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2.2: Help! My Dog Needs To Gain Weight

Updated: Jan 7

⚠️ If you haven’t recently had one, book a health check in with your vet. This is vital to rule out any medical causes for a lack of weight on a dog. It is also worth checking their body condition as the western world often see's obesity in dogs are the normal, and healthy dogs as being underweight. If your dog is between 4 and 6 on the body condition chart they do not need to gain weight.


If there is no medical factor causing the lack of weight, we would next recommend a Wormcount, Lungworm count and Giardia Test. If you order these kits from Feclab, check out Raw Feeding For Dogs Made Simple (UK) Facebook Group, for exclusive group discount codes in our Albums


⚠️ If your dog hasn’t yet transitioned to raw, we strongly recommend making the switch by using our Blogs on transitioning to a raw diet


⚠️ If your dog is already fed raw, but has a persistent stomach upsets, please follow our Blog 5.3: Gut Reset Protocol


Using the body condition chart, the most accurate measure of dogs weight, please check their score. A dog with a score of 1, 2 or 3 will need help to gain weight as follows.


If the score is below a 4 on the chart, check the amount you are feeding based on your dogs current weight against our calculator.


⚠️ You can look to increase the daily feeding amount by 0.5% if you are already feeding it the suggested amount, or increase by 1% per week if you are under feeding. Keep a food diary of brand, protein and amount fed.


This sounds small, but for a dog this can make all the difference. We don’t want to create a sick dog so steady and slow is the way to go.


After 2 weeks, reassess. If they still require a little more weight you can look to feed less lean proteins and more high to moderate fat proteins, or increase feeding amount by another 0.5% (if still under the recommended amount you can increase again by 1%)


After a further 2 weeks if you still feel there is no change please join the Facebook group & pop a post in with the below:

  • Your 4 week food diary

  • Pictures from above of your dog standing

  • Pictures from side on of your dog standing



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