# Can't keep weight on Jackson



## Susan (Mar 11, 2007)

I have been feeding Jackson Fromm's Duck and Sweet Potatoe since he was a puppy. He's now 1 year old. His coat looks fine and he loves the food but he's just way too thin. Initially, we found out he had worms, so after being treated for that, we thought his weight would pick up. It didn't. After feeding way, way more than the bag recommended, he gained some weigh but not enough. I had him neutered yesterday and he only weighed 58 pounds. They rechecked for worms and that was negative. He's a big boy, quite long in body length, and seems healthy except that he's way too thin. (The attached picture doesn't really show this). 

My questions are these. I know Fromm's is a very high quality dog food. Do some dogs just not do good on a particular food no matter how high quality?
Should I switch to another food and does anyone have a recommendation for a food to try. I also need to add that I switched to Fromm's initially because he has trouble with allergies. We thought at first it might be food allergies but now I think it's seasonal because his ear problems cleared up during the winter but now they are back even though he is still on the Fromm's. 

Should I just stick with the Fromm's and keep increasing the amount I feed until he puts on the weight no matter how much I have to feed? Thanks.

Susan


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

Susan said:


> I have been feeding Jackson Fromm's Duck and Sweet Potatoe since he was a puppy. He's now 1 year old. His coat looks fine and he loves the food but he's just way too thin. Initially, we found out he had worms, so after being treated for that, we thought his weight would pick up. It didn't. After feeding way, way more than the bag recommended, he gained some weigh but not enough. I had him neutered yesterday and he only weighed 58 pounds. They rechecked for worms and that was negative. He's a big boy, quite long in body length, and seems healthy except that he's way too thin. (The attached picture doesn't really show this).
> 
> My questions are these. I know Fromm's is a very high quality dog food. Do some dogs just not do good on a particular food no matter how high quality?
> Should I switch to another food and does anyone have a recommendation for a food to try. I also need to add that I switched to Fromm's initially because he has trouble with allergies. We thought at first it might be food allergies but now I think it's seasonal because his ear problems cleared up during the winter but now they are back even though he is still on the Fromm's.
> ...


Beautiful pictures.
My younger Golden weighed 105 pounds when I adopted her. She was on Prescription Dog food for months. Why can't you do the reverse and have another Prescription dog food to GAIN weight? I strongly suggest that you speak to the Vet about this,


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Jackson*

Jackson looks wonderful to me.
Hopefully others on this forum will be able to address the food you are feeding.

My main question is: DOES THE VET think he's TOO THIN!?
If the vet isn't concerned then I wouldn't be.

I suppose it could be a thyroid problem. Has Jackson been tested for that.

Some dogs just stay slender and some have a tendency to put on weight-just like people.


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

Karen makes a lot of sense.


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## Susan (Mar 11, 2007)

Jackson has been to the vet and they also think he is too thin. There advice is to feed more food. I guess my concern is that I am having to feed such an enormous amount to try and get his weight up and I just wondered if there was another food I could try and not have to feed so much at each meal.


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

I am glad you love Therapy dogs.
I have two Therapy dogs plus two Therapy cats.

Why not ask this specific question to the Vet?


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## Blondie (Oct 10, 2009)

I read somewhere around here, maybe it was Betty and the Dallas Crew that mentioned about Trippet's Tripe(not sure of the spelling), was a good supplement. Also in the food section awhile back there was a recipe for treats or something that helped with weight gain. Good luck.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

I agree that tripe and treats may be the answer or add Dogzyme's Digestive Enhancer to aid better digestion of his food.

If you are feeding WAY over the manufacturer's recommended amount (and they usually recommend too much) I would be worried about bloat.

If thyroid and other blood tests are normal, maybe he just tends toward thin. Wish I did!


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Most dogs will continue to fill out at 1 year old. Many people are so used to seeing obese dogs that a dog in good condition is looked at as being too thin ( just like our human population). You should see a definite waist line and be able to feel ribs. I'll post the chart Hank has shared.



