How to Fatten Up a Pitbull Puppy

But as with any other type of dog, adopting a pitbull comes with its own responsibilities and issues. One of the most common problems that many pitbull owners face is maintaining a healthy weight for their young puppies. This problem often arises from a rescue situation. However, it can also happen with dogs adopted through a breeder.

If you are worried about increasing your pitbull puppy weight, you don’t need to lose your sleep over it. With the right tips, you can easily help your pitbull get the required nutrition. 

Make Sure Your Pitbull Actually Needs the Extra Weight

Pitbulls are a bulky dog breed. Unlike a chihuahua or greyhound, they have a visible layer of fatty muscle against their ribs, which gives them a distinctive look. This makes it easy for you to find out if your adopted pitbull needs extra weight.

But apart from judging your pitbull’s weight through a glance, it’s essential that you discuss its health with your vet. This makes sure that you are not fattening up a healthy puppy, since that approach could create long-term problems for its future fitness.

Once you have made sure that your pitbull needs some extra food in its belly, you can move forward with the following tips.

Choose the Right Kibble

A balanced diet for a pitbull puppy often requires some level of high quality kibble or dry food. 

Make sure that you are choosing a dog food brand with approximately 15 percent of natural fat and over 30 percent of protein. This ensures that your pitbull puppy weight increases in the right way. Two servings of this dry food are quite enough when you combine it with the following meal.

There’s nothing wrong with adding supplements to your dog’s diet, especially if they’re having issues with digestion. You can enhance your dog’s health with probiotics from Honest Paws, but make sure you consult your veterinarian before adding anything to their food.

Give High-Quality Treats

Feeding your puppy high-quality dog treats helps it get supplemental nutrition if your pup needs to gain weight. Keep in mind, though, that treats should only make up 10 percent of your pitbull’s daily diet, so avoid overfeeding if your dog is already or nearly at a healthy weight. For underweight pups, ask your veterinarian about the right amount of treats to give your dog daily.

Besides providing added nutrients, treats are great for bonding and training your new puppy. Many pups are highly food motivated; tasty and healthy treats can help dog training progress by leaps and bounds.

Focus on Fresh Food Sources

Apart from dry dog food, make sure to treat your puppy a little and feed it fat and protein through fresh sources. A meal based on fresh ground meat is one of the best ways to achieve this feat. 

A common recipe for this meal is outlined below. 

• 5 pounds of ground beef.
• 5 cups of whole grain cereal.
• 5 cups of slow-cooking oats.
• 2 ½ cups of raw wheat germ.
• ¾ cup of  vegetable oil.
• ¾ cup of  molasses.
• 6 egg yolks. 
• 5 packets of unflavored gelatin.

You can mix these ingredients and make small-sized balls out of them of roughly 1 inch each. You can then freeze them for optimal storage and treat your pup with 2-3 balls twice a day after thawing them out. 

Keep a Close Watch

If your vet recommends a weight gain supplement, you can also add it to your pup’s diet. This allows your pitbull puppy weight to increase in a healthy manner. 

These tips are sought after by various pitbull experts who swear by their efficiacy. However, it’s critical that you move forward with this approach only after a discussion with your vet. Since every puppy is different, this ensures that you aren’t putting your pitbull at harm and only proceeding with their best interests at heart.