Weight gain suggestions for Siberian/food switch?

Oliver is Lab/goldenX or so the rescue claimed, they were then put out of business by the FDA so I'm not too trusting of any info from them. I think he could be lab/hound or yes maybe lab golden, he is very long, tall and lanky with a deep chest and is not double coated. Has a bit of fur feathering on his rear legs. He doesnt' have a blocky lab head, more of the perpetual puppy look. Based on your pic, he looks very similar in structure and face, but he is much smaller than bugsy I think... Oliver is only 68 pounds.

If you want to get the discount, they also have salmon oil and canned food. Don't forget to order your sample pack. Then, you can see which flavor she likes best.

I ordered their salmon oil, this week. I got two packs of samples, to give to friends who feed kibble. I have two small dogs, so I don't feed kibble, at all. TO is one that I'd like to feed, if I did, but neither of mine tolerates it.

looking at your sig photo their faces are definitely similar!  Bugsy is just over 100 and will be 2 in the next couple of months.  He is at a very good weight for him which means is ribs and musculature are visible.  We got him from the SPCA who had him labelled as a lab mix 4 mos old, when we went to the vet we discovered he was 38lbs and the vet thought probably 3 months old.  His coat and physique are VERY dane like just small for a dane although his ears are longer and floppier than both lab or dane.  I think the rescues do the best they can assigning a breed to the dogs and obviously they try to fit them into a popular breed.  We went to one of their events and they were like goodness what did we call him? They were apologetic when I said a lab mix LOL.  I did want a lab or lab/mix but now I couldn't ask for a better buddy. I did have a familiarity with labs so learning about what drives him has been interesting and is ongoing.
I love to tell people that there ain't no lab in there he leaves crumbs!
Anyway I sure hope you can get your girl eating better and looking and feeling better.  I have had some trials and tribulations with his allergies and know how frustrating it can be

Well after nearly finishing the small bag of Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken and throwing nearly half of it out each meal i've concluded that won't work for us.
I'm pet store is getting me some Bravo raw. Problem is, I think maybe chicken is the issue as she doesn't like canned chicken based food either. I'm going to ask him to get me some bravo raw rolls in another meat if she is at all interested in the raw chicken roll. Maybe she is intolerant to chicken or rice and is smarter than me?... it's common to both foods that she has rejected.
I've had some success with feeding several meals a days mixing in a TON of canned and tripe or cottage cheese so i'm getting SOME food in her but we have a long way to go til I'm happy. Here's hoping Bravo works for us...If not, it's off to the vet... again!

I've also ordered the TO sample Pack and some Ocean Blue as she seems to LOVE anything with fish in it. I'm thinking that a mix of a TO formula and raw may be the ticket. Plus I'll try my other two on the TO.

thanks for the update - let me know how the TO works out

I just noticed this thread, passing through. Would I be correct in assuming that you need weight gain to put up with sledding?
 
There are some performance foods out there. Nutro High Energy. Eagle Pack Power. And, for one designed by a vet that races and cares for sled dogs, Momentum 35/27. The 35/27 refer to protein/fat ratio. Yes. it's "high octane" but it will put weight on them and meet their energy demands, even in off-season training and conditioning.
 

Hi ron glad a fellow sibe lover chimed in!
Actually I need her to gain weight just to be healthy. She is primarily a pet now, but will be working next winter and on when I do as long as she enjoys it and is healthy enough to do it.
I've had her for three months now and she's never had much of an appetite. I got her and she weighed in at 33.8 pounds and both I and the vet thought another 5 pounds would put her in teh healthy range. Two weeks ago she had dropped to 32.3 or so. While that may not seem significant it is still a lot for an underweight dog and I am concerned. The vet told me to "feed her more" but I can't get her to eat more kibble which is why I decided to post for suggestions.
I've tried lots of canned (that works) two different kibbles (solid gold, and Eagle), added coattage cheese, eggs, parmesan cheese, and baking a salmon fillet! Finally, I've found that she will eat Bravo raw but it is not complete so if that is her entire meal I need to tweak that. I've also got TO samples coming to see if we can nail down a healthy kibble for her.
Right now all I want is for her not to be nearing emaciated. If the TO and raw is also refused by her it'll be back to the vet. as I am bordering on "very concerned".
I don't care if she can race or run next winter, I just want her to be at a healthy weight. I should add that she also refuses the performance racing food fed at the kennel, I tried that and have access to plenty of that food as well...

