What is the best food to feed an underweight large breed dog?

Please, make the investment to get really good food. Some pet food stores will give you donations because you are a rescuer. If there's a Red Bandanna where you are, check with them. They are good about donations, and any food you get from them is excellent. Anything you can buy in a grocery store pretty much sucks. Those foods (even Purina One and Iams) are filled with by-products and corn, which dogs can't digest. They also spray them with fat to make them taste better. At Petco they have Natural Balance Duck and Potato which is easy on the tummy and will help build them up in a healthy way. Also check out Solid Gold, Avoderm (especially if there's a skin problem, this stuff works wonders), and at PetSmart try Blue Buffalo. And again, if there's a Red Bandanna Food Store in your area, anything they have is awesome. I hope that helps, and good luck!

I use to work with animal rescue organizations and could bring a dog back from the brink of death. Dogs who are abused by way of starvation need protein to rebuild muscle and bone. Keep in mind that being starved throws off the bodies chemistry and the sudden input of nutrition can cause further health problems and death.

you need to consider first the life style of the dogs. Them being in a kennel environment means they get moderate exercise. being starved they probably have low level energy. With a starved animal you always want to build up. meaning if you are giving them a multi vitamin (which you should) you want to start with 1/2 or less than the daily dose. Dogs bodies are like human bodies in that they will Begin to eat muscle mass when starved. you want to build muscle and not fat. Start feeding them low protein foods (15%) at the daily required amount. After a few weeks find a higher protein food (20-23%) and add a 1/2 cup extra. You will see that energy levels will begin to rise. Exercise the hell out of them, take them on long walks cut them loose and let them run in a fence location. If they like to chase a ball throw one for them anything to keep them running. After a few weeks get a high protein food (27%) and keep them running. Add another 1/2 cup to their daily feeding.

Human interaction is just as important as food. starved animals have weaken mental abilities as well. they act depressed (and probably are) lethargic, and have very short attention spans. Working on their mental abilities will also help them recover.

With exercise and a protein boost you will see energy and mass return. When they are stable you can lower the protein level of their food. Also believe it or not but the extra food you have been giving them will become leftovers. This shows a restored trust and a healthy body.

Naturally if you feed the dog 2-3 times a day they will gain the weight . You can help them reach that level a little quicker by feeding them natural fatty foods like chicken skin, pork, or beef. I Solid food product is a very good idea for a sick dog. aka Iams wont cut it's Straight garbage to feed to your dogs

Canidae, Wellness, Evo or Raw Diet

There is a Hills prescription diet food called A/D diet. It has a lot of nutrients and should put pounds on the animals in a healthy way.

Go to www.dogfoodanalysis.com and try to find something rated high. The site gives the ingredients of the product, gives it a rating and tells you why they rated it the way they did.

Grain-free, high protein kibbles like Orijen. (Excellent stuff)

Dog Chow

go with a high protein dog food...this will help them gain weight...you can find at walmart or you can go to a pet food store and find it...usually high protein dog food is for high energy dogs but it does put the meat back on any dog...if you cant find it by yourself just ask someone to help you at walmart you may not find someone as knowledgeable as a pet food store but look for the high endurance brand at walmart and most brands will tell you now on the package how much protein is in the dog food.

try tripe i no it stinks but it shold bring there weight up