[zeewolfman]

I have a female chihuahua . She is a little over a year and a half old. My wife and I are not happy with her weight at all she looks to skinny to us. We have had her checked out for worms but none to be found. We can't afford to keep taking her back and forth to the vet all of the time. We have tried several brands of dog food for her but she doesn't seem to be putting any weight on our other three dogs look great. We have tried a couple different brands of canned food and we have also tried purina puppychow and kibble and bits. When ever we give her a special treat when she is good she scarfss it down like she is starving. Which I know she isn't because the foor is there for her . Any help in this matter would be appreciated thank you I really love my dogs

[JudyKayTee]

What does the Vet say? Why do you keep having to take her in?

I had a GSD. He was a thin puppy, almost skinny, and remained thin his whole life. Sometimes dogs are just naturally thin.

Does your Vet recommend Kibble and Bits? That's not a high quality food.

My dogs are both big and they both can't wait to get treats so I don't know that that means anything.

[poppycorn]

Our dog is half white shepherd and half brown German shepherd. From the time we got her as a puppy she was always skinny. I wanted to add weight to her and gave more food but she just doesn't fill out. Asked the vet about it and he said she is perfectly healthy. Some dogs are just lean and will just stay that way. She seems happy and playful and eats well so I have given up trying to "fatten" her up. I always thought shepherds were supposed to be stocky but I guess this is just her build.

[Lucky098]

Kibbles n Bits is the absolute worse food you could possibly feed your dog. Its like candy, not to mention that he colored kibbles is rejected food dye that was deemed unsafe for human consumption. If you have any left, throw it away.. burn it.. Please don't feed it to the wild animals :)

Have you had her teeth checked? I have heard that smaller dogs have a harder time eating hard kibble because it can hurt their teeth. Dogs are not known to have teeth problems, but it does happen.

I would suggest to move all your dogs to a good quality dog food. Wellness is now being sold at petsmart/petco. That is a very good brand of food. That brand carries a "small bite" formula for little mouths. Unless all your dogs are small, you're going to have to feed the small bites.

Warm her food up. Warming the food without water releases the oils and makes the small fantastic for dogs! Maybe mix a little bit of yogurt and cottage cheese in the food to stimulate her appetite. You can feed a sliver of butter once a day to help with weight gain. Maybe throw an egg in there. Feed her by herself. Put everyone away and let her pick at her food. Some dogs get really nervous when eating in front of everyone else. See if that works.

Chis are not to be heavy. Fat Chis are very unhealthy and live a rather short life (considering they live up until 15 or later!). She should always maintain the hour glass figure and you should at all times be able to feel her ribs and the tips of her spine in the middle of her back. That is a healthy weight. Look up her breed standard at akc.org and see what the ideal weight is. You might think she is too skinny, but she might not be. So look it up :) And determine from there. If she is to skinny, the cottage cheese, yogurt, butter, eggs, better food such as wellness will help fatten her up.

[simoneaugie]

I have a female Chihuahua who was frighteningly skinny. Now at 3 years old, she looks "normal." The breed standard says that a Chi should not weigh more than 6 pounds. But if the dog is larger boned than breed standard they should probably weigh more.

I also have a male Chi who has ribs showing. The vet says he's perfectly healthy. He is uninterested in food. He takes a bite if I hold food in front of his nose or 4 bites from his dish if he's really hungry.

Dogs should have a waist. (Greyhounds are supposed to be showing the last 3 of their ribs.) Many American dogs are too fat and it has become almost "normal" for them to be chubby.

If she is getting her fill of food and has no worms, thin is probably healthy for her. There is a test the vet can give. I can't remember what it is. If the test comes back abnormal, they aren't digesting well... I think. Or, it might be a thyroid test? Your vet will know.

I feed my dogs a grain-free kibble and also make them food at home. My female Chi pigs out if her food is soft, so maybe it is easier for her to eat. My skinny male Chi just nibbles whether it's soft or not.