RUBY - skinny or not?

This is Ruby my 4 1/2 month old Bandog pup. I put pictures up of her before, in another thread and people said they would like to see a couple more pounds on her so here you go!










This Ruby after she has had her breakfast, the only meal of the day that she will eat, no matter what we mix in with it or what we give her. Her and Barneys worming treatment is up to date. I have also tried giving her a bigger breakfast but then she leaves some of it and i have also tried giving her a smaller breakfast. Have tried her on loads of brands of dog food. The only food she used to eat was puppy complete dry mix, now she has started to refuse to eat this so tried her on iams, hills and bakers. she would only eat one out of the three which was the bakers puppy. Hope you enjoy the pics, let me know what you think Bolty.

i also think she is underweight, you shouldnt be able to see all her ribs.

By the sound of it you have created a picky dog by changing her diet all the time and offering her something better when she refuses to eat it. Unfortunetely it can be a hard habit to break. You must put her food down and if she doesnt eat it after 20 minutes then pick it up and dont put it down until the next meal time, dont offer her anything else and dont give her any treats. She needs to learn that what you put down is what she gets. It will take a little while of being consistant with this to get her eating normally again

I agree, pick a food and stick to it!
A dog won't starve it's self! She might refuse to eat for a few days (My little Kingsley went about 5 days without eating, then gave up and ate), but she will realise that she isn't getting anything else! That also means no treats if she doesn't eat her food!

She could do with a few extra lbs' Just add an extra half cup of food to each meal.

Yes I think she is underweight.
I would suggest that you chose a food that is best for her and stick to it.Bakers is probably one of the last foods I would feed I'm afraid .....have you tried Autarky?
I would not give her a bigger breakfast but a smaller one...leave her hungry!! I would also cut down to 3 meals a day if she isn't eating so that she goes longer between meals.On each meal I wouldfeed a smaller portion than is ideal for her age just to get her into the routine of eating.I would put her food down for 5 minutes ONLY!! and then remove offering NOTHING until her next meal....thats means no treats at all.
Once she has got into the habit of eating I would then slowly increase the quantites fed in order to put the weight on but the first thing you need to do is break the cycle of not eating.

my tyson is a picky eater has been since day 1 . but hes also very healthy and not at all underweight . hes eating better now .. i got him to eat by putting fresh cooked chicken in with his meals gradually cutting it down untill he was left with his food hes now eating whatever gets put down for him .. i also dribbled honey on his meals that also helped him eat what was given .
dont leave her feed dwon give so long to eat then lift it try putting it back dwon half an hour later or so .. keep it up shell get there .. good luck with her shes a little beauty

she does look a bit ribby (a bit like Finn) Have you tried mixing some tripe into her food? It might make Ruby eat a bit better.

She is maybe ever so slightly underweight, but better that then over weight, if she eats well then I reckon she's burning it off as an active puppy.

Don't get in to a routine about constantly worrying about a dogs weight, or chopping and changing its food every five minutes.

If her poo's are ok and she's not constantly scratching, and she's eating what you give her then why change it.

Seems a bit strange to me if some one says there dog is underwieght they're advised to change the food, surely the first thing to do is increase the food they have slightly, if over weight decrease slightly or increase the dogs exercise.

Yes Autarky is good, but like any other food it doesn't suit all dogs, there is no one food that will suit all dogs and every owner thinks they've found the holy grail and naturally want to let the rest of us know.

mine all gained weight on Autarky so i took them off it ...so it might be good for Ruby

The reason I suggested changing the food is because Bolty needs to choose 1 food which is suitable for Ruby and stick to it.Bakers is one of the poorest completes on the market IMO and is full of additives and colourings.Autarky is good for weight gain and is a good quality food at a good price.
The problem now is that Ruby is in the habit of not eating and this needs to be broken.This is why I would reduce meals to 3 per day and only leave down for 5 monutes.She needs to have the option of 'I can eat when I please' taken away from her and to realise that she must eat whenBolty says so!Once the cycle is broken he can concentrate on putting the weight on Ruby.
The other reason I suggested Autarky is that if Ruby only ats say 1 bowl of feed per day she will get more nutrients from a good quality food sich as Autarky that she will from a bowl of Bakers

Is she wormed regularly? Sorry sounds like an odd question her belly looks quite bloated & swollen in a couple of pictures like you see in a dog with worms perhaps this could be the reason she is not gaining weight - does anybody else notice it?

Personally she doesnt look to thin to me, a gangly pup is all I see.