Skinny Puppy... :(

[Exotica]

Dogbert is too skinny. He is .5lb under the minimum weight for his breed *lhasa apso* and I can feel every bone in his little body. I don't like this at all, it's not snuggly or pleasing to pet... the vet said she'd rather see him underweight a little than over weight, but I've had it up to here ^ with him being so thin. He can gain up to 4 whole lbs before he's even out of his weight limit...

another thing, it really makes me sad knowing that people look at my dog and thing "this dog is sickly." So... I'm on a mission to fatten him up...

any ideas?

[DirtySouthChins]

How old is he? I know from my experience puppies can appear to be skinny as they grow through their spurts.
As for dogs, we have always used rice, boiled chicken, and eggs as a high protein diet for the strays that we have fostered tha were way on the skinny side. Now the only problem with this diet is converting them back to their normal food, after food like that they don't want to easily take to plain dog food anymore, hmm wonder why?
I'm sure other's will have a better formula for you, that is just what we give our malnurished foster's over here, because of the lack of resources.
Hang in there, I'm sure you'll find the answers your searching for on here

[Formula86]

just feed dogbert a whole watermelon all at the same time. don't cut it up. then he'll be big and round!! i'm JUST JOKING!!! please don't really do this! just had to get a little laugh in there.
don't worry - he'll fatten up. you are a good doggy mommy and he'll be just fine.

[pihlaja]

Kim had some good suggestions, and you can also try plain yogurt and buttermilk and maybe some oil mixed in his food (this also benefits in helping the coat). Also, temporarily switching to a dog food with higher protein can help, too.

If you vet ruled out any illnesses that could be causing him to be underweight, then it's just a matter of increasing the protein in his diet and monitoring how much he is eating (is he eating enough).

If you feel he's not eating enough, then exercising him more can increase his appetite.

That said, all you can do is put more protein in his diet, give him a little more exercise, and have patience. It takes a while for a dog to gain weight (trust me, I know--our Kirby has been underweight since MAY and is JUST NOW starting to gain some weight back).

Keep us updated on Dogbert's progress and good luck.

[Exotica]

He eats Nutro naturals Lamb & Rice. He eats Nutro Max Biscuits, three per day, and also gets a hand full of some junk treats during his training sessions every day.

[HeartSong]

How long has he been underweight? It could just be the heat of the summertime that makes him not want to eat a lot. Does he eat all the food you feed him or does he leave some in his bowl? If he eats it all, try giving more. The recommened feeding guide doesn't fit every individual. If he leaves it then he might just be bored with eating. You can make up games where the prize is food. Hide food around and let him search it out and eat it when he finds it. There are plenty of toys where you can put food inside and he has to roll it around or something to get it out. There are also special kinds of dog foods and dietary suppliments out there designed to make a dog gain weight.

[Chinchilla_Girl]

Nutro is and excellent feed, but I would recommend switching him over to Nutro MAX...The reason I say this is that we do pitbull rescue and have had great success in putting healthy pounds on underweight dogs...many of the rescues are high active as well and the MAX helps them to keep up with the calories they are burning...Your poocher may just have a high metabolism and need something with a little more protein and Nutro MAX works very well...when he gets up to a healthier weight, you can start to switch him back to Nutro Natural...if he starts losing again, stick to the MAX.
Just what works for us with the rescues...switching from Nutro Natural to Nutro Max and back is much easier than switching other dog foods (gas and poop-wise) Remember to switch slowly though, over the course of about 2 weeks