I adopted a dog that is considerably under weight, is it harmful to feed her more than usual?

-she is a 2 year old rottweiler -adopted from the humane society where she was surrenderd after being attacked by another dog and has injuries that are healing well. I don't want to over fed her too much, but she is constantly hungry and looks so skinny that it is hard not to give her food. thank you for any help.

I would pick a good quality food and feed her the very top of the range listed for her size on the bag. Monitor her as she puts on weight and as she does slowly decrease the food amount to more toward the middle of the given range.

You could try free feeding for awhile.Or, you could ask your vet (a simple phone call would do) about foods s/he recommends. There may be a more filling food designed to put some weight on your dog.

I would definitely up her food from the package recommendations. Just be careful that you don't over do it and cause her to throw up. Also, watch her weight gain and cut her back gradually once she gets close to her ideal weight or she will drive you crazy when you have to put her on a diet!

Feed her a top quality food, and what I'd suggest is feeding her 3 meals a day, but not exceeding her daily recommended amount by too much. You don't want her gaining weight too quickly, gradually is the way to do it, with really healthy food. Three meals a day would be much easier on her system at this point, too.

A dog thats been starved might have food issues. I knew of one who would raise a fit if her food bowl wasnt filled all the time. I would let her eat as much as she wants until she is up to proper weight then follow the directions on the food after that

Feed her ample amounts...more frequently than usual. If she hasn't eaten very much, increasing the amounts too quickly might make her sick...she'll gain weight quickly with 3 feedings a day! Best of luck and congratulations! You did a great thing for that dog! kjl

Has the your Rott had a wellness check. She may have worms. I would start there. Depending on how big she is you can probably feed her 3x a day to keep her statisfied. When she gets to a normal weight you can drop her back to twice a day. Good luck

i would feed her well

First of all, congrats on doing a great thing for your new found friend. You are a hero and an angel to her. I would feed her a high quality food such as Canidae. Go to http://www.canidae.com to see where to find it in your area. It's usually less than a dollar a pound for a 20 lb bag and it has no fillers or corn or wheat or by-products in it. It's all human grade meat and rice and omega 3 and 6 with all great stuff in it. There are many other good foods that you can find in feed stores also such as Wellness, Solid Gold, Eagle Pack Holistic, Orijen, Blue Buffalo etc. Don't feed her anything that is from a grocery store or Walmart as they are all corn and by products (which you don't even want to know what by products are). You can give her more and feed 2-3 times a day til she gets her weight up to speed and then gradually taper off while still feeding twice daily but less at each feeding. Good luck and again, congrats.

I would add more kibble, plus some raw organic yogurt. You can also crack a raw egg over her food. A little olive oil added to her food will help her coat and also put on some weight. I am in the same boat here. The dogs we foster come in very thin and they always get more than our dogs do.Actually, my husband cooks for them every day, so our fosters do not stay thin for long.

Try using a moist cat food. Dogs for some reason love it and it definitely fattens them up. And if your dog needs any medication it's easy to crush the pills and hide it in the cat food and they never notice.

There are some great suggestions about helping your dog gain some weight. If these do not work, try Satin Balls.My sister had some trouble putting weight on her rescue dog. She was told about Satin Balls- a recipe/treat that is used to help gain weight. I personally have not used them but they came recommended by many rescuers and breeders as well. Check out the link below. It worked- the dog is finally a healthy weight.Good luck and thanks for adopting your dog.

Thin dogs do best on small very frequent feedings not large feedings twice a day plus a dog that has formerly been fed crap food such as Ol' Roy, Publix, Beneful etc can take 4-8 weeks for their system to fully absorb all the nutrition in a top food. We have had several rescues that were little better then skeletons and we fed them every four hours in small amounts for the first 2 weeks, then every 6 hours the next 2 weeks then 3 times a day. They all gained a few pounds the first few weeks but put on several pounds around their 6th week of feeding. A rescued GSD I had put on 8lbs in his 7th week after only gaining 6lbs in the last 6 weeks. We had a similar progress with minpins in a smaller way and an adopted Dobe who took 8 weeks to adjust to his new top food.

Look. I understand these people's opinions, however vague, ambiguous statements such as "top-quality" or "a more filling" dog food are just common sense. If your dog is underweight, you don't want it to put on fat. Fat on an underdeveloped musculo-skeletal frame can cause health problems, and joint pain and stiffness. You need to feed your dog, twice a day, high PROTEIN food. NOT out of a package - you need more protein. I recommend feeding your dog raw meats, such as beef organs (like liver, kidneys, heart) that you can find in a supermarket, and chicken backs and necks if you can find them. About 1 pound in the morning, 1/2-3/4 in the evening. This will provide enough fat, and more than enough protein for your animal to bulk up with muscle, provided you take it for regular walks, and let it off leash to run. You can also feed your dog vegetables and fruit, such as pieces of carrot and apple, to provide fiber and carbohydrates. All in all, this plan doesn't cost any more than the "top of the line" dog food. In fact, it can cost considerably less.I sincerely hope this helps you, and your dog.Devon.