Doberman is too skinny!!

Question
QUESTION: I am in trying to help my friend and co-owner with our dobe female puppy who is too skinny. She is 16 months old and very underweight. She eats 6-8 cups of "Native" dog food and has gained some but then appeared to be losing again. My friend is taking her in for a full fecal work up but she had one done a few months ago and her vet couldn't find anything. No parasites, no worms, he couldn't find anything wrong with her. My friend has limited her exercise and increased her food but it's been 2 months and she's still too skinny. I thought about having her add fatty foods like peanut butter, salmon, etc... and still keep her on limited exercise. If her vet work up comes back clear again, do you have any other suggestions that we could try? Or why she would have such a problem keeping her weight up? The entire litter is very tall, lanky, and lean but no one else seems to be having weight problems that this particular one is. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

ANSWER: Miriam  -  assuming there is not veterinary problem - can you tell me how much this  dog weighs, how much exercise she gets, and any other food or treats she gets on top of the food? Which of the Native formulas is she on? I might suggest going to a more energy dense food in future too. Is a home made diet a possibility?

Catherine

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sorry, I don't have a lot of detail because the dog does not live with me. I know she weighs less than 70lbs because that's what her sister weighs. If I had to guess, I'd say 60 or less. I believe she is on the level 3 Native. She has restricted exercise now.and I don't think she gets treats in between meals. A home made diet is probably not feasible for her parents. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Miriam,
At this point, the only suggestion I can make is - barring any veternary issues - this dog needs more food. I am not a fan of adding large quantities of any one single food item - oil, meat etc - I prefer to simply increase the caloric total by feeding more.  There are foods I like better than Native, including Fromm FourStar, Acana and Natural Balance. I would feed this dog more, and add maybe a can of wet food daily as well and a couple of good quality biscuits. You could try some digestive enzymes and probiotics for gastric health and enhanced assimilation of nutrients.  Prozyme is a popular one and there are many good probiotics available as well.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Catherine