[2ndhandgal]

Is she seriously underweight?

If not this is how I played things with Molly when I first got her - and she was pretty underweight at less than 4.5kg when her weight now is nearer 5.5kg.
I was told she was fed burns - a mixture of the pouches and dried food but she ate patchily and really not very well. I then tried naturediet and she started to eat a lot better although still not with huge enthusiasm. She then had a period of gastro-enteritis and a friend suggested maybe trying Natures Harvest as it also contained a probiotic so may be better for her stomach. She liked this and ate fairly well most days.

She has her food down for no more than 30 minutes morning and evening. If she eats if fine, if she does not the bowl is lifted and she gets no treats or nothing else offered until her next meal.

She has now gained a reasonable amount of weight so I would say she is no longer underweight. She eats her food fairly quickly most days - it has been weeks since she last missed a meal - although she missed several in the early days.

 

[2ndhandgal]

Molly certainly seems to prefer Natures Harvest to Nature Diet - but I think the most important thing is to find a food you are happy with and they eat reasonably well and then tough love and they may well miss a few meals along the way!!

Lean but not underweight sounds good and she will come to no harm from missing a few meals.

Molly was very definitely underweight when I first had her, I could feel all her ribs, spine and hop bones very easily and they would have been clearly visible if her coat was shorter and she did miss a few meals but it was well worth it to get her established as eating well. The most important thing is to decide what you are doing and stick with it - no fuss and no changes.

It is interesting to note that if my friend who has other dogs has Molly for the day and feeds her she eats whatever she is given immediately - even dried food she would turn her nose up here!!