Since she's so fond of raw, what about mixing up some satin balls, and adding those to her kibble? They *are* complete (they have some junky stuff, but they're said to put weight on ANYTHING).

It's worth a shot, to get her up to a more normal weight.

Just a couple of questions.  First of all, is she purebred and do you know her line?  If it is a racing line she may be genetically programmed to be very lean.  Does your vet deal with sled dogs much?  Mine is a musher and his dogs look downright scrawney to me.  But they are all very healthy.  I've looked at sled dogs in other places and they are skinny.  The vet I've taken Crusher to here in the city says he's too lean but my vet would never run him on his team due to his bulk.  He'd be a hazard to his own joints in a real race.  He does admit that he is not overweight for your average pet.

Hi huskymom...
Yup she is purebred, but I don't know the line, I can find out I think... (I got her after she was passed around through several kennels)
I do wonder if she is supposed to be lean genetically, however I can feel every single rib, her whole spine and there is no "small layer of fat" between the hip bones that I was taught to seek when we assess the weight of huskies that are touring.
I don't know enough about them to be sure this is not normal but my vet does the vetting for a sled dog kennel locally. The place I made the website for is a place I help out a lot and is where I got Khoale, the owner has seen her and is concerned and when I compare her to the 62 other dogs there she is skinnier than 61 of them (the oen that is the same weight as her is a recent addition and needs to gain)!

Well I'm bringing Khoale to the vet on thursday...
she's now gone off the raw food as well as of two nights ago.
Just to try and get SOMETHING down...I lightly browned some strips of raw chicken today, cooked an egg, and added some parmesan cheese and she STILL woudl not eat, only eatting maybe a quarter cup with hand feeding. Even then she walked away after a little while.
I want to rule out all medical problems at this point b/c this is CRAZY. My other two dogs were going nutso at the smell and she wouldn't go near it!

So she was a working dog before you got her right?  Sorry, I apparently missed the whole second page when I posted.  [&:]

Perhaps she is just overcompensateing in her attempt to adjust her own intake level.  Do you still have her in harness?  I'm sorry but did you post why she was retired?  Or why you came to have her?  Perhaps she is missing the work.  Crusher goes from eating 4 and a half cups of food when I'm home down to 2 when I'm out of town and he has to stay with BF.  He has a much reduced exercise pattern then.  In the winter Crusher's food goes up by a cup as he's in harness alot more.  And my friends husky (crusher's brother) eats almost double that and is smaller than Crusher, when he's working.  She works him much harder than I work my dogs.  Also they don't need that layer of fat in the summer.  It helps to keep them warm in winter and is essential in cold climates. 

I would definately rule out any medical issues right away.  But if everything checks out fine, perhaps switching her to a sport formula would work?  I know Acana, Orijen, and Eagle all have sport formulas. 

Her numerical weight loss could be muscle if she was a working dog before and not pulling anylonger.  The body won't support muscles that aren't being used and the muscles that are used for pulling are different than those used for normal everyday walking and playing. 

I hope everything works out and that she gets a clean bill of health so you can move forward.  Keep us updated.

huskymom... yup she was a working dog last winter, always a picky eater and would often dump a bowl of "slump" even when working hard all day. Before that she lived in someones "kennel" who had gotten into the sport but then didn't have time for his dogs and she must've sat in that pen there for a couple years

I hike her in harness canicross syle and use the commands. she will also still be in harness for puppy training and everything will start back up again this fall for fall training. I do hope to include her as she is not "retired", but rather I fell in love with her last winter and when the kennel was going to find her a home (she's tiny compared to the other dogs and just can't run as long as they can... she's not great for tours, the big strong slower dogs are great for taking people on tours and working comfortably all day... she'll work when I do next winter and since I'm feeding her and vetting her it doesn't matter if she only runs a few tours a day) I had to take her home . She's a lead dog and I had hoped to use her as my first lead dog when I get my own team in a couple of years as she is nearly a true gee haw leader.
Problem is she seems to refuse all kibble irght now, including sport formulas.
You are right that the lose could be more muscle related...

Well its too bad you are so far away.    We could join forces and have an almost team.   I hope you get everything worked out with her and that her appetite picks up.  But I think that as long as her energy and demeanor don't change, she may just be destined to be skinny.  Its ok... really.  She'll look better in the winter!  Fur does wonderful things![]