How can I get my staffy to put on more weight?

Just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to get my boy Henry to put on more weight and muscle? He is a young dog (19 months), neutered and active, but he is currently getting fed the same amount as my 32kg dog when he is only 16kg which seems ridiculus! My vet has looked him over and said he is in perfect health - but I still think he is a bit lean as you can feel his ribs easily and see them when he is running or panting. He is currently getting fed Working Dog kibble or Nutrience Active kibble (I alternate them every month or so) mixed with a lump of dog roll to add more fat.

One food product I havent tried yet is Eukanuba's special Staffordshire Bull Terrier food - has anyone here tried it with their dogs? The only thing that it has put me off so far is the reduced fat contact due to most staffords having the oppersite problem of putting on weight!

you have a 32kg staff ????? my dog is around 18kg my bitch is around 15 kg .

breed standard for staffs is around 18 kg for dogs and around 15 kg for bitches..

If you really need to put weight on try some green tripe. It soon packs on the pounds.

BUT, if he's healthy & active, he probably doesn't need to put weight on. Some dogs are just naturally lean.

I like to keep my dogs lean anyway you can just see the last one or two ribs on my lad but i wouldn't want him to put anymore weight on plus he has a good muscle tone

KClub dogs must be small Olly weighs 22 kilos ,both his parents were kc reg and they were about the same ,who decides these standards

You want to put him a raw diet up his exercise you will soon see a differance..

Try rice mixed with tinned stewing steak or oily fish, every other day for a while

Max is naturally lean and ginetically muscular, he's never been a big eater but as others have said I keep my dogs lean and fit anyway (not keen on the smooth look, I like to see some muscle definition )

he currently stands between 18-19 inches, weigh's around 22-23kgs and you can see a couple of ribs at this weight

That is one big boy !!!!! I think your boy is absolutly fine you cant change genetics too much be happy he is healthy and happy the last 2 ribs showing is good shows his spring of rib he should have what is termed as a tuck up and a defined waist to be in tip top form

you have a 32kg staff ????? my dog is around 18kg my bitch is around 15 kg .

breed standard for staffs is around 18 kg for dogs and around 15 kg for bitches

Henry is 16kg - its my Pit Bull cross that is 32kg (he's about the size of a labrador). There is just such a huge size difference it seems crazy to be feeding them the same amount as Henry is so small in comparison.

Thanks for the advice guys. Its just been embarasing coz I've had a couple of people say his is too skinny including a fellow staffy owner and I think he could do with puting on a bit more. He is very active though - he gets a 30min run around at the river with the other dogs in the morning before I go to work, then about an hours walk at night. Plus if its raining and he is just about bouncing off the walls I put him on the treadmill!

My vet has just sent me 2 'buy one get one free' vouchers for the Eukanuba's Stafford food which was good timing so I will try him on that and see how he goes - plus maybe try him on some raw meat and tripe.
Unfortunately I have to be so careful with what I give him as he eats like a vacuum cleaner to the point where he choked and collapsed one day coz he didnt chew his kibble I've only just progresed to getting him eating out of a bowl again as for a while i HAD to chuck his food out over the ground so he was forced to eat the kibble biscuits one by one!

Have you ever tried him on rice and meat ? ... the complex carbs in rice is a good healthy way to pack on a few pounds ... got any pics showing your concerns ?

He is not a fan of rice unfortunately and will pick the meat out and spit the grains of rice everywhere! I might try it again though but perhaps if I put it all through the blender first maybe he will eat it.

Y'know, I just had a look at the pic of Henry with Bull (gorgeous boy, by the way) & to be honest he looks absolutely fine to me!

THanks Caryll. Unfortunately the photo of Henry and Bull was taken a while ago when he was about 10 months old, he is now almost 20 months.

got any pics showing your concerns ?

Heres a couple of pix I've just taken:

Hmmmm. Yes, I'd say he's a little under.

The vet says he's fine, though, so it's just a matter of finding the right type of food for him. If you can get green tripe, then believe me, it'll put weight on. Feed it raw, though, if you can. Cooking removes a lot of the nutrients & it'll stink to high heaven!

He does look a little under weight in those pics, can you see/feel his spine, or is it hidden by muscle ?

this is the way I have always evaluated a staff's flesh/muscle coverage ... Max has times when he looks VERY lean, but you can never even feel his spine if you press your finger down his back let alone see it .. if you can, then I would agree he is under.

Have you tried putting some stock or gravy with the rice and meat and mix it well ? Max will pick the meat out if he can, so I cut it so fine he cant, or try minced .. it really is like super fuel if ya can get them to eat it !

green tripe is very good as Caryll says, I used to feed my BT on it, and yes, it stinks high heaven, its foul stuff but they love it I bought an old freezer out of the local rag, and kept it in the garage for the tripe, then used an old saucepen and a camping stove outside to defost it each day (you dont want that sh!t in the house believe me )

Looks a little thin but mine is pretty muscular and only weighs just under 18kg. Depending on position etc, they can look thin though if they are naturally lean. Here are some (all the same dog and weight but differnt poses look different).









