Underweight Pup

[RoanyPoo]

Hey Guys -

I need some help.. I'm new on here and I'm SURE there are a million posts about underweight dogs.. but... I'm at a loss!

My boxer; Roan, is 10 months old (wow how time flies!) on the 22nd and he is about 43-45 lbs.. he's tall and lanky his spine is showing and some ribs... I have him on Evolve right now ad feed him 3 cups in the morning and 3 cups in the evening.. he has raw hides, which I might be taking out of his diet due to diarrhea issues but would love suggestions, we do mix his food with canned food to see if that will add on some weight.. he is neutered and hasn't gained a pound! His father was a short very stocky boxer and mother a very tall lean (not underweight) boxer... any advice would be great appreciated!

 

[Kisaq]

Can you post a picture of him?
Many people think normal youthful boxers are too lean. They take a while to fill out, and leaner is definitely better than fat. That being said, he may be too lean. We can't tell without looking.
For example - see pic of my boy when he first came home with me. He was about 1yr - just been neutered, and probably going through a bit of a growth spurt, which they do at that age. His weight was just fine for his situation and it took very little time for him to fill out from there (I did discover he was sensitive to chicken - and once I cut out all the chicken and turkey, his poops firmed up and that may have had something to do with his filling out afterward too). He's now 2yrs and I'm having to pay attention to keeping the weight off of him! But you can definitely see his back bone here...
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc440/endlessamusement/2013/Muchbettertoviewfromindoors.jpg

Yours may also be having trouble processing his food - or he may be sensitive to something like Kisaq was to chicken. Have you researched and given him probiotics? If if you get the right kind, it can really help. You should get live "good" bacteria for the small as well as the large intestines. They are different ...

All in all, pretty difficult to trust any diagnostics from over the internet. If your concerned, check with your vet and maybe run a few tests...

 

[Gunther]

Top of my head I say he looks fine, My Struddell seemed very underweight for awhile but I saw her mom and Struddell looked just like her, Stru topped out at 65 and was always very lean looking.

 

[Gatorblu]

Some young boxers are just hard to get weight on because they are so active. You can try increasing his food by 1/4 - 1/2 cup at each feeding to see of that helps. The chart on the bag is just a guideline and you need to adjust accordingly. Arabella didn't actually fit into the recommended amounts until she was 5 years old because she is such an active dog. Even at nearly 7 yrs. old (9 more days), when many dog foods consider her a "senior" and recommend she eat less, she is still at the high end of the feeding chart. She is the same 65 lbs. she was at the age of 3 without ant fat on her.

As for the rawhides. I recommend you just stay away from them all together. They can cause all kinds of problems. If you get soup bones from the store and take the marrow out, it will be healthy for your pup and won't block and intestine like a rawhide can.

 

[Gunther]

Oh I did not see the rawhide! Yeah that's crap lose it, would you like to eat a shoe same nutritional content? Assuming everything is sound don't worry about his weight. He looks good and nobody wants to see a fat Boxer?

 

[mistydwilson]

Can you post a picture of him?

I agree, a picture would help. Since boxers hit growth spurts at different times, it's hard to guess based on just age and weight. Height is a factor, as well as width. They are adults but my little guy is 65 lbs. but needs to loose a few, and my girl is 72 lbs. and could use his extra ones!

 

[Brindlegirly]

My boxer is 18 months and weighs 45.... I'm sure yours is fine. A lot don't start putting on weight until they are 2-2.5 years.

 

[Bathel]

Hey Guys -

I need some help.. I'm new on here and I'm SURE there are a million posts about underweight dogs.. but... I'm at a loss!

My boxer; Roan, is 10 months old (wow how time flies!) on the 22nd and he is about 43-45 lbs.. he's tall and lanky his spine is showing and some ribs... I have him on Evolve right now ad feed him 3 cups in the morning and 3 cups in the evening.. he has raw hides, which I might be taking out of his diet due to diarrhea issues but would love suggestions, we do mix his food with canned food to see if that will add on some weight.. he is neutered and hasn't gained a pound! His father was a short very stocky boxer and mother a very tall lean (not underweight) boxer... any advice would be great appreciated!

You feed your dog 6 cups of food a day and he doesn't gain any weight. Not sure which EVO product you're feeding, but the turkey and chicken kibble is 537 Kcals per cup. That's over 3,000 Kcals per day, which is more than double and almost triple what the dog should need. Every dog is different so it's never a set in stone number, but with that high a variance I think I'd have a vet check him out to make sure you don't have something else going on.

Weight wise, without seeing a picture it's hard to tell... but my girl is 45 lbs at 18 months and is just fine.

 

[Jan]

Hey Guys -

I need some help.. I'm new on here and I'm SURE there are a million posts about underweight dogs.. but... I'm at a loss!

My boxer; Roan, is 10 months old (wow how time flies!) on the 22nd and he is about 43-45 lbs.. he's tall and lanky his spine is showing and some ribs... I have him on Evolve right now ad feed him 3 cups in the morning and 3 cups in the evening.. he has raw hides, which I might be taking out of his diet due to diarrhea issues but would love suggestions, we do mix his food with canned food to see if that will add on some weight..!

Roan is at the age, which I like the call the walking skeleton stage. Nothing you do will put on weight. You just need to wait it out. Does your vet say that he is too skinny? 6 cups is a huge amount of food. Too much food will cause Diarrhea. :( Maybe try a different food and see what happens.

 

[sjtorr]

Can you share a little information about how active he is?