If your Springer Spaniel is on the thin side, you might be a little worried about its health. You love your dog and don’t want it to be underweight. Fortunately, there are several reasons why your Springer Spaniel is so skinny, and most of them are easy to address.
There are 4 reasons why your Springer Spaniel is so skinny:
- Your dog exercises too often.
- It is not eating enough food.
- Your dog is sick.
- Natural body type.
Keep reading to figure out why your Springer Spaniel is skinny and learn different ways to address the problem. If you’re very concerned about your dog’s health or if it refuses to eat, you should call your vet for professional advice.
1. Your Dog Exercises Too Often
Springer Spaniels are energetic working dogs that were bred to work and hunt alongside humans, so it makes sense that they have almost boundless energy. But sometimes, a Springer Spaniel is so eager to work that it will burn more calories than it eats.
When that happens, it loses weight and becomes skinny.
Is your Springer Spaniel a working dog? Does he regularly hunt with you? If so, he might be exercising too much. Consider changing his diet to give him more calories or let him rest more during the day.
Springer spaniels need daily exercise, such as a long walk, game of fetch, or rounds of tug-of-war. But the strenuous exercise of hunting or other work might be too much for it to do every day without a diet change. You can find a many products on Amazon such as a ball thrower, floating fetch toy and a rope to assist you with your Springer’s daily exercise needs.
If you’re worried about your Springer Spaniel getting anxious when you leave it at home, consider crate training. Your dog will learn to see his crate as a safe, comfortable space to relax when you’re away.
You can purchase a large pet crate on Amazon.com, such as Midwest Homes crate. Be sure to buy a crate large enough for your Springer spaniel, and line it with comfortable bedding or your dog’s favorite blanket.
2. It Is Not Eating Enough Food
Your Springer Spaniel’s diet and exercise go hand in hand. If your dog is exercising more, it should be eating more, too. And if she’s taking a break from strenuous activity, be sure not to feed it as much as you do when she’s on the job.
Active Springer Spaniels need a lot of calories, and dry kibble may not be enough for your dog.
The National Research Council of the National Academies suggests a non-working Springer spaniel needs 989 calories a day. Meanwhile, an active, working Springer spaniel needs at least 1,353 calories a day.
Maybe your dog needs an extra scoop of kibble to meet its caloric needs. Check the nutritional value of your kibble to see how much they should be eating.
If your Springer Spaniel only likes to eat small amounts of food, consider giving it calorie-dense foods. These foods pack as many nutrients as possible into small servings, helping your dog gain weight without forcing it to eat more.
Miracle Vet High-Calorie Dog Food For Weight Gain on Amazon.com contains 600 calories per cup. It is designed to help underweight dogs reach a healthy weight. Each bag contains 60 servings. Make sure to start off with a small portion at first to make sure it does not upset your dog’s stomach. You can mix it in with their normal food also.
Or try mixing wet food with dry food.
If your Springer Spaniel is a picky eater, warm the wet and dry food mixture in the microwave. Pedigree Choice CUTS in Gravy on Amazon.com is an excellent option for canned wet food to give your dog.
Pedigree’s canned dog foods are highly rated and made with real meat, and they come in packages of 12 cans.
Some Springer Spaniel owners give their dogs human food, like chicken, beef, or fish. They might mix lard, milk, or eggs with the dog’s kibble for an added amount of fat. Ask your vet if you’re unsure how much to feed your Springer Spaniel or if you have questions about which foods are safe for your dog.
3. Your Dog Is Sick
Maybe your Springer Spaniel wasn’t always so skinny. Maybe he used to be of average build, or even on the chubby side. If he only became skinny recently, he might have an underlying health condition.
Rapid weight loss is a sign that your dog is sick. If your dog recently became skinny without changing his diet or exercise routine, you should contact your vet immediately.
The possible health conditions that can lead to your Springer Spaniel losing weight are wide-ranging. He might have a tooth problem that has led him to stop eating, or he could have stomach pain or some kind of parasite. It could even be as serious as cancer.
Your vet will perform tests to determine why your dog has lost so much weight.
4. Natural Body Type
Dogs come in all shapes and sizes, just like people. Some dogs happen to be naturally skinny, especially if they are active, and it could be that your Springer Spaniel naturally falls on the skinny side.
According to the American Kennel Club, the average female Springer Spaniel weighs 40 lbs (18.14 kg), while the average male weighs 50 lbs (22.68 kg).
These are averages, which means some dogs will naturally fall above or below these numbers. If you think your Springer Spaniel weighs too far below the average, ask your vet if he believes this is cause for concern.
Maybe you’re not used to seeing your Springer spaniel with its fur-trimmed short, and she looks alarmingly thin without all that extra hair. Or maybe you’re used to seeing pudgier dogs, and your dog looks skinny by comparison.
Be sure to only compare it to other Springer Spaniels because dogs vary greatly in size from one breed to the next.
If your vet approves of your dog’s health, diet, and exercise routine, you might just have a naturally skinny Springer Spaniel.
Final Thoughts
If your Springer Spaniel has always been skinny, it’s probably a combination of his diet, exercise, and natural frame. Talk to your vet about ways you can increase your dog’s caloric intake or decrease his activity.
And if your dog has suddenly lost weight, schedule a vet appointment right away to make sure it’s not due to a serious health condition.
The best thing you can do for your Springer Spaniel is to not panic about his weight. Don’t overwork him, feed him calorie-dense food, and consult your vet to answer any questions you have.