It can also depend on how and when you feed. Some of the thinner looking photos are right before dinner (he eats once a day raw in the early evening). If you want to build muscle then you are going to have to do things like spring pole, running, tug and feed lots of protein (like any body building). FYI mine is about exactly the same age as yours.

Do you know what his parents were like because genetics are a major factor.
I like mine just a tad heavier but he is obviously in very fit condition and just maybe be late developing his ribcage if that was more heavier then he would be lovely and he has still time to develop yet.
His waist and back end is great that is how a stafford should look well defind if he were mine I wouldnt be too worried he is still adolesence and growing

My only worry is that I can see his spine in the pics, and I personally don'y like to see that in a dog. It could just be his age, and if he's healthy & lively it isn't a problem.

If he continues to lose weight, though, there could be an underlying problem such as an inability to digest food properly (don't worry, that can be addressed with careful feeding). Just try the foods sugested & see if they help & keep an eye on him.

My only worry with Henry, is not the pics, but the fact he is eating as much as a dog twice his weight, and stayin that lean ??? that just dosent sound right whichever way you look at it

Andy wrote:My only worry with Henry, is not the pics, but the fact he is eating as much as a dog twice his weight, and stayin that lean ??? that just dosent sound right whichever way you look at it

Hmmm. His metabolism could be faster, or he may use up more energy than the other dog (nervous energy/play). But no, I don't think it's right mainly because he wasn't always that lean. I would suspect some sort of intolerance, or an inability to absorb the food properly.

Henry was always pretty chunky as a pup but has got leaner as he is maturing. I don't think its genetics as his father had a very solid build - he was really short but stocky and built like a tank. Having said that I didnt met his mother though, and Henry is already bigger than his father and he was pick of the litter.

You can see his ribs now and feel his spine down his lower back which you shouldnt be able to do. My biggest fear is always cancer but then there are alot of other reasons too so I shouldnt be worrying myself! I don't think he has a food intolerance though as he has been feed the same food for ages now with no problems.

Henry is about as active as the other dog Bull so that shouldnt make a difference. Infact the heats getting to them atm so they arnt doing much during the day. I'm going to get a springpole set up for him and get a backpack for when we are walking to hopefully build that muscle up.

I have got him the special Staffordshire Bull Terrier food from the vets today so I will switch him to that. I have also brought some raw mince so will give him that for breakfast with rice and the dry at night.

Henry last saw the vets two months ago and is due to see them again at the end of this month for his annual health check and vaccinations. I guess I will soon see if the change in diet makes any difference and if not the vet will be seeing him soon.

My pixee is underweight, we have brought her from a Blue cross yesterday, she is only 10kg. We have been told she can get nervous and then loses weight, plus she is full of engry too. Each time we went to see her, she really took to us on day 1, but took ages to relax her, day two, she ran to us, generally she wont do that unless she trusts you. And from that day, she got more relaxed with us. The suprising thing is, we were told maybe to keep her downstairs to sleep as she does rid her bedding up when stressed, but we could see how relaxed she was around us, so we took her bed up to the landing, right outside our bedroom door, and boy did she relax and sleep. Was so pleased about that. I suppose if they are stressed, nervous and just full of engry they could lose weight, so long as theres nothing else untoward to worry about.

Just thought I'd give an update - Henry has put on half a kilo in a week since the change in diet so it looks like it was the food that was the problem.

I've looked at the ingredients of the old and new foods and the main differenceis that the old one contained mainly beef and the new one is chicken and turkey - perhaps it was the beef that was the problem?

A pound in a week's not bad I guess, its a step in the right direction

What brand is the staffy food you mentioned ?

Andy wrote: What brand is the staffy food you mentioned ?

Its Eukanuba's Staffordshire Bull Terrier food. Its one of their recently releases as part of their new 'breed specific' diets range. Our vets have just run a special on it and staffy owners have gone crazy buying it apparently - so far so good its seems to be really good stuff.

starling89 wrote:

Andy wrote: What brand is the staffy food you mentioned ?

Its Eukanuba's Staffordshire Bull Terrier food. Its one of their recently releases as part of their new 'breed specific' diets range. Our vets have just run a special on it and staffy owners have gone crazy buying it apparently - so far so good its seems to be really good stuff.

Thanks for that, I'll check it out in case Max goes off his current dry food at some point

starling89 wrote:

Andy wrote: What brand is the staffy food you mentioned ?

Its Eukanuba's Staffordshire Bull Terrier food. Its one of their recently releases as part of their new 'breed specific' diets range. Our vets have just run a special on it and staffy owners have gone crazy buying it apparently - so far so good its seems to be really good stuff.

Vlad has it too, as well as his roo meat and eggs... he has no scrap of fat on him, but he looks nice and lean, but muscly at the same time... if that makes any sense! I would say he weighs between 15 and 20Kg now... he's a big boy.

I recommend a high protein diet. This is what my friend did with his american staffordshire terrier to gain weight.

A high protein diet I think is good but be careful, if you are feeding the same amount as your other dog and the food has high protein content, the younger one will lose weight. Excess protein that doesn't get used up will be excreted and the dog will loose weight. Poo watch is fantastic, poos should be firm and knotty. If they are anything but this, then you are feeding too much