Putting on weight for a hyper active dog

Question
I have a cocker spaniel poodle mix and he is turning one this april.
he is highly active, eats small meals throughout the day of kibbles and at
night he does eat a fair amount mixed with some cooked chicken or pork
meat.
he is about the same size of my maltese who weights about 4-5kg. my
poodle mix weighs 3-4kg.
the vet has actually told us that he is a bit skinny but not to worry as he is
very very active and might have a high metabolism.
he is still very active and enjoys his runs but i am worried he isn't getting
enough food or that the food isn't giving him enough protein to put on
weight.
would there be type of dog food which would be best for him or a
supplement i could give him?
thank you

Answer
Hi Jessie,

Since you are concerned that your dog is a little under weight, and your vet confirmed that, it's okay to feed him a little more of the food you're currently using.

Feeding your dog a mixture of both kibbled dog food, and fresh meat is a good diet. You've given your dog's weight in kilograms, so you must not be in the United States (where I am located) so I couldn't tell you a brand of dog food, since I don't know where you are. Adding a little cottage cheese, or a little grated hard boiled egg are really good sources of high quality protein, so that's something which could enhance your dog's diet.

Here a couple of dog food calorie calculators that you might find helpful:

http://www.mycockerspaniel.com/feed.htm
http://www.mycockerspaniel.com/mer.htm

This article entitled "How Much to Feed A Dog to Meet His Energy Needs" might be helpful too:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1661&articleid=2612

Best of luck,

Patti