Originally Posted by Ceearott

If she was neutered very young, like under 12 months of age, chances are she will never fully mature size wise and fill out in the chest and ribs area.

To get some weight on try this, works a treat on my big boys, who have proved difficult in the past to get weight on without feeding ridiculous amounts of food!

Firstly, know this: Milk as you buy it, is not a good food for dogs. In fact it is bad for them. It's all to do with the lactose it contains. The following is the best you can do, or to feed plain (natural) Bio yoghurt. Clabbered milk is sometimes called Buttermilk, but it is right to say that clabbered milk is a more crude and inexpensive product, easily made by you at home. It is excellent for putting condition onto and i~= a dog. The fats are completely broken down and utilised. You will see a real shine, with depth to it come into the coat. Be warmed though, too much and your dog will get grossly overweight if fed too much. Personally, I never feed it more than once a week, unless it is to a nursing bitch or puppies.
Like other milk foods such as Bio yoghurt, it is said to have worm removing properties. Let's hope that one day that can be proven.
Here is my way to make clabbered milk, quickly and easily.
Take a two, or four-pint carton of milk, full cream or semi skimmed. (You must decide if your dog can take the extra fat - probably not with the way that so many dogs seem to be overweight these days rather than lean, which is the way they would survive and thrive in the wild). Remove about a cup of milk for your own use and to give you the air room needed when you come to shake it up. Shake it hard for about ten seconds and leave it in a warm place like a sunny window or by an Aga to literally, go off. Ideally, do this three times a day (remove the top to let the air out after each shaking - and don't forget to put it back!) After as little as 3 or 4 days in warm weather (Summer) a little longer, say about 5 or 6 days if the weather is colder (Winter) it will have become a thick fluid a little like yoghurt and it will smell fresh, yet a touch cheesy. This is the wonderful stuff that is clabbered milk. If you forget to shake it, or you let it go on longer you will, quite simply, end up with curds and whey. You can still feed it to your dog, but give it a good shake to mix them. It may just separate into curds and whey again, when left.

I presume you are taling about cruciate ligaments?? Rotts are very prone to cruciate injury. Even after surgery I'd be looking at keeping the dog on lean side anyway, at least for anything up to 12 months after surgery - you dont wanna be putting extra strain on those legs.

Originally Posted by Freyja

I will try this with my whippet Tegan as she has lost quite a bit of weight recently. She is an older dog though and she is eating just not keeping weight on very well since the weather went cold and frosty the other week. Do you give it all in one go instead of a meal or do you add it to their normal food?