Weight gain for a great dane

[To_the_MAX]

We’ve just adopted a 1 yr. old dane from a rescue out in Ohio. He is home and settling in nicely so now it’s time to think about getting some weight on him! I’ve already looked up the recipe for satin balls and intend on starting him on them soon. My fiance’s family owns a beef cattle farm so my FMIL brought us 22 lbs of ground beef yesterday.
The rescue we adopted him from has been feeding him puppy food - 4 c. 2x a day. We are gradually switching him over to TOTW since as is my understanding, puppy food is a huge no-no for danes.
I looked at the back of the bag of TOTW and it says 4.5-5.25 c. for the 100-125 lb range which we think he’s in. Obviously we’d like to feed for weight gain but if we stuck with the same amount as he has been eating that would be quite a bit more than recommended. We want him to gain weight but don’t want to feed too much too fast. Thoughts?
We are going to bring him to our vet this week to get a plan in motion but in the meantime I thought I’d ask around first.

Thanks all!

Here is a picture…it’s not the best but it shows his body the most out of any I’ve taken so far:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/198283_3282192056950_1264787723_n.jpg

[LexusBoBexus]

Congrats

We’ve just adopted a 1 yr. old dane from a rescue out in Ohio. He is home and settling in nicely so now it’s time to think about getting some weight on him!

Congratulations! Just remember that danes should ideally be a little on the thinner side; this is mainly due to the fast rate of growth that their body goes through. They do the majority of their growing for the first year and then into the second year, the third year they typically balk up (and some may experience another growth spurt).

Here is a great forum for information on great danes:

http://www.dolforum.com/forum
N/M, looks like you’ve found it, welcome!

At the top it gives a link for a general guide for weight and height of danes which may be useful to you. You do have to become a member to get full access to the forum, but its just a simple username and password like here.

I’ve already looked up the recipe for satin balls and intend on starting him on them soon. My fiance’s family owns a beef cattle farm so my FMIL brought us 22 lbs of ground beef yesterday.

Be careful here… (Satin balls are typically used for the adults, not growing puppies) again they are supposed to be on the thin side as he is still growing; although I can see ribs in the provided photo, a pic where he is laying down can be deceptive (with him looking thinner than he really is); he may or may not be that bad. It is best to judge his weight by viewing from above and to the side while he is standing.

The rescue we adopted him from has been feeding him puppy food - 4 c. 2x a day. We are gradually switching him over to TOTW since as is my understanding, puppy food is a huge no-no for danes.

Yes…puppy food is a no-no b/c the calcium and phosphorus ratios (as well as sometimes the amounts) are (with few exceptions) incorrect for a GIANT breed puppy).

I looked at the back of the bag of TOTW and it says 4.5-5.25 c. for the 100-125 lb range which we think he’s in. Obviously we’d like to feed for weight gain but if we stuck with the same amount as he has been eating that would be quite a bit more than recommended.

Don’t be too alarmed by this, that is just a guide, every dog is different (especially considering that this is a growing puppy and a GIANT breed one at that). Other danes at your guy’s age may be consuming anywhere between 4 ish to 9 or more cups of food (including TOTW since this is a popular food choice for great danes). It is greatly dependent on the individual and although it is hard not to compare the amount that you are feeding to your dog to others, the best way to feed is by his body condition. There is a section on the great dane forum that talks regarding diet (raw, kibble, as well as home-made) that you can search (there are many threads to browse through).

We want him to gain weight but don’t want to feed too much too fast. Thoughts?

TOTW is a great grain-free food, but don’t forget that different dogs do best on a different foods, so you may have to experiment a little to find the best “fit” for your boy. Also look at kcalories per cup, TOTW is known to have lower kcalories per cup than some other grain-free brands, so just be aware that of that.

For instance, if he needs more calories but you can’t give him more than say 5 cups a day (due to him getting mushy poops trying to process too much food at a time) then a food that allows you to feed a smaller amount while giving more calories might be a better choice.

We are going to bring him to our vet this week to get a plan in motion but in the meantime I thought I’d ask around first.

