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Cant get Cane Corso to gain weight?

Franswa

Member
Hello, Ive had my Corso rescue for about 8 mos. now and he's great, but still pretty skinny. The vet guessed and I agree hes probably around 2, maybe a but under. He was in real rough shape when he was taken in by a rescue vet, heart worm positive etc. he was nursed back to health and when we got him he came with a nice bag of Kibbles and Bits.... which promptly went in the trash. He was picky at first, but after a lot of clean ups and a transition of ground beef and canned food we got him onto Blue Buffalo Salmon recipe that my girlfriends labs eat. I give him 6 cups a day, hoping hell eventually put on some weight, but he is still very skinny with his ribs pretty clearly showing and his hips poking through. I was wondering if there is a healthy way to get him to start putting on some weight? We have stayed away from the food toys or treats during the day and night because he is a rescue and although there has never been an issue, we don't want to take the chance there will ever be an issue with the labs who are voracious eaters. Ive thought of mixing something in, but I have no experience, and his stomachs always been pretty easy to upset, so the messes are pretty awful when we come home and he ate something he shouldn't have. Also its tough to feed him a completely different diet than the Labs, who seem to have no problem packing on the pounds even at only 3 cups a day each. Are there any suggestions for an easy diet supplement that might help him gain some weight?
 
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Duetsche_Doggen

Well-Known Member
Can you provide a picture?

If she's slim start by adding the weight slowly, too much to fast can do more harm than good.
 

jcook

Well-Known Member
When I switched Stella's food she started losing weight so I was concerned. I looked up about how many calories she should consume then I looked at the calories per cup of the new food, it was 70 less calories per up than the old food! I know these calorie calculator things are not exact and should be taken as a suggestion but it could give you an idea of whether you giving him enough calories. http://www.goldendoodles.com/care/food_calculator.htm
Can you provide a picture?

If she's slim start by adding the weight slowly, too much to fast can do more harm than good.
Agreed!
 

BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
Satin balls! They are used often by shelters and show people to add a couple of extra pounds to a dog. Most use them as little meat ball treats but it is a nutritually balanced meal (it is reported but not sure if this is 100% true as I am not a nutritionist)

This is the original recipe:
10 pounds hamburger meat (the cheapest kind)
1 lg. box of Total cereal
1 lg. box oatmeal
1 jar of wheat germ
1 1/4 cup veg oil
1 1/4 cup of unsulphured molasses
10 raw eggs AND shells
10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
pinch of salt


However, if you just want to try them out or have a small dog, I recipe this scaled down version (1/10th or the original).

1 pound cheap hamburger (for high fat %)
1 1/3 cups Total cereal
1 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 raw egg
6 tablespoons wheat germ
1 package Knox unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
Pinch of salt

The only thing I suggest you change is the oil; vegtable oil has no health benefit, so substitute it with an oil that does (like flax seed oil which is high in healthy omega 3s).

Taken from this site...
http://www.instructables.com/id/Put-weight-on-your-dog-with-satin-balls/
 

Franswa

Member
Thanks for the responses. I finally weighed him this weekend and he was right at 100Lbs. I was very surprised at how little he weighed. He looks very lanky (Ive gotten the great dane puppy question before). According to my very amateur eyeball test he looks like he could stand to gain at least 20 lbs. just to get to a healthy look. I'm not sure how old he is either, so he could just have a lot of growing left to do, his paws and head are comically larger than the rest of his body. He has very good definition, but his stomach and hips are very skinny. Here is a photo I took, its tough to get him to stand still, and of course my mini pig was trying to get in the photo but maybe someone who knows more than me could comment on if he is too skinny. If any body could help me guess his age with a few more photos, that would probably help put my mind a little more at ease. I might try those meat balls as long as they don't upset his stomach, I want something to help put some more Lbs on him without feeding him too much more volume because he already has accidents some times.
2013-01-26204510_zps2d6229a4.jpg
 

grazefull1

Well-Known Member
look if u think thats little well dont feel bad my cc koopa is 12mons/1yr n justed made 103-10820130110_115544.jpg
so at 8mons at 100 u got 3mons more time to feed him thats big to me lol just dont over do it n how tall is he n remeber not all cc will be 140lbs-150lbs

sorry how old is he again? for some reason i though he was 8mons(sorry again my pc is slow)
 
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BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
he does look a little skinny but I don't know that I would say 20lbs of weight would be alright on him. I prefer to just see the last rib so that I know they aren't too big they are doing damage to their joints but they are a good healthy weight.
 

ZoeOwner

Banned
TLDR: Given that your dog does not appear malnourished, being "underweight" is good.

It may be the photo but his coat looks fine. 2 years is barely adult and it sounds like he may have developed slowly for a while given the condition in which you found him. If his coat is good, energy level good, and he's generally healthy - why worry? CC's statistically have very high risk of osteoarthritic ailments, which though partly genetic are exacerbated by putting on weight too fast. My dog loves the satin balls but I wouldn't feed a steady diet of those, they are probably too high in protein.
I would ditch the Blue Buffalo. Fish-based commercial foods aren't the greatest for dogs because, well, there is healthy fresh-caught fish and there is other fish and which do you think goes into dog food? The second ingredient is "chicken meal". Do you know what "chicken meal" is? I don't. A good food should have a single-source animal protein that is listed as made from the actual animal meat, not "meal" or something like that.
If you feed a good-quality dog food or better yet make your own balanced meals (again, satin balls are a bit rich for every day fare) then 6 cups is probably a little on the low side...but if you are offering a healthy balanced diet and your dog doesn't want to eat anymore and is otherwise healthy...what's the problem? This dog will probably fill out a bit more, but even 100 pounds is within the breeder-desired weight range, if on the low end. Your dog is obviously not malnourished, you care and take good care of him; overall, it's far healthier for him to stay skinny than to put on weight. Know especially that if he puts on too much weight too fast, you are severely increasing the risk of crippling arthritis when he gets older.
 

