How do I make my dog gain weight?
In this blog we are going to talk about the importance of having a good physical condition and how to reach it starting from a dog that is below its ideal weight.
It is as important to lose weight as to gain weight if we see that he needs it, otherwise he may have nutritional deficiencies. For this, the most important thing is to offer natural food suitable for dogs, such as Bon Appetreat, which is designed for the canine species and specially formulated to meet all the basic needs of a facultative carnivore.
For a dog’s nutritional needs to be covered, we must take into account the following foods, which must be present in their food: meaty bone, muscle meat and fish, offal, fruits and vegetables.
In addition, it is very important to calculate their daily ration, since an insufficient ration will cause them to lose weight. A ration with more food than needed will also cause weight gain. Therefore, when setting a feeding, we must be aware after 7-10 days of weighing our dog to see if it has maintained its weight or if it has gone up or down. In case he loses weight, we will have to increase his daily ration.
Recommendations for our dog to gain weight
- Offer a natural and adequate food for dogs: as we have mentioned above, it is important to offer all the nutrients they need for good health and that we start from a good base.
- Calculate well the amount of food to eat: there are many tables that help us to calculate the ration that our dog needs, but it is important that we adapt it well to our dog and its caloric needs, since each dog has different needs and we must focus on each case.
- The most normal thing is that we do not get it right the first time with the grammage, but we can always make modifications until we find the right amount for our dog.
- Daily moderate exercise, so that body and mind are balanced, we must dedicate time to our dog on walks. We must try to walk, play ball, do mental exercises, among others.
A good routine of schedules: in a healthy adult dog, the best option is a schedule of 8 hours between feedings and then an intermittent fasting. For example, if our dog is hungrier in the afternoon, we can offer the first feeding at 13h and the second at 21h and during the night and in the morning we can do an intermittent fasting. We will have to be careful if our dog has a tendency to have bilious vomiting, as fasting has to be practiced and prepared.
Important note: if we have a puppy, we must pay special attention to the revision of the amount of daily food, since it has such an accelerated growth we can run the risk of falling short. Therefore, every week, we must adjust the daily ration of food to cover all their needs.
For any questions regarding weight gain in dogs, the Bon Appetreat nutritionist team is at your disposal.