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What's the best way to help my active dog gain and keep weight on?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Male | neutered | 1 year and 9 months old | 74 lbs

Hi! What is a good weight gainer for dogs? My dog is a 1.5 year old staffordshire, husky rhodesian ridgeback mix and he has the hardest time keeping weight on. Is there a reasonably priced supplement or any advice? Thank you! Krystin

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Jessica Desrosiers

Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on August 11th, 2018

If Loki is super active you could look into feeding a working dog diet (these usually have a higher protein/carbohydrate level than regular dog foods) or even add in a bit of a puppy formula to his daily meals for the nutrient boost.

I would, however, recommend a fecal test and exam for Loki prior to switching his food to rule out any issues such as parasites, allergies, etc which can affect weight gain and may cause a normally active and healthy-eating dog to not put on weight or lose it. If he checks out healthy, then adding to his diet may help. Your vet can also monitor his Body Condition Score to let you know if he's in a healthy weight ranger currently, or where you may need to tweak it to. Most people may think their dog is "too skinny", but many breeds are naturally slim/muscular as a healthy weight and it could just be that Loki is healthy for his body type.
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