> Originally Posted by *AmbikaGR*
> _This one has the explanation of the views also. They are both from purina's website (Body Condition Chart)
> 
> *Understanding Your Dog's Body Condition*
> ...


All that being said, Fromm duck is not a super high calorie food, with under 400 cals/ cup. The pork version has a few more calories, as does the salmon. Also, adding some tripe to his kibble is an excellent way to add some more cals and is very healthy for them.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

How tall is he at the shoulder...?
Stand him next to a wall ...try to make sure his feet are planted squarely under him and that he is not stretched out or hunched up...
Place a pencil over the highest point of his shoulder blades...trying to keep the pencil level...mark the wall.
Then move him away from the wall and measure from the floor to your pencil mark


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## Cathy's Gunner (Dec 4, 2008)

Do you know the weight of his mother and father? My Gunner is 21 months old and only 56 lbs. He doesn't look skinny. My vet loves his weight. His mom is 55 lbs. and father between 65-70 lbs. Gunner actually looks very athletic. I feed him 2 cups a day of Kumpi and he gets plain yogurt and a few treats made by Zukes, daily.


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## Abbydabbydo (Jan 31, 2007)

Abby weighed 50 pounds at a year and now, fully grown, weighs 58 pounds. I would not feed huge amounts of dog food, it will just go right through him. Does he get a lot of exercise? I will be curious to hear how tall he is.


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

My dad's golden was the same way and once he hit about 18 months, he really filled out.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I honestly don't think he looks too thin. You don't want a heavy dog and 58 pounds doesn't sound too small to me at all. It's so much better to keep them lean. As long as you can feel his ribs, but not see them, you're in good shape. I'm very surprised that your vet thought he was underweight. Most vets are probably just so used to seeing so many overweight retrievers. As someone else said, I would be EXTREMELY worried about bloat if you're feeding a huge amount of food. We feed Fromm Duck & Sweet Potato and our two boys just get 2 cups a day and their weights are perfect. I see by your ticker that he's about 11 months old. Remember, he's still filling out. Goldens usually don't finish filling out until they are around 2 years old and some take even longer. Also keep in mind that he hasn't had his rib spring yet, so he's going to look a little thin anyway. If I can remember that far back, I think Tucker was barely over 60 pounds when he was that age. He's now between 68 and 70. With the Fromm, I wouldn't feed more than 2-3 cups a day. You're really putting him at a high risk for bloat by feeding him that much, and bloat can be deadly to dogs.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

If you decide to try to put weight on him, try Innova EVO red meat. High quality food with tons of calories. I think it's 527 cals/cup so just two cups a day will give him over 1000 cals. That way you're not stuffing him with four cups of 325 cals/cup type kibble. 

Ranger was on the EVO and did great on it back when we could exercise. Even with 2 - 3 hour walks a day, 45 min of rollerblading 3 times a week and weekend hikes of 6-8 hours a day, he was still maintaining his weight with just 2 cups of EVO a day. His coat gleamed, his poops were solid, small, and regular and though he wasn't bouncing-off-the-roof crazy, he still had tons of energy and stamina.

If you discuss with your vet and decide to try to put weight on, I think EVO would be a great choice. Tons of cals in a high quality food so you're not feeding a crazy amount.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Some dogs just tend to be very rangy. Carmella was SOOO thin the first 4, 5 years of her life. I looked at a photo of her recently where she was around 1 year old and she literally looked like a greyhound wearing a golden retriever fur coat. But, over the years, she filled out and weighed around 60lbs in her senior years.

I think Jackson looks good!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I also don't think he looks too thin - I know it can be hard to tell from pictures though.

My Faelan weighed about 58# at a year and he is over 23 inches tall. At slightly over 2 years he weighed just enough to meet standard (65#) at his CCA - he is continuing to muscle out and currently weighs 68# at 2 1/2 years.

My other goldens followed the same patterns (depending on height) and ended up at good weights between 2 and 3 years.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

He is a teenager. Many vets like fat dogs too... it's all they ever see!


