are common. Never seemed to hurt the appetite of any of my Labs. I know to get them to the vet if they won't eat.

Thanks for that, will defo have to take heed of that as I didn't really consider that they could actually develop allergies from too much variety of food. Also I didn't consider that one about the eggs!! Especially since I have taken raw eggs myself many times!! Good point though.. so would you agree or disagree that it would be fair to stick to mince from time to time and dry complete food?and an egg once a week(cooked from now on!)it is only the dog that is having problems and I am taking note of the tapeworm comment... the worming we give them is a herbal formula 3-4 times a year it should be given so I must see does that include for tapeworm... Oh and our dobes NEVER suffer from a lack of appetite!! LoL( you didn't comment on their weights and heights but I think these are actually quite good?correct me if wrong?

I continue to disagree with the mince and egg. Once you have selected a quality dog chow, modern chows are formulated to contain every thing your dog needs, and in the proper balance. Adding this and that may have made a difference in the past, but now may do more harm than good. It is just a matter of finding the proper amount for an individual dog. The package recommendations are only a starting point. I just checked my Pro Plan bag, and discovered I am over feeding my Labs by it including my less active 13 year old. As a retired dog guide, Aster is no inspected monthly, but is still seen casually by people from the program. Friends don't let friends overfeed their dogs. If Aster was overweight, some of them would have my hide. Her vet agrees she is in good shape.

I haven't commented on the height and weight because I feel dogs vary too much for such information to be useful. Perhaps Labs more than Dobes. The Peggy I mentioned in my first post came from a field Lab line. She was a lean 70 pounds at a year old, but very tall and slender. We had a younger Lab too at the time. Lola was as close to a classic show Lab as any we have had, sturdy, big square head, solid colored, etc. She too was a lean 70 pounds at a year old. Lola's head only came up to Peggy's shoulder. Sitting on the floor of my truck, it barely cleared the dash board. Peggy could nose print the top of the windshield while sitting on the floor.

If you read other threads here or my sticky, https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/information-articles-our-dogs-expert-labman-53153.html#post254171 you will see a consistent position that usually dogs with a lack of appetite are sick or over fed and overweight dogs die earlier.

Ok so that puts all my questions to bed!! I just have to deal getting the feed regime right for the dog pup! thanks, your advice has been very useful!