Help for skinny shephard

ORIGINAL: Cassiewith2dogs

okay well I'm stumped![&:][8|]

Me too!! Although I do think lack of mental stimulation may be playing a large role. It may be something we just have to deal with until the fall though... my mom gets sick in the heat, so asking her to walk him twice a day is out of the question when its 100 degrees outside. He has tons of toys and now my 2 dogs to play with, but thats probably not nearly enough for an active intelligent GSD brain.

Anybody have any suggestions on what kind of "job" I could teach this dog in 2 weeks??

Well I'm working with Sophie on target training. [linkhttp://www.wagntrain.com/Target.htm]http://www.wagntrain.com/Target.htm[/link] the link gives a short description, it doesn't really go into detail. This could be fun for him. Mental stimulation is very important during the hot summer,especially for us because it was 112 the other day here so it was already quite hot early in the morning and late at night. Where I live this is just the beginning last year it reached 117!!!!Why don't your parents work with him and training him tricks.Its fun for the human and dog especially when you use a clicker. Once you get target training down you can teach things like turning on the lights,opening the refrigerator etc. I hope someone else has other ideas.
 

I went on a search for bil-jac yesterday... couldn't find it. Where do you all get it from?

Petco and Petsmart and Pet Supplies Plus carry it here in Michigan, if you find it, try just the regular selects, not the Large Breed, it has more fat.

    Is there a Petsmart in your area; they should carry Bil-Jac. You may also find it at feed stores. What about foods for very active dogs;  Eukanuba Premium Performance Active is an example; [linkID=14]http://us.eukanuba.com/eukanuba/en_US/jsp/Euk_Page.jsp?pageID=PRDD&ID=14[/link] >http://us.eukanuba.com/eukanuba/en_US/jsp/Euk_Page.jsp?pageID=PRDD&ID=14]http://us.eukanuba.com/eukanuba/en_US/jsp/Euk_Page.jsp?pageID=PRDD&ID=14[/link]  They have extra protein and fat.
   Have your parents tried adding a little human food as a topper, like a scrambled egg?
 
    Jessie is part GSD and has several small jobs like calling the family to dinner, helping DH take out the trash (she's expected to accompany him outside unless it's raining hard), bring in toys that she leaves in the yard,  finding our cat out in the yard and herding her inside, etc.  I'll bet it wouldn't take more than a few days to teach him a job if he pays attention, and as the examples show, a "job" doesn't have to be complicated.  When Jessie went through obedience training, she learned every lesson the first evening.  It shouldn't take more than a few days to teach him  to sit and wave before he's fed.
  

There aren't any petsmarts in the area, but they are building one, so Bil-Jac may be an option for the future. I'll see if I can find somewhere that carries the Eukanuba. Its only a little higher in protein and fat, and the kcal/cup is actually lower, but its definately a worthwhile option if we can get him to eat it. Ideally I'd like him to eat kibble without toppers, and the toppers seem to make him even less interested in food, and he tends to pick the toppers out. This morning I put the Iams gravy on the food, and he would take a mouthful of food, spit it out on the ground, and lick the gravy off. 

He measures approximately 34 inches at the shoulders. Its a rough estimate as this dog doesn't know how to hold still, but I think you get the idea that he's abnormally large for a GSD.

ORIGINAL: Misskiwi67

That's the Shaquille O'Neal of GSDs!  That is Great Dane sized. 

ORIGINAL: DakotasDoode

He measures approximately 34 inches at the shoulders. Its a rough estimate as this dog doesn't know how to hold still, but I think you get the idea that he's abnormally large for a GSD.

ORIGINAL: Misskiwi67

That's the Shaquille O'Neal of GSDs!  That is Great Dane sized. 

Yes, he is!!! Even if I was off by a few inches (very possible in either direction), he would still be a HUGE shephard. In the original photo, he is sitting next to my 40 lb shar-pei mix... and he dwarfs my 70 lb boxer mix as well...

i have a 2 year old skinny shepherd as well. He's definitely not muscular. however, he has been gaining weight over the past few months. He's at about 90 lbs. He also is not a huge fan of eating. I put hot water in his food to moisten it- i feel like it almost hurts his teeth to crunch kibble! try some evo 95% canned--my dogs go nutso for it. The only kibble kaiser really likes is innova evo or solid gold wolfking.
 
i do think the shep may need some mental stimulation as well. kaiser loves it when i tell him to go pick a certain toy out of his toy boy, or to "attack" wyatt.
 
here's my skinny boy, but he can run like the wind!
 

i have a 2 year old skinny shepherd as well. He's definitely not muscular. however, he has been gaining weight over the past few months.  He's at about 90 lbs.

ORIGINAL: RidgebackGermansShep

Your dog must be really tall also.  My dog doesn't look as thin as yours (though she's not at all fat and loves to run) but is about 35 lbs lighter! 

I also have a 2yr old under weight shepherd...I would not call her skinny..but my vet said she needs to gain weight she is 64lbs...She is not interested in eating either..I have to bribe her just lately....she was eating Innova....and I changed her over to Evo red meat....she isn't even interested in that....So I don't know what to try next...it's getting very frustrating

So I don't know what to try next...it's getting very frustrating

ORIGINAL: Cazzy

My dog never hesitates to eat but I usually give her some type of broth and often a little leftover, non-fatty meat with her kibble (in the evening).  The biggest meal she gets is breakfast (which my wife handles) and it is only 1 cup of kibble but with only broth or water.  I then give her a 1/2 cup before and 1/2 cup after our 1 hour walk.
 
I often give her a small afternoon snack.

kaiser is about 27 inches at his shoulder. he's really long though! this is him about a week ago-really seems to be getting bigger. This dog runs non-stop.
 

 
and here's a size comparison--i'm about 5'5 or 5'6"...
 

cazzy-something else i do for kaiser is give him some of whatever i eat for dinner. He loves corn and peas, etc. i just stir in whatever i had for dinner and he wolfs it down. My mom has a beagle who wont eat, so she breaks up her favorite cookies and stirs them in with the kibble.
 
kaiser also always eats in a hurry when wyatt sniffs at his food, wanting some,  lol.

Bnaturals latest newsletter's Topic is "inappetance". I've got it in my inbox,but i dont know how to link it to a post here?? I think the info it contains is perfect for your moms dog misskiwi.
I could copy and paste it,but not sure if it's too long.If anyones interested let me know and i'll try to copy it and post it here.

Yes, please do!! Even if it takes multiple posts I'd love to see it!