Just be aware that the vet may or may not be very knowledgeable in the dietary needs of a great dane, so you may need to take his/her advice with a grain of salt.

Again, congratulations on the addition to your family. :winkgrin:

[wendy]

DO NOT give him TOTW- it has WAY too much calcium (over 2%) for a young giant breed dog. You want a food that has less than 1.5% calcium, preferably a food labelled as suitable for a large-breed puppy. TOTW is also a very non-calorie-dense food, so he’ll have to eat an enormous volume of food, which could trigger bloat.

Also I wouldn’t deliberately attempt to “Fatten him up”. It’s very important that growing danes be very thin- you should be able to see the ribs easily- and to grow slowly. Suddenly dumping a bunch of calories into him could trigger pano or a growth spurt that will lead to malformed joints.

You have to be very careful of a giant dog’s diet until age 3 or so. Calcium levels must be low. The dog must be kept very thin. The food should be very calorie- dense so the dog isn’t eating huge volumes.

Orijen’s large-breed puppy food is probably the best choice on the market today for a dane puppy.

[Debbie]

He’s adorable!! My dane just turned 2 and feeding him up to this point has been a bit of an adventure. I finally discarded the amt guidelines on the dog food bag. (He eats Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover Adult.) When I fed him the recommended amounts he was ravenous and too thin so I upped it gradually til we found the point where he appeared satisfied -at one point that was 12 cups a day and now it’s dropped back to 9-10 cups.

Farley is a lanky style and has stayed rather lean, but I finally got him to the point where his backbone and hips are covered.

Canned pumpkin is your friend if he gets loose stools. I also add MSM for some additional joint care.

Enjoy your boy!! They are awesome dogs with so much personality.

Here’s a picture of our boy from his birthday a couple of weeks ago. I’m pretty happy with his weight right now. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.452334468128776.115387.100000566807390&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=452335034795386&set=a.452334468128776.115387.100000566807390&type=3&theater

[LexusBoBexus]

It depends on the formula…

@wendy;6370347

DO NOT give him TOTW- it has WAY too much calcium (over 2%) for a young giant breed dog. You want a food that has less than 1.5% calcium, preferably a food labelled as suitable for a large-breed puppy. TOTW is also a very non-calorie-dense food, so he’ll have to eat an enormous volume of food, which could trigger bloat.

For the OP, TOTW has various formulas including two puppy formulas that have suitable calcium and phosphorus ratios and amounts. In relation to the amount being fed: although TOTW high prairie puppy formula is less calorie dense than Orijen’s large-breed puppy food (364 kcal/cup vs 410 kcal/cup), the difference is not so extreme as to relate to bloat issues.

For example, 5 cups of Orijen would euqal 2050 kcal per day, it would take a little over 5 and a half cups of the TOTW HP puppy to be of an equivalent value…so its not like it’s necessary to feed 15 cups of the TOTW HP puppy to equal 5 cups of Orijen large breed puppy. Just didn’t want you to be scared off of the TOTW brand; there are many opinions on what the “best” dog food is.

Besides, at the end of the day, it depends on whether YOUR pup does well on the kibble or not. Some do better on Orijen than TOTW and some do better on TOTW…and others aren’t able to do either.

[To_the_MAX]

[QUOTE=LexusBoBexus;6370159]
Congratulations! Just remember that danes should ideally be a little on the thinner side; this is mainly due to the fast rate of growth that their body goes through. They do the majority of their growing for the first year and then into the second year, the third year they typically balk up (and some may experience another growth spurt).

Here is a great forum for information on great danes:

http://www.dolforum.com/forum
N/M, looks like you’ve found it, welcome!

Yep, I’ve actually posted the same thread over there, just thought I’d get more info by cross-posting here.

At the top it gives a link for a general guide for weight and height of danes which may be useful to you. You do have to become a member to get full access to the forum, but its just a simple username and password like here.

We don’t know his actual weight right now but we’re thinking he has about 15 lbs. to gain to get to where he should be at his age/height.

Be careful here… (Satin balls are typically used for the adults, not growing puppies) again they are supposed to be on the thin side as he is still growing; although I can see ribs in the provided photo, a pic where he is laying down can be deceptive (with him looking thinner than he really is); he may or may not be that bad. It is best to judge his weight by viewing from above and to the side while he is standing.

