# Why Is Our Puppy So Skinny?



## Faulkner&Lola (Jul 6, 2011)

We have a 12 week old lab/shepherd mix. He weights in at 30lbs, seems to have a much larger frame than similar-age lab or shepherd puppies we see, but his ribs are prominent. He never had a roly poly puppy phase. What gives? I've looked up pictures of 12 week old labs and shepherds and he just looks nothing like them. Dude, there is NOTHING wrong with his energy level LOL. Trust me 

FTR, I am suspecting a food allergy, as he isn't really thrilled about his food and is always itching and biting himself and also has a few raw areas and patches of missing fur on his belly and upper legs. We're feeding Beneful right now, which I know isn't the best, so can I get a recommendation for a better food that is good for dogs who may have allergies? Also, could a food allergy make a dog skinny?


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

can you post some pictures?


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

Ooooh goodness, Beneful is one of the most awful things you can feed your dog. Get him off of that RIGHT AWAY. He may not even have food allergies, but Beneful is simply such crappy dog food it's affecting his health anyways. He may not be gaining weight because the food has almost no real meat in it, or any other healthy ingredients. Also avoid Science Diet, as that's the brand a lot of people seem to go to from Beneful. 

I'd recommend a holistic food - Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo, Orijen or Nutro (though I'm not a fan of Nutro in general). They have better ingredients, including no by-products (which are bad) and no corn meal (which has no nutritional value for your dog, it's just a filler). Look for a food with real meat as the first ingredient (deboned chicken, fish or lamb) and doesn't have "meal", either chicken meal or corn meal, as one of the first ingredients. These foods are pricier, but MUCH better for your dog's continued health. It is especially essential that he gets good food at a young age, otherwise he may have many issues in the future. We suspect that my dad's GSD/Lab mix has a hip deformity and premature arthritis (she's 2 years old) because of an improper diet as a puppy, and this condition is going to cut her life significantly short. 

Changing from Beneful to one of these better foods is going to cause loose stool if you do it quickly. As much as I hate Beneful, I would suggest mixing it with whatever new food you choose over 2 weeks or so, slowly decreasing the Beneful and increasing the new food, to get your dog's stomach used to a much richer diet. Otherwise you're going to find puddles instead of solid poo in your yard. 

It also could be that your puppy is just naturally skinny. My GSD mix, Loki, is a skinny dog, granted we think he's mixed with Greyhound or Great Dane, both slimmer breeds. A GSD lab mix may be a little chunkier, but I think GSDs have a tendency to be lean. Change his food and see if his weight benefits


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## Faulkner&Lola (Jul 6, 2011)

Okay, I'll try to get good pictures of him. All I have is a cell phone camera and he's always on the move LOL. I will take him off of Beneful TODAY. (Well, start the process today). We had him on blue buffalo when we first got him, but only got the small bag (guess how long that lasted? LOL) From your signature pics, dmickle1, he looks A LOT like your dog Loki, even with the white patch on his chest, but with lab ears. Perhaps that's his build. I'm sure he can stand to gain a few, but I don't think he'll ever be the super-chunk that other 12 week old puppies seem to be.

We're about to take him to the park, so I'll see if I can get a decent picture of him.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

My dogs are both on Blue Buffalo, but it doesn't work for everyone, especially with the price. I spend about $150 on dog food a month. Then again, my dogs are highly active (1 and 1/2 - 2 hours of running a day), so they eat more than an average dog of their size. 

Loki is 110 lbs  I was actually very worried about how skinny he was as a puppy, so I had a vet examine him for parasites (negative). Turns out he's just built that way! Can't wait to see pictures of your puppy


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Ditto "Beneful is crap". I feed Taste of the Wild, High Prairie formula. It's grain free and uses alternative protein sources so it's good for dog's with food allergies.

Have you had your puppy to the vet for a checkup, and a fecal test for parasites? Parasites can make a dog skinny, because they aren't getting all of the nutrients.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

By the way, here's an awesome website:

Dog Food Advisor

It gives you detailed reviews of basically every dog food you can get your hands on - the good ingredients, the bad ingredients, a basic breakdown, etc. It should help you find a quality food that is within your price range


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## Faulkner&Lola (Jul 6, 2011)

I did my best with pictures. With the shutter delay, none are that great, so I'm posting a few so the idea gets across.








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1Faulkner by akadonschikowski, on Flickr[/IMG]








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11Faulkner by akadonschikowski, on Flickr[/IMG]








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1111Faulkner by akadonschikowski, on Flickr[/IMG]


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

He does look a little ribby, so I'd recommend feeding him something better.

Where and how long ago did you get him? Has he had a fecal for parasites? That's a good first step to take on a super skinny puppy.


