The American Beagler Forum

I posted this question on another board and found that many people are going through the same thing with thier dogs. Usually its just one or two in the kennel. I have had a couple of suggestions like flax seed meal and peanutbutter and I will try anything but am looking for the cause of the problem as well and any other suggestions.

I have a male that looks awful. He has had a complete work up and the vet can find nothing wrong.
No parisites, no coccidia, no coodies................ Bloodcount is fine.........He is just skinny looking. The weird thing is if you pick him up he is solid as a rock. Just looks bad. This has been going on for a while.
We have tried several different feeds including puppy chow and quadrippled his feed but nothing fills this dog out???? If he does gain a little, the first time I run him the weight is gone.

What can it be?? What could we be overlooking?? Any ideas?

I have one that gets that way when the temps drop, skinny but still feels solid when you pick him up. He eats like a horse whenever the food hits the bowl, but more feed only produces more crap to clean up and he doesn't regain the weight. I'm installing a heater in the bedding area (a box within my shed) and hope that fixes things. Here he is in summer condition:



Last winter:

I have two females that need to be taken care of extra in this respect. I give them a couple supplements NuPro and Impact and this seems to help.
I have alos been supplementing some generous portions for of raw venison with these supplements and regular food at other intervals. They are both
solid as well, no parasites and good energy. I am thinking they may need fed multiple times daily to really turn the corner, but they have improved greatly
with the supplements.

I have 1 patch female that stays skinny. She has lots of energy and runs well, but she looks bad.
She seems to eat less than the other dogs too.
I try feeding her more and add oil and fat to her diet, but she just won't put weight on.
I use safeguard and ivomec on her monthly to kill any parasites and believe she is parasite free.
It is frustating that she looks so thin, because she is a good dog.
All my other beagles look fine.
Keith

barnold1 wrote:I have one that gets that way when the temps drop, skinny but still feels solid when you pick him up. He eats like a horse whenever the food hits the bowl, but more feed only produces more crap to clean up and he doesn't regain the weight. I'm installing a heater in the bedding area (a box within my shed) and hope that fixes things.

Two words "Raw Diet" with lots of beef fat scraps and oils. This has done one of my naturally thin dogs WONDERS this winter. I've been feeding a raw diet to all 20 plus of my hounds and its the best thing that I have found for them weight and health wise. I just have to watch a few of them so they don't get too heavy. The more raw chicken, beef, turkey, livers, hearts, and gizzards you feed this hound most likely the less crap he'll produce. I would also give him a whole egg shell and all. Mix in some greens also. It won't be more waste like you said he normally does. He'll use all the raw food you give him for good reason and produce less crap. It might sound like a lot of work but its really not all that bad once you get into a routine. Besides you seem to care enough about the dog to be asking questions about the syndrome. Sorry I don't have any answers to your question about what causes it but you can try to help the situation some by trying something different and better may I add.

I always felt sorry for those poor looking little Whippet dogs. They seem to be healthy tho...and can simply fly.
I have a friend at work who can eat like a pig and never gain an ounce...simply disgusting...

If one is weak and of poor constitution, I gave her to a elderly gentleman who kept her close to the fire with him for company and still managed to hunt her on weekends with a friend. It was just the ticket, both were happy and loved...

SouthernBeagles wrote:I posted this question on another board and found that many people are going through the same thing with thier dogs. Usually its just one or two in the kennel. I have had a couple of suggestions like flax seed meal and peanutbutter and I will try anything but am looking for the cause of the problem as well and any other suggestions.

I have a male that looks awful. He has had a complete work up and the vet can find nothing wrong.
No parisites, no coccidia, no coodies................ Bloodcount is fine.........He is just skinny looking. The weird thing is if you pick him up he is solid as a rock. Just looks bad. This has been going on for a while.
We have tried several different feeds including puppy chow and quadrippled his feed but nothing fills this dog out???? If he does gain a little, the first time I run him the weight is gone.

What can it be?? What could we be overlooking?? Any ideas?

