My 3-month-old female Labrador puppy is underweight. How can I help?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would be sure he is on a good quality large breed puppy food. I like Purina Proplan or the Royal Canin or Hill's Science diet puppy foods. Feed him more than the recommended amount on the bag. At 11 weeks old he should be seeing your Vet for vaccinations. Be sure he has had his stool tested for intestinal parasites and has been dewormed a few times. Parasites are a huge issues in all puppies. Good luck!

Because Rosy is a puppy, she should be eating a puppy formulated food. Puppies need higher amounts of protein, calcium, and calories than adult dogs, and a puppy formulate food will give that to her. I recommend feeding her a high quality food such as Royal Canin, Hill's Science diet, Iams, or Purina ProPlan.

Labradors are large breed dogs and thus they should eat a large breed puppy food to help correct growth and development. The large breed puppy formula will make sure growth is slow and consistent which is best for development. Large breed dogs are prone to a variety of growth abnormalities and the appropriate diet helps to prevent them. Additionally, most veterinarians do not recommend grain free diets. The research is not fully complete but there appears to be a link between grain free diets and heart disease. Not every pet who eats a grain free diet will develop heart disease but more dogs do on these diets than dogs who eat grains. There is likely a genetic predisposition that the diet affects. I recommend to change your food to a commercial diet that is formulated for large breed puppies. I recommend the brand Royal Canin. They even have a formula for Labrador puppies. This diet is easy to digest and is formulated for appropriate growth. This diet is complete and balanced and you do not supplement protein or vitamins/minerals. It is also important to make sure that Pom is dewormed appropriately as parasites will cause dogs to be thin. He will gain the weight once he is on an appropriate diet and eating the correct amounts. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hi there and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! 3/8 of a cup twice daily for a growing labrador sounds a little under the calories he should be getting daily. He should be consuming closer to 2 cups of the royal canin maxi food daily. Chicken stew and rice are not good sources of nutrients for a growing dog and should not replace eating his regular puppy food and should be discontinued. Just feeding more of his puppy food will help him grow and put on healthy weight. Thanks again for posting!

Pedigree is fine, but you may want to feed multiple meals a Day to encourage weight gain. Has he seen a veterinarian yet? I assume you mean 7 weeks old. Not 7 Months. At this age he should start vaccinations and deworming with your veterinarian. They will likely also want to perform a fecal exam looking for other types of parasites. Good luck and I hope he does well.

A Labrador puppy should be on a large breed puppy food until 15months. A starter food can be used from 2-8weeks as it can be easier to soften and can be fed slightly warm. Be sure to keep up to date with deworming medication and offer additional meals of scrambled egg, canned puppy food or boiled chicken to increase energy intake until stronger

If she is underweight she may have an underlying medical condition. I suggest you have her examined by a vet. That is big weight discrepancy. Be sure you are feeding her a high quality food like Royal Canin puppy and be sure she has been properly dewormed. You can also try this supplement. ( https://jawsnpaws.in/pet-mankind-aptiquik.html ) Hope this helps. Best wishes.