My dog isn't gaining weight--how can I get her to gain?

Feed her a good quality dog food.. Something with a little more fat content to it.. Forget the Science Diet, it's no good..

She is older too, what does the vet say about her weight? Remember, thin is better than fat.. People tend to think a fat dog is a healthy dog, but in reality it is very hard on hips and joints.. If she is older anyhow and might start to feel her age, I would let her stay thin.. As long as she is healthy otherwise, it's better for her to be thin.

Avoid Beneful, Pedigree, Ol Roy, Kibbles N Bits, Iams, Eukanuba, . Etc.. VERY Crappy dog foods, no nutritional value at all.. It's actually cheaper to feed a good quality food.

Also check things against the recall list and avoid foods now with wheat gluten Corn glueten, and rice protein in them.

Try feeding two meals a day one in morning and once again at night, she probably needs more food to help put on weight. Try getting a brand with a higher "fat" content. If it doesn't work, take to the vet and make sure there isn't a medical reason for her weight loss. Sometimes kidney or liver disease can cause weight loss even though the dog is eating normally. Has your dog had a senior wellness check? All cats or dogs should have one done at age 7.

Good Luck

Usually you can tell a dog is very underweight if you can see their hips and ribs. A dog will only eat when it's hungry, so if she eats only once a day, I wouldn't worry much. I've not seen a dog at 9-years-old that was not showing a little bone. In fact, I've not seen a dog that was Chow/Shih-tzu at all, very interesting.

If she's very laid back and not as active as she once was, her once-a-day eating habits wouldn't alarm me much. If she's very active and is losing weight, this could be something that a vet should look into.

One suggestion is to take her to a vet. The same thing happened to my dog. He is 9, a shihtzu/peke mix and the stupid vet told me that it's good for dogs to be a little skinny. He was still losing weight and I took him to another vet (Banfield at Petsmart) and they found out he had worms! So, that's a possibility. Dogs also tend to eat less I think as they get older.

Your dog could be underweight for a number of reasons, for instance when was she last wormed? Worms can cause a dog to lose weight and condition.

Has she always been thin? If not and this is a fairly new thing, she could have a medical problem. I would talk to you vet about it and see what he thinks.

I would suggest going to the vet. She may have a tape worm. There is also a possibility that she has an over-active thyroid, which means that her metabolism is moving faster than she is eating. Set up a check-up for her. If it is an over-active thyroid, she will have to take a pill every day. That is what my cat has to do.

You could buy her a certain dog food to makes her gain weight.