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## DaisyDukeCS (Jul 10, 2011)

dmickle1, I'm curious as to why you don't want chicken meal as the first ingredient. Meal is the dehydrated meat (or vegetable, grain, etc.) which has approximately 3 times the nutrition as fresh or whole meat/veg/grain. I agree that corn meal isn't a great ingredient to have first, but I don't understand why you think chicken(or other meat) meal is bad.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

DaisyDukeCS said:


> dmickle1, I'm curious as to why you don't want chicken meal as the first ingredient. Meal is the dehydrated meat (or vegetable, grain, etc.) which has approximately 3 times the nutrition as fresh or whole meat/veg/grain. I agree that corn meal isn't a great ingredient to have first, but I don't understand why you think chicken(or other meat) meal is bad.


It does have more meat content, but since it's not "human grade", it's manufacturing process isn't closely monitored, therefore allowing companies a lot of leeway into how they make it. You can have "good" chicken meal and "bad" chicken meal, and unfortunately the dog food company doesn't have to tell you which one they use. So, the cheap way out is to buy cheap chicken meal that is manufactured poorly, in order that the dog food company makes more profit. The rendering process of chicken meal removes bacteria and parasites, so dead, dying and diseased chickens are also allowed to be processed into meal, which is why it's not acceptable for human consumption. 

It's an ok ingredient, but not a first ingredient, in my opinion, because of the variations of "meals" available and the likelihood of dog fool companies to find the cheap way out. I want my first ingredients to be human grade, even if they do have more water weight, because of the monitoring process the meat is put through


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Look on the web for "Dog food reviews' and look up 4HEALTH dog food....I think I found a good product at a good price that is comparible to Blue Buffalo. I switched to this after extensive research. I was feeding my dogs that Beneful garbage for almost 5 years and did not realize how awful it was! My poor dogs! I hope I haven't damaged them too much! The first ingredient is chicken,chicken meal, cracked barley,millet,brewers rice............no wheat, no corn, no soy,.meat is usda approved, no imported ingredients, aafco approved......it goes on.......no preservatives........no red flag ingredients but beet pulp. It will make a pup gain weight. I had to cut back a little on the amount I was feeding for that reason.


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## Faulkner&Lola (Jul 6, 2011)

We got him Blue Buffalo today and are going to start slowly switching him starting tomorrow. Holy cow, though, looking at the food review sites, Beneful is bad bad bad! Yikes! We've had Faulkner since he was 8 weeks old, and from an accidental litter. Probably not the best situation. His father is a chocolate lab that tends towards leanness (supposedly his is not a good eater, although it may be a diet thing for him too, since they were feeding the puppies Puppy Chow. It's likely the adult dogs aren't on anything better.). He was checked for worms and had roundworm, which he has been treated for. However, his next vet appointment is coming up soon, so we'll do another fecal to make sure they are all gone. I really would like the itching to stop. Poor guy. Bald patches are not becoming. Hopefully the better food will help him out with that.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

Faulkner&Lola said:


> We got him Blue Buffalo today and are going to start slowly switching him starting tomorrow. Holy cow, though, looking at the food review sites, Beneful is bad bad bad! Yikes! We've had Faulkner since he was 8 weeks old, and from an accidental litter. Probably not the best situation. His father is a chocolate lab that tends towards leanness (supposedly his is not a good eater, although it may be a diet thing for him too, since they were feeding the puppies Puppy Chow. It's likely the adult dogs aren't on anything better.). He was checked for worms and had roundworm, which he has been treated for. However, his next vet appointment is coming up soon, so we'll do another fecal to make sure they are all gone. I really would like the itching to stop. Poor guy. Bald patches are not becoming. Hopefully the better food will help him out with that.


I hope feeding better food helps him out, too! Let us know how everything goes


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

A grain free alternative protein source is your best bet to rule out food allergies (itchy skin). I think Blue Buffalo uses grains in some of their foods...Make sure what you bought doesn't have any, and doesn't use chicken, beef or lamb.
another good food website-

www.dogfoodanalysis.com


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

spotted nikes said:


> A grain free alternative protein source is your best bet to rule out food allergies (itchy skin). I think Blue Buffalo uses grains in some of their foods...Make sure what you bought doesn't have any, and doesn't use chicken, beef or lamb.
> another good food website-
> 
> www.dogfoodanalysis.com


Yup, there's grain in some BB. The Wilderness formula is gluten free, though


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

FTR, though, I know my lab/shep/somethin mix gets skinny during his growth spurts... it generally evens out over time. This is assuming all other things are ruled out.

Brady looks like yours does when he's growth spurting - I just feed him more since he tends to self monitor. I reduce when I notice he's not eating as much and/or is filling back out.


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