Thanks! We also got that advice on DOL - no satin balls for the pup - glad I asked! Although I think I will be using plain ground beef for training - Fiance’s mother brought us 22 lbs from their beef farm.

Yes…puppy food is a no-no b/c the calcium and phosphorus ratios (as well as sometimes the amounts) are (with few exceptions) incorrect for a GIANT breed puppy).

Don’t be too alarmed by this, that is just a guide, every dog is different (especially considering that this is a growing puppy and a GIANT breed one at that). Other danes at your guy’s age may be consuming anywhere between 4 ish to 9 or more cups of food (including TOTW since this is a popular food choice for great danes). It is greatly dependent on the individual and although it is hard not to compare the amount that you are feeding to your dog to others, the best way to feed is by his body condition. There is a section on the great dane forum that talks regarding diet (raw, kibble, as well as home-made) that you can search (there are many threads to browse through).

TOTW is a great grain-free food, but don’t forget that different dogs do best on a different foods, so you may have to experiment a little to find the best “fit” for your boy. Also look at kcalories per cup, TOTW is known to have lower kcalories per cup than some other grain-free brands, so just be aware that of that.

For instance, if he needs more calories but you can’t give him more than say 5 cups a day (due to him getting mushy poops trying to process too much food at a time) then a food that allows you to feed a smaller amount while giving more calories might be a better choice.

Just be aware that the vet may or may not be very knowledgeable in the dietary needs of a great dane, so you may need to take his/her advice with a grain of salt.

Again, congratulations on the addition to your family. :winkgrin:[/QUOTE]

Thanks! He is such a sweetie and he and my 2yr old female dane get along great!

[QUOTE=wendy;6370347]DO NOT give him TOTW- it has WAY too much calcium (over 2%) for a young giant breed dog. You want a food that has less than 1.5% calcium, preferably a food labelled as suitable for a large-breed puppy. TOTW is also a very non-calorie-dense food, so he’ll have to eat an enormous volume of food, which could trigger bloat.

Thank you, but I’ve researched our choice in kibble plenty and we are happy with TOTW. I’ve read many trusted sources that say it is just fine to feed.

Also I wouldn’t deliberately attempt to “Fatten him up”. It’s very important that growing danes be very thin- you should be able to see the ribs easily- and to grow slowly. Suddenly dumping a bunch of calories into him could trigger pano or a growth spurt that will lead to malformed joints.

I don’t believe I ever said I wanted to “fatten him up”. I am aware that Danes should be on the lean side, but he is at least 15 lbs underweight. You should NOT be able to clearly see spine and hip bones, which you can on our guy.

You have to be very careful of a giant dog’s diet until age 3 or so. Calcium levels must be low. The dog must be kept very thin. The food should be very calorie- dense so the dog isn’t eating huge volumes.

Orijen’s large-breed puppy food is probably the best choice on the market today for a dane puppy.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Debbie;6370371]He’s adorable!! My dane just turned 2 and feeding him up to this point has been a bit of an adventure. I finally discarded the amt guidelines on the dog food bag. (He eats Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover Adult.) When I fed him the recommended amounts he was ravenous and too thin so I upped it gradually til we found the point where he appeared satisfied -at one point that was 12 cups a day and now it’s dropped back to 9-10 cups.

Farley is a lanky style and has stayed rather lean, but I finally got him to the point where his backbone and hips are covered.

Canned pumpkin is your friend if he gets loose stools. I also add MSM for some additional joint care.

Enjoy your boy!! They are awesome dogs with so much personality.

Here’s a picture of our boy from his birthday a couple of weeks ago. I’m pretty happy with his weight right now. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.452334468128776.115387.100000566807390&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=452335034795386&set=a.452334468128776.115387.100000566807390&type=3&theater[/QUOTE]

What a handsome boy!

