Need help getting my dog to quit looking like i starve her!!

Be VERY careful in switching a dog to a rich food such as Innova from what she's eating now. It is a VERY rich food and utterly different from what she's used to, take the transition very slowly.

OR, switch to a higher quality bland food for a few weeks, i.e. California Natural puppy food, let her system slowly adjust to richer, but bland food, then add in the Innova if you want to.

This is exactly what I'm having to do. We adopted a 6mnth old golden rtrvr 4 weeks ago that was brought up on Pedigree, with the first 2 ingredients being corn and wheat. Dog had SEVERE allergies to the food, ear & skin infections, foster mom never thought twice about the problem though.

I've tried other foods; i.e. Innova, Canidae, finally settling on California Natural for now, as we work on calming his system completely down for now with the mildest of ingredients.

I do feed him other things though; i..e canned salmon, vegetables, home cooked turkey, fruits, etc.

In another few weeks, I may try adding in another dog food with a few more ingredients to see where we stand. I just wanted his itching & infections to cease as quickly as possible for his own comfort.

 Well I have just bought a big 50 lbs bag of proplan so I will mix that in with the higher better quality food.

Yes she is very active and is always ready to be on the move.I ride a bike 4 miles a day with her running ahead of me like it's nothing.And I feed her 3 times a day so she isnt hungry all the time. 

My dog in the picture, Inga, is 6 years old and always looked like I starved her even though she was fed twice as much as my 75 lb male.  If she skips a meal, you can see her ribs and her spine sticks out. After 5 years and 4 different foods, I finally found that Canidae All Life Stages put weight on her and she looked much healthier. Canidae is very inexpensive for good quality food (I paid $29.99 for 40 lb. bag today). You can usually find it at an independent pet supply store or at a feed store. There is a store locator at their website www.canidae.com. Just be careful not to overfeed, because it has higher calories per cup than a lot of Purina-type foods.

I also will rotate with Timberwolf Wild & Natural grain-free. It's more expensive, but higher protein which is good for older dogs and dogs with arthritis. She also puts on weight with this formula.

If you really need to put weight on a dog try Eaglepack Power Pack. Tons of fat and empty calories from corn. Bil-jac is also rumored to be good for adding weight, but it has some questionable ingredients.

Anyway, I doubt your dog is "underweight". Many adolescent dogs are skinny and look like bags of bones-- it's normal and healthy. I'd much rather see an adolescent dog with hips and ribs visible than a well-fleshed adolescent dog. As the dog matures he naturally puts on muscle and bulk and will look much nicer. Just give him another year or two.

 I agree with Mudpuppy.  Let people think you starve her.  You know its not true.  A starving dog is lethargic for one thing.  Irish setters are not built like labs, so if that is the body type people are looking for, educate them.  Don't just try to conform. Find some Setter people to hang out with to make yourself feel more comfortable with her adolescent body type, but fattening up a dog that is not underweight is, in my opinion, not a good idea.  Adding just a couple of pounds to a frame that she naturally carries lighter can cause problems.
 

 Well thanks for the advice guys.Greatly appreciate it.

Wasn't really worried other people thinking I starved her cuz I know I dont.It's just that I am very interested in trying to show her and was just hoping I was feeding her the right stuff and that she was looking like she is supposed to at her age. 

I have noticed she isnt gassy anymore since I have had her on Proplan and her coat is coming in quickly.Gonna try this Proplan for a while until I get to a store that sells the foods you all have suggested.Those stores are about 2 hours away.But it'll be worth it if it helps Lillie be at her best. 

 Inga sounds like my Lillie.She skips a meal and it's like she loses 5 pounds.Lillie will be 1 next month but still has another year of maturing and I was just wanting to make sure she was on the right track.Thanks for the advice.

Inga started on Iams from the breeder, then to Pedigree, Eukanuba and Wellness. She went from vomiting her food often, to eating grass and vomiting yellow bile on the Wellness. Talk about a skinny dog! But part of it is her build, she is tall and lanky for a boxer, never outgrew her puppy face and is just very high-strung with a high metabolism. Canidae is the first food that filled her out. I also think she had a grain sensitivity (barley?) because she stopped the vomiting and grass-eating on Canidae. Like I said, she also gets the Timberwolf grain-free and that is high protein and high calorie and she does well with that too. I also feed a heaping spoonful of canned every meal for variety. I like the Evangers canned because it's mostly meat, water & vitamins, not a lot of rice and filler. 

If you're planning on showing your dog, I would look into the Canidae or Timberwolf, as my dogs have never been so soft and shiny as they've been on these foods (but that's just my experience).

kle1986

.Lillie will be 1 next month but still has another year of maturing and I was just wanting to make sure she was on the right track.

She's got longer than that! IMO, dogs look their best between 3 and 5. They haven't fully filled out until then, and their coats are the nicest around that time.

I think you should show her skinny and set a trend I take my skinny dog into the ring, but she's not a conformation dog, LOL. I do get funny looks at dog shows, but that could be the Poodle puff on my PRT's tail....

kle1986

 Well I have just bought a big 50 lbs bag of proplan so I will mix that in with the higher better quality food.

I'm with mrv, are you sure she's "too skinny"?  I've got a female shepherd and you can see her ribs (as well as her muscles).  Some people comment on how skinny she is, but shepherd people and people that do dog sports like agility comment on her beautiful fit condition, how athletic she is, and how easy she moves.  She is 54 lbs and eats 2 cups of food a day (with a few toppers).  Any more than that, and she stops eating.  The past few days I've been trying to giver her a little more and each time, there is food left in the bowl.  I was joking the other day with another shepherd person, when the vets tell us our dogs are too skinny, we know they are in fit shepherd condition!

She eats Nature's Variety Pairie Chicken and Solid Gold Barking At The Moon. 

There are lots of food options out there.  There are a number of top winning dogs on purina products.  There are also plenty out there on other foods as well.  I would suggest you get on an Irish Setter discussion list.  Be prepared, some of the breed specific lists can be vicious, however, most of the knowledge base is in the heads of those people.  Subscribe to the Irish Setter club magazine or newletter.  There are some supplements folks swear by and others who preach no supplements.  Find knowledgable mentors in your breed, they will be more likley to offer advice that has been successful in the specifics for the development and presentation of a show dog.

 I have tried any number of foods with good results on Flint River, Solid Gold and (horrors) ProPlan Sensitive Skin and Stomach.  I had poor results with Inova (too rich), and which eventually became a problem with my older dogs on Flint River.  Going slowly with your existing food and adding different foods for evaluation is not going to harm your dog.

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 Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can speak to its suitability for puppies and/or show dogs, but my BF's boxer put weight on really nicely with Timberwolf's Wild 'n Natural. (Of course, it was also the first grain-free food that we'd tried, and we are relatively sure he's allergic to rice - we think his inability to digest his previous foods was a major reason he was so skinny.) The boxer put the weight on relatively gradually and looks great now. :)