Franswa

Member
Thank you, I actually saw what you were talking about the chicken ingredient after I had started reading around here, so we switched to taste of the wild salmon, which has no chicken, its also cheaper for a larger bag where we get it,which always helps. If you have a better suggestion please let me know, it seems there are as many dog food opinions as there are dog breeds. I ran the taste of the wild through some dog calorie counter just to have an idea of the amount I should feed him since I'm no expert and it spit out 6.3 cups based on his weight and the calories in the food so we upped it to just over 7 a day. I think I just got nervous because he looks like he actually has gotten skinnier in the last few months, but he isn't food crazy and always seems perfectly happy and healthy. He stands about 26-27" tall at his hip, but again not knowing his exact age it is tough to gauge exactly what he should weigh. I don't want him to be huge or have any health problems, but he is just so lanky it still makes me nervous.
 

Smart_Family

Dog Food Guru
TLDR: Given that your dog does not appear malnourished, being "underweight" is good.

It may be the photo but his coat looks fine. 2 years is barely adult and it sounds like he may have developed slowly for a while given the condition in which you found him. If his coat is good, energy level good, and he's generally healthy - why worry? CC's statistically have very high risk of osteoarthritic ailments, which though partly genetic are exacerbated by putting on weight too fast. My dog loves the satin balls but I wouldn't feed a steady diet of those, they are probably too high in protein.
I would ditch the Blue Buffalo. Fish-based commercial foods aren't the greatest for dogs because, well, there is healthy fresh-caught fish and there is other fish and which do you think goes into dog food? The second ingredient is "chicken meal". Do you know what "chicken meal" is? I don't. A good food should have a single-source animal protein that is listed as made from the actual animal meat, not "meal" or something like that.
If you feed a good-quality dog food or better yet make your own balanced meals (again, satin balls are a bit rich for every day fare) then 6 cups is probably a little on the low side...but if you are offering a healthy balanced diet and your dog doesn't want to eat anymore and is otherwise healthy...what's the problem? This dog will probably fill out a bit more, but even 100 pounds is within the breeder-desired weight range, if on the low end. Your dog is obviously not malnourished, you care and take good care of him; overall, it's far healthier for him to stay skinny than to put on weight. Know especially that if he puts on too much weight too fast, you are severely increasing the risk of crippling arthritis when he gets older.
Perhaps you should do some more research on dog food before giving advice. Chicken meal is actually a good thing. It's chicken that's cooked without the water included, removing toxins and bacteria and you are paying for the whole weight of the chicken rather than a little chicken and a lot of water.
 

Franswa

Member
Thank you for your responses, I have one more question, I hear a lot of talk about the protein intake. Is this a mastiff issue or more specific to just the Cane Corso? Recently I've been slowly giving the three dogs frozen marrow bones. This used to be a staple for my girlfriends labs when she or we would be out of the house for a long time. We stopped it when we got Desmo. Ive been giving them one or maybe two a week as a treat to keep them occupied if we need them out of our hair for a while. Is there any reason Desmo should not get a marrow bone? I know theyre very rich, and I was hoping they would help give him a few extra calories if given in moderation, but dont want to give him something thats not good for him.
 

Rudy

Well-Known Member
Stumbled upon this thread... My mind has been spinning about puppy food for a CC. After plenty of research and inquiring with other owners I decided on an Acana formula (not puppy ) however the protein is 33% , I've read over and over it shouldn't be more than 27%. The formula meets all the other requirements and most importantly the calcium and phos ratios . What is it about protein. My boy is 5 months , 60 pounds .
 
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DjangosDad

New Member
Hello, Ive had my Corso rescue for about 8 mos. now and he's great, but still pretty skinny. The vet guessed and I agree hes probably around 2, maybe a but under. He was in real rough shape when he was taken in by a rescue vet, heart worm positive etc. he was nursed back to health and when we got him he came with a nice bag of Kibbles and Bits.... which promptly went in the trash. He was picky at first, but after a lot of clean ups and a transition of ground beef and canned food we got him onto Blue Buffalo Salmon recipe that my girlfriends labs eat. I give him 6 cups a day, hoping hell eventually put on some weight, but he is still very skinny with his ribs pretty clearly showing and his hips poking through. I was wondering if there is a healthy way to get him to start putting on some weight? We have stayed away from the food toys or treats during the day and night because he is a rescue and although there has never been an issue, we don't want to take the chance there will ever be an issue with the labs who are voracious eaters. Ive thought of mixing something in, but I have no experience, and his stomachs always been pretty easy to upset, so the messes are pretty awful when we come home and he ate something he shouldn't have. Also its tough to feed him a completely different diet than the Labs, who seem to have no problem packing on the pounds even at only 3 cups a day each. Are there any suggestions for an easy diet supplement that might help him gain some weight?[/QUOT buy Bully Max