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

You mentioned you had him neutered yesterday.. you may find that he will put on some pounds now that he's been neutered as that is typically what happens. 

That said, I agree that you should definitely not be feeding a huge amount of food to him for fear of bloat or other digestive issues. Some dogs are just naturally thin... my younger dog is 3 and he has always been very skinny (he's not neutered) at about 55lbs max.


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

FWIW, my local pet store is having a sale on EVO right now. It is worth checking to see if it is a national sale (usually they are).


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## Susan (Mar 11, 2007)

I just wanted to thank everyone for answering my question a while back and to say how sorry I was that I asked the question and then disappeared. A family emergency kept me away from the computer for a while. Anyway, ya'll were right. The last time I went to buy my Fromm's, I took Jackson with me. The woman I buy it from has shown dogs for years and she said the same thing a lot of ya'll did---Jackson was not too thin and that most people were used to seeing overweight dogs. He still looks too thin to me but I'll trust those who know a lot more than I do. The bad thing was that I had just made him some Satin Balls right before talking to her. Jackson went absolutely nuts over them....and now I have to ration them out so he doesn't gain too much weight.

I will also share something interesting that happened while I was there. A woman with a golden retriever came up and petted Jackson. She went on and on about how good his coat looked and felt and she wanted to know why her dog's coat was nothing like that. The owner asked her what she fed her dog and she named a very, very cheap grocery store food. Now I certainly don't know for sure what caused the difference but I like to think it's the Fromm's.


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## Luna2 (Dec 24, 2007)

I love Fromms,but my very thin lab foster has to eat acout 6 cups to maintain as well...just not enough calories...you could try adding a little evo in with the fromms..my other dogs do great on it..the pork and applesauce has the most calories..still not enough for the lab.


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## Susan (Mar 11, 2007)

Luna2 said:


> you could try adding a little evo in with the fromms..


Do you mix the Fromm's with canned or dry Evo? Jackson acts like he is starving all the time. One thing he is DEFINITELY NOT is a picky eater! Right now he is happily in his crate with his frozen banana Kong.


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

Is he leaving you big, mountainous poops? If so, he may not be digesting the Duck properly. I had this issue with Gilmour and Chicken. He was not absorbing the nutrients and he was leaving dump-truck sized land minds.

As soon as I took him off chicken and put him on Lamb, and then Duck, everything went back to normal.



Susan said:


> I have been feeding Jackson Fromm's Duck and Sweet Potatoe since he was a puppy. He's now 1 year old. His coat looks fine and he loves the food but he's just way too thin. Initially, we found out he had worms, so after being treated for that, we thought his weight would pick up. It didn't. After feeding way, way more than the bag recommended, he gained some weigh but not enough. I had him neutered yesterday and he only weighed 58 pounds. They rechecked for worms and that was negative. He's a big boy, quite long in body length, and seems healthy except that he's way too thin. (The attached picture doesn't really show this).
> 
> My questions are these. I know Fromm's is a very high quality dog food. Do some dogs just not do good on a particular food no matter how high quality?
> Should I switch to another food and does anyone have a recommendation for a food to try. I also need to add that I switched to Fromm's initially because he has trouble with allergies. We thought at first it might be food allergies but now I think it's seasonal because his ear problems cleared up during the winter but now they are back even though he is still on the Fromm's.
> ...


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

Gilmour is 65-67 pounds at 19 months and his weight is perfect.



cathyjobray said:


> Do you know the weight of his mother and father? My Gunner is 21 months old and only 56 lbs. He doesn't look skinny. My vet loves his weight. His mom is 55 lbs. and father between 65-70 lbs. Gunner actually looks very athletic. I feed him 2 cups a day of Kumpi and he gets plain yogurt and a few treats made by Zukes, daily.


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## Susan (Mar 11, 2007)

NuttinButGoldens said:


> Is he leaving you big, mountainous poops?


Oh my goodness. This describes exactly what is happening. Also, as gross as it sounds, I am having a terrible problem with him wanting to eat what he just eliminated.:yuck:

Do you have any suggestions on what I might try that would be easier for him to digest? I have been feeding him Duck and Sweet Potato until this last bag and they were out so I bought the Whitefish and Potato. If he's not digesting the food, that may explain why he acts like he is always starving.


