How to add Healthy Weight to Your Dog

how to add weight to dogs

Many dog breeders and dog owners run into situations where their dogs lose weight. It’s a very common problem. Especially with rescue dogs. The solution, in most cases, is simply to increase their calorie intake.

However, it’s important that you choose the right source of calories. Otherwise, you can do more harm to your dog than good.

What are some of the most common reasons your dog loses weight?

Pregnancy and nursing (the growing pups are taking away nutrients from the mother)
Malnourishment (your dog isn’t eating enough healthy calories)
Climate changes (summer heat)
An increase in their activity level (your dog is burning off more calories than usual)
Dental problems
Depression (common causes: change of ownership, loss of a family member)
Diabetes
Anxiety
Tapeworm or other parasites
Liver Disease

Some Weight gaining products contain unhealthy ingredients and should be avoided

dyne weight gaining supplement for dogs There are many products on that market that are formulated to add weight to dogs. However, the problem with most of these products is that the source of fat is either soybean oil or vegetable oil.

Soybean oil and vegetable oil are high in trans fats. Trans fats can have a very negative impact on your dog’s health.

If you’re unfamiliar with the negative impact soy can have on your dog’s health, we recommend reading this article.

Trans fat intake has been associated with:

Increased risk for heart disease and stroke
Diabetes
Mood changes
Depression
Infertility
Cancer
Aggressive behavior

Feeding your dog weight gaining products that contain trans fats is similar to a person increasing their weight by eating at McDonald’s three times a day. Will you gain weight with a diet like this? Absolutely. However, it will have a very negative effect on your health.

Here’s a list of weight gainers for dogs that contain unhealthy sources of fat / trans fat:

DYNE (#1 ingredient is soybean oil)
High Calorie Nutritional Gel- Nutri-Cal by Tomlyn (#1 ingredient is soybean oil)
MVP K9 Formula MASS Weight Gainer For Dogs (#1 ingredient is vegetable oil)
GNC Pets Ultra Mega High Calorie Booster for Puppies (#1 ingredient is vegetable oil)
Enercal High Calorie Gel (#1 ingredient is soybean oil)

The fastest & healthiest way to add weight to your dog

Through our research, we found one new company that is using fish oil as their main source of fat. Fish oil is does not contain trans fats, is loaded with healthy fats, and has a very positive impact on your dog’s health. The company is Miracle Vet LLC and their product is called Miracle Vet.

What we like about Miracle Vet:

It doesn’t contain trans fats
It doesn’t contain Vegetable oil
It doesn’t contain Soy Bean Oil
It doesn’t contain artificial flavors
It doesn’t contain artificial colors

The benefits of Miracle Vet

Adds healthy weight fast (we’ve seen our dogs gain nearly a pound per day)
Contains a premium source of protein (Whey protein isolate has the highest biological value rating out of any source of protein)
Uses fish oil as the #1 ingredient (not only extremely high in fat, but also great for your dog’s heart, skin, and coat).
Made in the USA with ingredients sourced in the USA (important since ingredients sourced internationally have a high recall rate).
Suitable for all animals, not just dogs (Dyne for instance uses Propylene Glycol which is banned by the FDA for use in cat food)

That being said, we feel that Miracle Vet is the healthiest and safest way to add weight to your dog.