As posted in the welcome mat we have a couple of concerns regarding Parker.

First off is his weight, he looks very skinny and underweight to us. We can see his hip bones, spine, rib outline and shoulders chest and back protruding when he is walking around. His sides are caved in and all we feel on his is skin and bone, no fat and very little muscle mass. We feel his ribs, spine, shoulders (chest n back) and hips when we run our hands over him, I hate to say this but it feels like petting and touching a fur covered skeleton.

He was on TOTW apparently before they ran out and couldn't get anymore as the store was closed so they bought what they said was Purina Dog Chow but we compared it to our neighbors dog food who feeds Pedigree Adult dog and it looks the same. We know this is a horrible food so are weaning him off it onto Orijen like Ranger is on currently.

His got in some wheat crackers and other human food the night before he came to us and has had watery smelly diarrhea since then so we have been giving him pure pumpkin as well which is slowly helping but the pedigree is slowing it down we think.

So we need to get him back in optimal shape so what are your recommendations for getting him to put some good weight on. Should we free free him for awhile? Currently he has 3 meals a day and 4-5cups a day of his current food (pedigree while we are weaning him to Orijen slowly)

Next concern is his food aggression when it comes time to eat his meals, he literally attacks the bowl like he has never ever been fed in his life, very savage like. He also guards his food and will growl, bare teeth at us and if Ranger gets close enough he tries to bite and lunge at him so we feed them in different rooms at the moment. He isn't the gentlest with take treats unless it is with an open hand.

With Ranger from day 1 of bringing him home we started with hand feeding him meals and then have our hand and fingers in the bowl, would take it away and give it back so that he knew without a doubt food came from us and only us with positive reinforcement.

So what principals can we apply to Parker's food aggression and how do we correct this behavior he has formed from his old home.

Not the best pic but shows some of what we are talking about for his appearance. With get a video of his food bowl attacking as well tomorrow.

Nothing in my opinion fixes food aggression like hand feeding. Parker probably wasn't fed the proper amount before and just can't wait to eat when it gets put down thus the food aggression.

Hand feed for a while and I think Parker will do just fine.

First off, I wiould axe the nasty dog food. If he's got the runs already... No point in keeping him on that crap, IMO.

Get him on 100% Orijen. Since he's got loose stool and is super skinny (although truthfully I don't see it In the pics) have you gotten him parasite tested? That would be my course of action.

As for the food aggression... I would feed him by hand slowly and use this time to teach gentle. Odin was very nasty and grabby initially but I have never once allowed that to go unaddressed. Right now, unless theyre going to enforce gentle- he gets no treats from them.

He needs to understand there is nothing to fear around food time. You control food. You will protect the food. He doesn't. That's the underlying secret that I've found. Have them respect you, respect that you control food, and they begin to be comfortable. So once hand feeding (more-so using the food as rewards for sitting, gentle, ect) move on to sitting next to the bowl, facing away from him. And just dropping a bit of food in the,bowl at a time. Don't give him enough to go nuts over. Don't interrupt him, or pet him. Be a calm non-intrusive presence while he eats. Slowly move up towards more food at a time. Once he's comfortable start to add Ranger. Feed them on opposite ends of the kitchen so they can both have space. Slowly work back with hand feeding, small amounts in the bowl, ect ect.

I won't lie, it's going to take some time. But it works.

Thanks Len and Kristina.

My other half just wasn't sure about going full on Orijen straight away but yes Pedigree is nasty stuff so this morning meal he got full Orijen.

How many cups would you think would be good to start putting weight on him? We are estimating him to be hopefully 55-65lbs as an adult and the back of the bag says for 3-9mths for 55-65lbs as adult weight feed 3-3 3/4 cups (360-450g) a day and it is 410Kcal per cup (120g) Protein is 38%, Fat is 16% and Fiber 3%.

I hand fed him his kibble this morning one by one with reinforcing gentle and sit and other commands for him to get the pieces of food. By the end (took about 15mins to feed him it all) he was licking it up from my hand but still not chewing just swallowing so I guess it is going to take a lot of work and time with him to get him comfortable, which we are more than happy to do to get this boy back to a sweet personality around food unlike the current savage state of mind.

Other than that he is a lover and stick to my side like glue.

I would start with 1.5 cups 2x a day and see how it goes from there to start.

I dunno, Orijen is so rich it may make the runs much worse, remember that food is so rich especially for a dog that's been on crap. I would take it slow, just to be on the safe side.