Some dogs are not able to intake the nutrients and vitamins in their food. If your dog has frequent and large stools, this is a sign of not absorbing the nutrients. Just as much is coming out of them as to what went into them. The food is just passing through him. Usually a change in the dog’s diet will help. There are easily tolerated foods that can be given to a dog such as chicken rather than beef. Also, cut out any foods that contain grain in any form, some dogs simply can’t digest it and they get very little from the food that they eat, no matter how much they eat. They are actually running and hunting on much less nutrition than the rest of you’re dogs, and burning it off twice as fast. The specialty dog food companies that “scream” anything with grain is bad for you’re dog, is talking about these types of situations. But they “advertise” as if every dog will react to foods with grains or meats that take a little more to digest, in a negative way. The reality is, most dogs are fine with most of the semi-cheaper foods, but if you have a kennel of 12 to 15 dogs, you usually will have one or two that need a little extra. I have two like this, they always almost look “wormy”, but I know they are not. They are simply not getting what all the rest of my dogs are getting from the same food and eating the same amount {or more} as all the other dogs. You have yourself a “high maintenance / high class” dog on you’re hands. Lol

For these particular dogs, you can’t beat a “raw diet”, but as far as regular feeds, switch to Chicken, cut out all grains and slip them a vitamin every day or two, and you will see a huge difference. For my two that are like this, I buy Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete and feed it to “them” year round... http://www.diamondpet.com/products/diam ... e_athlete/ , with Protein: 32% Fat: 25% they beef-up like WWE Wrestlers and I have not had the problem again. Take Care, Jim

Can I ask what dog food is being given to those who are experiencing this? What I'm primarily interested in is the fat/protein percentages. I may have a possible answer for you if it's what I think.

BCBeagles venison has very little fat and what it does have doesnt absorb very good so puttin fat on a dog with it wont work

Simple solution is BONE MEAL. Gaurantee it to work used it on every skinny dog I've ever had and it worked on ALL of them.

Bev,

I feed 26/18 year round, twice a day. In the first pic above, he's rock hard and I wouldn't want him to look any different. I had him measured at 14 1/8 and last summer when he got his rabies shot he was 34 lbs I believe. In the winter I supplement with 30/20 feed after hard days of running, but I don't feed it every meal because I've found he cab get a little mouthier on high energy feed.

In my dog's case, I believe it's a lack of heat problem because I put a space heater in my shed when we had a severe cold run earlier this winter and he kept his weight fine without a change in feeding regimen. I ran a hot wire to my shed and bought a wall mount heater to put in the box, so I'll see what that does.

Started with Black gold, changed to Enhance Endurance formula, then purina Puppy chow because it is easier digestable...............No difference. Protien ranged from 26-28%
Vet gave me some liquid suppliment to put on his feed.............no difference.

Laneline, thanks for the suggestion but I will never feed diamond again.

High fat can sometimes be a double-edged sword. In most dogs it will add needed weight and keep them warmer in the winter. But, the very reason it keeps them warmer is the same reason it can cause some dogs to lose weight or even become a bit spazzo. High fat can increase metabolism; in turn, an increased metabolism will burn more calories.

There was a period of time when I was feeding Diamond 24/20. It was a good price, and the dogs weren't getting fat in the too hot to run summer months. It was maintaining their weight at normal. Nine months later in the throes of winter, I looked at the dogs (19 at the time) and it seemed they had ALL lost weight to the point of seeing ribs. This didn't happen overnight, but I attribute the higher fat content with cranking them up just a little too much. I switched to 26/18 and it righted itself. It's odd to think that 2% difference would make that much difference, but it did in my dogs.

I still give extra fat in the winter, but I also throw some extra non-fat calories in there.

mobeagle wrote:Simple solution is BONE MEAL. Gaurantee it to work used it on every skinny dog I've ever had and it worked on ALL of them.

I'll agree with you on this 1 billion %. I forgot to mention that because the butcher just adds whatever is left over at the end of the day off his BONE SAW into the wasted ground chuck he always gives me.

i went thru the same thing. i would have three dogs out of fifteen get just a skinny as can be. they all get the same wormer. safeguard and equamax. so i changed dog food from diamond green bag to diamond maroon bag. the three hounds that were thin started putting weight on and i had three others start loosing weight. after feeding several bags of the maroon bag i had to change again. this time went to rex's hi pro. so far all the dogs eat well and are keeping there weight up with no loss in performance. who knows that could change next week and i may have to go back to diamond.