Questions about putting on weight

[ajcooksey]

So Turner and Willow are a little over a year and a half and I am concerned that Turner is not gaining the weight he should be. I have heard that unaltered males don't put on weight as easily as neutered ones do but I have also seen on here several males that aren't fixed and are much more filled out than he is. I know he is still growing but we gave them a bath today and I took photos so you could see what he looks like with his hair wet. He was weighed two weeks ago and is 115 lbs and Willow is 114. We don't want her to gain anymore weight because she is much stockier than Turner. He is eating 4 cups of grain free (TOTW) fish and potato everyday and we add green beans on top of that. He has a hard time finishing his food lately so if he does need to gain weight I don't think increasing his food would work. Before we switched to grain free last summer he weighed 125 and went down to 115 in September and has not gained any weight since. Thank you for your opinions.

 

[ajcooksey]

And this is what Willow looks like

 

[Elizabeth]

They are very young yet, it can take 3 years or sometimes more to fully mature and fill out. I would be patient They look normal to me

E

 

[DAWNMERIE]

He looks a bit thin to me but E has it right, they will fill out more as they age. And it's much easier to put the weight on than take it off (trust me) Is Turner the one with allergy issues? Is he very active?

 

[ajcooksey]

Turner is the one with the allergy issues and I would say they are pretty active. We're just concerned that he is too skinny because we can feel his ribs, spine and hips easily.

 

[Capri]

It's great to see newfs that aren't overweight, I'd say that he looks to be in a pretty good shape. IF in doubt, go and ask eg a vet, or a dog trainer to feel him through. It is difficult (impossible) to say without being able to feel him through. If you feel that his ribs & spine are "sticking out", he probably is slightly underweight. You should be able to feel them easily when you run your hand over him, but they shouldn't stick out.

A good "rule of thumb": http://successjustclicks.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/ideal-weight.jpg

 

[NewfieGirl01]

My pup Milo looked similar to that the beginning of last summer. He was about a year and 2 months and weighed about 70 lbs and was 21 inches at the shoulders.

Come mid summer he had a growth spurt, grew to 24 inches at the shoulders making him look even thinner and then fall-early winter he put on 40 lbs, and I still think he's a little on the thin side.

He put on the weight immediately (went to 90 lbs) after a vet visit and fecal diagnosed him with worms (we have fecals 2x a year) and he was on a week of dewormer. I'm not sure if that could be attributed to the fact he was underweight. The vet said he was "ideal" even though I thought he was thin.

Apparently I have worms in the ground of my yard and unless I get him on something that fights worms all the times, he'll keep getting them.

He's still too thin for me at 2 years old and my 1 year old girl who is only 65 lbs at 27 inches tall, still with puppy fur also seems very thin (though, again, vet deemed their weights ideal). I'm thinking they'll just take time to fill out.

Rule out worms. If not worms, prepare for them to FILL OUT as they get a bit older.

This is him in june:



This is him in the winter:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/708/dsci0971.jpg/

 

[ajcooksey]

As far as the hand test goes I would say Turner feels like if I make a fist and run my hands over my knuckles. You can count his vertebrae.

 

[Capri]

Here is a photo of my Merita in Dec/Jan, at a good slim weight. Since she is only still growing for a few years (she will be two in June), I'm not at all worried about her being too thin or narrow in frame. If she follows her mother & grandmother in growth pattern, she won't be fully grown until 4-5 years.

As comparison her mother in as thin of a condition as Merita above, just in a wider more filled out frame:

Her mother, grandma and aunt's frames/width:

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

Feeling his spine that prominently doesn't seem right to me. If he really is that underweight, and you're feeding 4 cups of high quality grain-free food per day (and he's seemingly lost 10 pounds over the past year for no evident reason)...I would be a bit concerned. My immmediate concerns would be parasites, hyperthyroidism, or even some sort of problem with properly digesting and absorbing nutrients from his food (there are a few conditions, typically referred to as wasting diseases, that present like this and can range from involvement of the kidneys or the liver to the heart.). Or maybe it's absolutely nothing! But it does seem a bit concerning to me and if he were my dog, I'd probably take him in for a comprehensive fecal/urinalysis and a thyroid panel.

 

[CMDRTED]

I would (for peace of mind) get a Vet wellness exam.