EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I have one dog that is hard to keep weight on. Regular worming, plenty of food, several fresh eggs daily, her coat looks great, but she is still hard to keep weight on.  Last year I had a hog processed into pan sausage.. I am wondering if there is any reason not to feed it to her along with her regular feed? The pan sausage is not hot, just a sage blend.

  Shouldnt be a problem. I just got done feeding one of mine a bunch of bacon. Might try some some good organ meats and fish. A cup of cooked rice along with chciken seems to put weight on my dogs.

I'm not a subject matter expert but when I mixed raw with kibble the dogs always got the runs which can't be a good thing for dog needing to put on some weight.  If found that I had to go 100% one way or the other.  This does not apply to eggs.  I'd add a few raw eggs to the kibble without any issues with the squirts.

Maybe you could try some hi-protein (preformance or hi energy brand) kibble and bump the amount you feed.  ??? I think diamond sells a performance dog food that has 31% protein.   

The dog is currently on Diamond Hi Energy. Mandi mentioned either putting her on Diamond Puppy, or Diamond Extreme Athlete http://www.diamondpet.com/products/diamond_naturals/dogs/dry_food/extreme_athlete/


I did not know that issues might arise by feeding them both kibble and raw meat.

I just thought that the pan sausage in addition to what she is already eating would add some calories to her diet and hopefully put some more weight on her.

Put a cap of vegitable oil in her food it is 22% fat it might help.

my BMC has a really hard time keeping weight on. how much does that diamond naturals extreme or whatever run a bag.

I thought about the veggie oil a little. I have 110 gallons of it that I use to top dress horse feed, but I was not too sure how the dogs metabolize the veggie oil as opposed to animal products.

I gotta admit, I know very little about the proper feeding of the dogs, I just know that they need some decent quality feed, and enough of it to stay looking fit.  You won't find me feeding Ol Roy, but I also don't buy the most expensive feed on the market either.

   That might also "flush" the dog out.


  I fed my lab on Diamond Puppy for over 3 years. She did really well on it. Just skip all the kibble and go raw 100%.

Chris, When I have one like that, I will give them a 100lb hog whole to eat. You can gut it but don't take out the organ meat. If it is hot out just give them a quarter a day. In most cases its the fat that they need not protien. Dogs were designed to eat that way, ie...the whole hog, meat, fat, organ, bone, conective tissue. They will get all they need from a whole hog. Good worming and you can freeze the hog before you feed it to kill the bugs.

Something i was told by a hog dog hunter long ago, if a dog wasn't wormed correctly when they were young, it scars the tissue in the dogs intestines.  Thus there might not be a specific combination of foods that would help keep weight on the dog.  You might have to resort to feeding smaller amounts, multiple times daily?  That way they aren't wasting the the food they can't really digest correctly in the larger amounts.  This does not mean you don't try the higher protein and fat diets already mentioned, as this can only help.
Just a thought, as i have no idea of the background of the dog being diagnosed.  Hope this information is useful.

Mav

 might try feeding a lower protein feed like a 24% protein 20% fat. Feeding a higher protein feed is going to cause them to burn more energy not store it which causes dog to gain weight.

I switched from Diamond High Energy to Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice and I have been pleased with the look of the dogs and their crap.  I tried a bad of the Extreme Athlete Chicken and Rice and it gave all my dogs the runs, so I cut back to half and half, still had the runs and then was mixing less then a third with the same result.  I got off of it and back to the Chicken and Rice and everything is good.  I even feed it to my puppies and they look good and like it.  Diamond was leaving me with patties and not logs.  I really like Sportsmix but no one around me sells it  :'(

I think some dogs are just like people.....Some can eat all day long and stay thin as a rail while others can diet, diet, diet and still be large......If your dog is wormed properly, up-to-date on all shots and in overall good health then maybe thin is just the way that certain dog is.........  I've cleaned out the freezer and fed sausage before......Just remember that garlic is toxic to dogs in larger quantities and over a period of time....

I mix venison with kibble when I have it.  Dogs love it and have never had stomache issues with it, might give it a try

Chris, I would drop the Protein and raise the fat, like mentioned above. Still needs to be a meat based kibble. Depending on your sausage mix, you may be upping the protein and not the other way around.

I also recently used a bottle of a vitamin supplement called "Healthy Coat" because I liked the Vitamins in the bottle that I was not able to supplement enough of with the Raw Diet.

My granny used to save all her bacon grease while cooking, I imagine that would be alot better that vegatable oil.

However when I have a good healthy hog I do like Silverton mentioned, bone, fat, meat, organs, and raw eggs with the shelled crushed into it.

Just got back from Texas Tool traders, got me, a dewalt reciperacting saw, fixing to go to town on some raw meat!

Krystal,
   The dog in reference is Brandy, and while I would not consider her poor, I do believe she is underweight. As you know, Mandi stays on top of feeding/worming/general care for the dogs, but Brandy is just not maintaining like the others.

The pan sausage is 100% wild hog, so I would like to think there is some degree of animal fat in there.

I need to find a source for some bacon grease, we rarely eat at home, and don't produce much bacon grease at all.

Chris, when are you gonna be this way again?

Not sure.  Might get a wild hair and hunt Flatonia one day this weekend if I can talk Mandi into it ;)

Krystal,

Are the spitzes setting eggs again yet? I got my runner ducks in this week but the cresteds won't be here till may.

Cheers
M

 Mandi, I have 8 Spitz eggs in the incubator hopefully hatch this weekend, and my Spitz hen is setting on a nest that is two weeks until hatch. I also have my Blue Cochin setting 8 eggs. I want you to come by and see the Frizzle chicks, I got a week ago. So if the incubator hatches, turn out I can hopefully send some home with you.

Yes bacon grease has worked great for me too, but I am not saying put a bunch of vegitable oil in their food, just a cap or two of it. It will raise the fat content in your food without changing your brand of dog food. I usually feed my dogs a cap with their food during the winter to keep a little padding on their bones but also use bacon grease if I have any.

I have used Canola oil before for some of my dogs as it has a very high fat content. I am currently feeding my dogs 1/2 deer scraps from the processor and 1/2 diamond energy. What I have noticed is the dogs seem to get much better muscle mass and loose some fat. Cody was right about some dogs not putting on weight. Take the dog to the vet and get it checked out, probably cheaper and easier than buying all sorts of stuff to feed.

Silverton boar...  When you say (a good worming) do you mean the dog or the hog?

Dog

 I have thrown in whole leg 1/4s from a hog/deer in the past. I only do this after it has been frozen a min. of 5-7 days.

im mixing 2 bags of diamond sporting mix and 1 bag of diamond extreme athlete and have had great results on my dogs! they crap really well! :)