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## Susan (Mar 11, 2007)

*Update*

I thought I would give an update on Jackson in case this helps anyone else that might come along with a golden that won't gain weight. This may not always be the solution but it certainly was for us. 

Because I love Fromm's foods so much, I first tried all the different types of Four-Star foods but Jackson seemed to get thinner and thinner. He also acted like he was starving all the time. After reading NuttinButGoldens's response, I thought this sounded like exactly what was wrong -- Jackson was not digesting his food. I decided to try California Natural, which has a lower protein percentage, and see if there was any change. Almost immediately Jackson started filling out. He now looks like a healthy dog. I guess the Fromm's was just too rich for his system. Jasmine did great on Fromm's but I switched her to California Natural as well since she has a problem with allergies. She's doing great on the new food too. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner but I still think Fromm's is a great food!


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Susan said:


> I thought I would give an update on Jackson in case this helps anyone else that might come along with a golden that won't gain weight. This may not always be the solution but it certainly was for us.
> 
> Because I love Fromm's foods so much, I first tried all the different types of Four-Star foods but Jackson seemed to get thinner and thinner. He also acted like he was starving all the time. After reading NuttinButGoldens's response, I thought this sounded like exactly what was wrong -- Jackson was not digesting his food. I decided to try California Natural, which has a lower protein percentage, and see if there was any change. Almost immediately Jackson started filling out. He now looks like a healthy dog. I guess the Fromm's was just too rich for his system. Jasmine did great on Fromm's but I switched her to California Natural as well since she has a problem with allergies. She's doing great on the new food too. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner but I still think Fromm's is a great food!


We are having a very similar issue with our boys and Fromm. I absolutely love the Fromm company, but we just can't keep any weight on them, even at 4+ cups a day. We have been feeding the duck formula since last April. The only place around here that sells Fromm just sells the duck formula and they only keep a limited amount in stock. Last week, DH stopped to pick up a new bag of Fromm on his way to work and they were totally out and didn't expect to get any in for a few more days. We were running pretty low on food, so we couldn't wait that long. We ended up getting a bag of Pro Plan salmon formula to tide us over. The boys have been eating that for a few days now with no problems at all and they seem to really like it. I'm actually curious to see if they will put some weight back on, so we are going to finish the 33-pound bag. I did call the place we have been buying Fromm from and they said that they could special order a different Fromm formula for us, so we are considering trying the Fromm 4-star salmon formula. However, if they do really well on the Pro Plan, we may just stick with that. We do like to keep our boys on the lean side, but they just look plain skinny on the Fromm, and I don't like feeding 4 cups a day. They are currently eating 2-1/2 cups a day of the Pro Plan since it's higher in calories. It's a very frustrating situation to say the least.


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## Susan (Mar 11, 2007)

For the longest time, I was also feeding Duck and Sweet Potato. I contacted Fromm's and described what was happening with Jackson. I asked them what other food I should try. They suggested that I switch him to the Surf & Turf formula. I did this for quite a while and he still didn't gain weight. In fact, he seemed to be getting skinner. I'm like you. I love Fromm's and I think it is a wonderful dog food. Looking back, I know now I should have switched much sooner but I hated to leave the Fromm's company because I trust it so much. Finally one day I read a post on this forum about someone that switched to CN Lamb and Rice and what a difference it made. We only have one place around me that sells CN and they only had the herring and sweet potato. I bought that and I'm still feeding it. My dogs love it and Jackson is finally looking like the beautiful boy I knew he would. Good luck with your dogs. Believe me, I do know how frustrating it is!


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

We also had issues with Fromms Duck and Sweet Potato formula. I'm glad you found a solution with the new kibble!


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## King Chase (Aug 20, 2010)

We were having the same problem with Chase on the Duck & Sweet Potato. We switched to the Beef Frittata around Thanksgiving and Chase has been filling out some.


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