how to keep weight on a working whippet

[eddie jones 2]

my mates whippet is about 21" tts and he works him twice a week,but no matter what or how much he feeds him he cant seem to keep the weight on him...as you can imagine this is very frustrating.....any body out there got any sound advice plz.....cheers lads and gals

Edited January 28, 2011 by eddie jones

[Guest thebigdog]

put some weed in his food, dog gets munchies, gets fat, job done

[Shazza 52]

From what i've been told, it's harder to keep weight on sighthound breeds as they don't store fat as easily as other dogs.

What does he feed it?

 

I would suggest feeding it a BARF diet and feeding a couple of times a day

[Sonny Brindle 2]

Lamb/mutton mince.

[stoaty 171]

Used to feed mine breast of lamb once or twice a week boiled with veg and added wholemeal bread to soak up the juices for them .Ferk I'm hungry now lol

Stoaty

Edited January 28, 2011 by stoaty

[Moll. 1,770]

Please dont think i am being cheeky. But is the dog well muscled?

I've noticed a great many people confuse under muscled dogs with underweight ones.

I became aware of this when my dogs have been laid up due to injury, they appear to have lost weight even though they were being fed the same when working, so technically should have been gaining weight due to the lack of exercise. When a dog starts to lose muscle the back bone, pins etc etc which would normally be edged with muscle will be more visible, giving it the appearance of losing weight.

 

My only other advice would be to get it wormed (just to make sure) make sure it's bedding is warm enough as they lose loads of weight shivering. Get some good quality fatty lamb off cuts from the butchers, chicken etc. If he feeds dry get him to soak the food so it is digested more easily

[eddie jones 2]

From what i've been told, it's harder to keep weight on sighthound breeds as they don't store fat as easily as other dogs.

What does he feed it?

 

I would suggest feeding it a BARF diet and feeding a couple of times a day

to be honest mate he has tried every thing, some body told him now to try complete food and pasta, not sure if there is any truth in this so i told him id ask for advice on here as he is not on here himself

[alan626 305]

feed it good food beef chicken lamb make sure its wormed up to date

[Cochyn 0]

Raw fatty lamb breast does the trick for mine.

[sandymere 8,263]

Basically if it’s burning more calories than it taking in then it will lose weight and visa versa so make sure no worms and increase the calorific intake. Fat has double the calories of carbs or protein so increase the fat content, you can as Moll suggests get some fatty meat or add extra in the form of lard, vegetable oils etc to the normal feed, not to much of the latter or it’ll get the sh*tes, a little of both is probable the best idea. The suggestion of feeding twice a day is also a good one as you can increase the intake slightly overall.

[fresh earth 47]

I feed all mine red mills racer with half a lb of cooked mince each per day (hand full or two of red mills) i also feed a sprat or sardine every second day and egg the opposite. Agree a hell of alot of people think whippets are under weight when realisticly the vast majority in fit muscled up condition will show the top of there pins. Alot i know feed nothing but veg and fish during the racing season to keep em lean. The dog might just be needing a good worm out then get it on a decent high quality feed i only ever feed my mature dogs a racing formula never any other dry food.

[Big bald beautiful 1,231]

good luck with this one

My blue white dog is a fussy eater at the best of times and i have tried most of the top brand dry foods and also barf, the dog will just not put weight on, he will look fat after a meal and 20 minutes after a walk around and its all off.

he is a bit ribby but fit and fast and enough stamina but just wish he would carry more weight like his 8 mth old son.

gets fat on chewstick

[sowhat 1,572]

Used to feed mine breast of lamb once or twice a week boiled with veg and added wholemeal bread to soak up the juices for them .Ferk I'm hungry now lol

Stoaty

 

Your making me hungry Clive another tip, put a little sprinkling of suet on its food, and give the dog abit of breakfast with manuka honey on it

[jimster68 123]

if the dogs kept outside you could try jacketing it up in cold weather .if not as already suggested worm and add breast of lamb to diet.

[_Sean_ 15]

i had the same problem with mine just make sure its warm bedding its well wormed and feed it loads of raw meat itl soon put on a bit of weight