Thin Collie (pic added)

[dogzrule5]

If the vet said he was healthy, he shouldn't be wormed again.

And do pay heed to what AngelzFyre said. I have a dog that cannot take anything with Ivermectin in it, but she can safely take Interceptor - another h/w preventative.

 

[reallemons1]

Thanks for all of the great advice! Ollie is a wonderful dog. I guess the real problem is getting him to eat enough of anything to keep weight on and he is so active. He eather has a poor appitite or just doesn't like dog food. I have tried mixing scraps (meats) with it but he picks out the meat and leaves the rest. I think he's spoiled. I have tried Iams, Nutro, Eubanka, Purenia One, Blue Seal, Sience Diet, Beneful, Black Gold, and a few samples of 'health food' feeds. He's just not into any of them, even with ground pepperoni mixed in. He was on Heart Guard when he came here. I switched him to Interceptor first thing. I think I'll try puppy food and mix in a high fat weight builder product for horses, and maybe give him 3 days of Safeguard. What are satin balls? What is a kong and brunshwigger? I'll look for cod liver oil too.

 

[Queen Scoot]

satin balls:
This recipe is for dogs who desperately need calories and need to put on weight.


Mix all ingredients (like meatballs). I shape them like thick hamburgers rather than balls because they store easier in the freezer and thaw faster. Freeze in serving portion size. Nothing is cooked -- all ingredients are uncooked RAW and "Satin Balls" are served raw.

This recipe for Little Dogs (1/10 of full recipe) would be a good test to see if your dog will eat them before you make the substantial investment in ingredients of the half or full size recipe. See Notes below about the Total cereal, oats, wheat germ and vegetable oil.

Satin Balls for Little Dogs -- or to try out recipe on your dog to see if he will eat it.

1 lb cheap hamburger (for high fat %)
1 and 1/3 cups Total cereal
1 and 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 raw egg
6 Tablespoons wheat germ
1 package Knox unflavored gelatin
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons unsulphered molasses
Pinch of salt

Satin Balls Half Recipe -- recommended amount to mix up

5 lbs cheap hamburger (for high fat %)
1/2 large box Total cereal (about 6 cups cereal)
1/2 large box uncooked oatmeal (about 7.5 cups oats)
5 raw eggs
1/2 of 15oz jar wheat germ (about 2 cups)
5 packages Knox unflavored gelatin
5/8 cup vegetable oil (this is pretty close to 2/3 cup)
5/8 cup unsulphered molasses
pinch of salt

The half recipe, using hamburger that is 20% fat calories, has 12,400 calories. The last batch I made ended up making 22 patties, so each has about 560 calories. I have big dogs (Danes) so if your dog is smaller you might want to make your Satin Balls or patties smaller.

I find that making the half recipe is so much easier that it is worth doing even though you have half-boxes of things around for awhile and have to mix it up twice as often. The disadvantage of the full recipe is the need of a really BIG container and it is very hard work to mix it all up.

Satin Balls Full Recipe

10 lbs cheap hamburger (high fat %)
1 large box Total cereal (about 12 cups cereal)
1 large box uncooked oatmeal (about 15 cups oats)
10 raw eggs
1 15oz jar wheat germ
10 packages Knox unflavored gelatin
1 and 1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/4 cup unsulphered molasses
pinch of salt

 

[rooster0209]

My mom has a border collie/aussie shep cross that is the same exact way. Missy is thin has endless amounts of energy. They feed some brand of Purina Mills a very high protein brand. I cannot think of the name.

I actually prefer Purina products for my animals. My vet thinks dogs are better a bit thin than fat

http://www.purina.com/dogs/food/FeedingDogsForLife.aspx

 

[key west chick]

We have a border collie, very high strung and loony. Plenty of excercise, chickens and goats to herd and she's still crazy as a loon.She had heartworm treatments a year ago and had to skip part of the treatment cause of the ivermectin thing. Talk with a vet before giving most types of collies or shepherds ivermectin.

 

[glowworm]

If he's had a complete bill of health (and a fecal to check for worms...general de-wormers do not cover all parasites!), then I would consider feeding him a high energy/performance food . That way he can just eat a little and get the same amount of calories. Stop feeding him all the special treats, and only give him dog food. It's okay to mix in a little dog gravy or canned food to coat the dry food, but stick to dog food only . he might take a few days to come around, but he will. I heard about a dog whose owner was giving him chicken broth and milk to drink, and the dog outright refused to drink water. When taken away for treatment and kenneled, it took the dog a couple days to finally drink water on his own (he was force fed water as well). This was more dangerous because we can't go very long without water, but can go for a week w/o food easy.

Some dogs, especially highly active ones, are naturally skinny. Everyone has met a person who eats like crazy but drives everyone else nuts because they stay tiny and thin!

Dogs have individuals like that too.


The gene that causes dogs to not be able to process invermectin and other drugs is called the MDR1 gene. Heartgard is 100% SAFE for a mutant postive dog. It is a very tiny dose. All other treatments of invermectin (worming, treatment for demodex, heartworm, etc.) should not be given to a collie breed unless they have been tested for MDR1. "White feet, don't treat!" Testing is done through WSU, you send a cheek swab in. I have two aussies, one is negative for the gene and the other is mutant/normal. I got them tested in case anything ever happens, PLUS a postive mutant makes them sensitive to other drugs, like acepromizine which is commonly used as a pre-med before anesthesia or to lightly sedate a naughty dog

 

[texasreb]

None of the foods you have tried are even mediocre in quality. Buy a good quality food and try that before you decide to continue with the people food.

A list of foods to try:

EVO
Solid Gold
Eagle Pack
Flint River Ranch
Precise
Addiction
Breeder's Choice
Karma
Pinnacle
Merrick
Nature's Variety
California Natural
Innova
Wysong
Honest Kitchen
Tripett
Spot's Stew
Evanger's
Fromm
Wellness

 

[EweSheep]

My parents used to show collies and we had one that was always thin until we came across with Purina dog food, which I think it was Hi Performance Pro Plan.

I have to agree with Glowworm on the treats...he will come around not eating people food in his food. Certainly I am sure he was spoiled LOL!

Enjoy Ollie...they are wonderful dogs to have around on the farm! We had about ten collies with occasional litter of puppies every other year or so along with one Keeshond. They all love to herd chickens and chase horses LOL!

 

[reallemons1]

Thanks for the list. I will print it and go shopping. I have had dogs for all my life (40 + years) and never a problem like this. Always learning. Never knew feeding a dog could be hard. BTW, here's Ollie. He is tied in these pictures, but has now learned the wireless fence so has his freedom, well within limits. He is a really sweet dog.

 

[texasgirl]

If he is not neutered that is another reason he may be staying trim. Un-altered dogs tend to have a trimmer body condition, not always but I'd say many times they are.

I would just be feeding more of a good quality food. It may take a little while to put the weight on but I don't think it's so urgent for him to gain that he needs all sorts of treats and human food. If he's otherwise healthy then there isn't really any reason to be packing the calories on so fast. Just increase his food even if it seems like a lot.