weight

Question
Hello. I have a 4 year old unspayed female black lab mix.She has always been underweight. Our vet said she is just on the slight underweight side but is healthy. She execises alot and is regular in her bowel movements.What can i feed her to supplement her diet to help her gain weight. She is on a dry kibble diet and i am ashamed to say , eats people food. We try to only give her non processsed people food (such as fruit, raw vegtables, lean meats, peanut butter, raw almonds, eggs).Am i giving her something that is causing the problem? my husband says she is just picky and is holding out for the good stuff now. Is he right?

Answer
There is nothing wrong with healthy people food for dogs.  Variety is actually GOOD for them.  

Couple of questions.  What kind of kibble are you feeding?  And how much per day?  

Some dogs have a HIGH metabolism, just like some people.  You may need to consider a higher calorie food.  When my males were younger, they burned through food and were always on the thin side.  We opted to go to a Performance formula food which was 30% protein and 20% fat.  That helped them alot.  

I need to ask, why haven't you spayed your girl yet?  Just a word of warning, as females get older they run a higher risk of infections in their uterus (google Pyometria).  It's pretty dangerous as they can get sick and not show signs until its very severe.  Even breeders who keep their females intact, usually get them spayed after a certain age to prevent this.  You would probably find that her metabolism will slow a bit after you alter her.  

Apparently your vet isn't concerned too much, so that's good.  But you could always have them check her thyroid as dogs CAN be hyperthyroid.

But it's doubtful you are causing any problems giving the dog healthy human food.  While dogs CAN get picky, I would guess that unless she is not eating a sufficient amount of calories a day, she might just be a THIN dog.  If her mix includes a THIN breed like a greyhound, pointer, weimeraner, etc. you might just be seeing that.  Some breeds in the peak of health, for example Boxers, are at prime weight and you can still see ribs etc.  

And just as a guideline, an active lab approximately 70# should be eating at least 2-3 cups a day of kibble.  Then it all depends on the quality of the kibble you feed.