[QUOTE=LexusBoBexus;6370448]For the OP, TOTW has various formulas including two puppy formulas that have suitable calcium and phosphorus ratios and amounts. In relation to the amount being fed: although TOTW high prairie puppy formula is less calorie dense than Orijen’s large-breed puppy food (364 kcal/cup vs 410 kcal/cup), the difference is not so extreme as to relate to bloat issues.

For example, 5 cups of Orijen would euqal 2050 kcal per day, it would take a little over 5 and a half cups of the TOTW HP puppy to be of an equivalent value…so its not like it’s necessary to feed 15 cups of the TOTW HP puppy to equal 5 cups of Orijen large breed puppy. Just didn’t want you to be scared off of the TOTW brand; there are many opinions on what the “best” dog food is.

Besides, at the end of the day, it depends on whether YOUR pup does well on the kibble or not. Some do better on Orijen than TOTW and some do better on TOTW…and others aren’t able to do either.[/QUOTE]

Thanks - like I said above, we’ve researched our choice pretty thoroughly. If he doesn’t do well on it we will look for another type of food, but our female does fantastic on it and the new one’s poops have already started to become firmer.

Here’s a few more pictures, because I can’t resist

The pups and their daddy

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/575819_3276642078204_1823553485_n.jpg

Relaxin’

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/307027_3279277144079_1120024811_n.jpg

Handsome boy

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/547193_3282191256930_2105643937_n.jpg

[Simkie]

Errrr…calcium level is super, super important in growing dogs and I’d suggest you listen to Wendy about the Ca level in the TOTW. Here is a published, peer-reviewed study. It was even done in Danes:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3776015

Here is another, also done with Danes:

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/ajvr.2002.63.1036?journalCode=ajvr

I would at least investigate the research–the actual, published studies–on your own before choosing to feed something high in calcium.

[To_the_MAX]

Sigh. I’m not turning this into a debate about pet food. Like I said, I have done plenty of research on the topic and feel comfortable feeding the particular food and formula that I’ve chosen. If he does not do as well on it as my female has, I will feed him something else.

[Simkie]

I’m not trying to turn this into a debate either, To the MAX. I’m just trying to give you some more information. The issue with “we’ll try it and see” is that the damage done by too much calcium can be irreversible and may affect the dog for the rest of his life.

If you have read all of the research and are still comfortable with what you’ve chosen, more power to you. If you haven’t read the peer-reviewed, published studies on the negative effects of too much calcium on young, large, growing dogs, I encourage you to do so. There are more out there than what I linked. There is a LOT of evidence supporting that low calcium levels are required for healthy bone development.

[SquishTheBunny]

Regardless of what you choose to feed him, he is young - and in a year from now you will notice a huge difference in his body type. Athough its hard to tell in the pictures, he is likely a “3 year old horse” type phase. Next phase is to gain muscle and start boxing out. Lean is always good with danes, I wouldnt necessarily be in a rush to have him “gain weight”. Be heathy, feed quality, exercise lots and you will notice him gaining weight slowly He sure is cute!!

[To_the_MAX]

I think I should clarify…because I think people are misunderstanding, thinking that I just adopted a 1 yr. old Great Dane with no knowledge of the breed and am upset that I can see his ribs or want a roly-poly puppy.

This dog was starved. Legitimately not fed by his original owners. He is REALLY 15 lbs. or so underweight, not just a “bit on the thin side”. We own another Dane and are familiar with the fact that they must remain lean and grow slowly.

He gained A LOT of weight very quickly (in around 1 month) at the rescue eating IAMS puppy food (they were not a Dane specific rescue and obviously didn’t realize what they were doing might actually do more harm than good). So now that he’s here with us, I’d like to get him to an ideal weight so that he can continue to grow and develop nice and slowly.

I understand the risks of feeding too much calcium, Simkie. I am not lying to you when I say I have researched - extensively. (PS, I’m a biologist - I know allll about peer reviewed studies ;)) TOTW, especially the formula we are feeding him, is well within acceptable range for a growing giant breed pup. Thank you for your concern though.

[LexusBoBexus]

Sounds like you have everything under control (have done your due diligence and are happy with your choice); he sure is a looker! Glad you found out about DOL on your own, it’s a fantastic resource.

He looks so happy, dreaming away on that couch