Ok , I have a German Shepard, he would rather play than eat, I feed him 30 percent protein dog food, but he is very active, when given a choice between eating and play, he chooses play, I would like to put some weight on him, he is thin. He is 15 months old, any advise will be appreciated.

I'm not sure of the veterinary rules over here, but if you ring your vet and ask them they may be able to recommend a specific food for both his breed, size and required weight.  I would guess this would be at no charge, alternatively maybe your animal local shelter could recommend as they could deal with this problem often.

Personally, I have used cooked Neck of Lamb, plenty of fat and the dog will love it but be careful as german shepherds don't usually have the greatest of digestion!

Cooked liver is good, especially when training, although be careful of changing his food too quickly or too often as this can make a fussy eater.  

Another trick is try to keep regular meal times little and often.

Being a larger breed, he may take some time to fill out and look like a real dog anyway.

Removing the boy things may also settle his concentration, purely your choice if not done already.

Get another dog, it saves wasting food and he may prefer to eat his food and not let someone else eat it!

I have a greyhound cross, who although supposed to be lightly built looks like a hat rack and I regularly get asked if he was rescued!  He gets fed twice a day biscuit and tinned meat, with meat juice poured over titbits plus dinner left over's.  His boy things are still on!

Only other note, at this age or as he fills out make sure that you are the dominant one.  He may well begin to find his feet and this is the age that can make or break him as a pleasant companion or a total ...........!

I've been lucky enough to own two rescued GS who had no personality problems but I've have been to clubs where there are some attitude problems.

Hope this helps, I'm sure there may be a dietician who can analize his protein in relation to his requirements.

Best of Luck

Don't worry about it.  He'll eat when he's hungry.

15 mos. is still pretty young.  Most larger breed dogs don't get their full girth until about 2 years anyway.

Thinner is usually better, especially for hip problem prone breeds like the G.S. (less weight = less wear and tear on joints).  

If it's really a problem, maybe you could try different food.  Some dogs just don't do well on processed dry foods.  

My wife researched some natural diets for dogs and we currently feed our 65lb. Chesapeake only raw food. (RAW turkey legs, chicken thighs and wings, table scraps including vegetables, and raw meaty bones make up his diet exclusively--not all at once, usually two turkey legs, or three chicken thighs, or one large meaty bone that takes him an hour or two to work on).  Consider that until 30 or so years ago, there was no such thing as store-bought dog food--how can it really be provide all that a dog needs?  

This type of diet may seem more of a hassle and expensive than a bowl of 'Ol Roy (it is) but is on par with the high-end foods like Science Diet, Eukanuba etc.  and is not really a hassle at all--just thaw out the food, and put it in the dog's eating area, and you are done.

My Chessie goes freaking NUTS for his food, every time.  He won't eat processed food but never passes up his raw food.  

Anyway, good luck.  

Edited to add:

Also, if he's not fixed (a good thing IMO) he will tend toward thinner naturally.  Good advice above, take away the toys during mealtime.  If he doesn't eat in a reasonable time, put away the food and don't feed him until next scheduled feeding time.  He'll get the idea that he should eat when the food is out.  

Yes he has had his boy "things" taken away, I always regret this later, when I want some good pups, but done is done. I will try taking away his toys and feeding him about a hour latter. Any other ideas, send them, I have another Shep and she is filled out good, almost to good.

I agree with above, mostly.

I raised a Champion Rott male, and a couple other rotts.

The "My dog is HUGE" crowd invariably own FAT dogs.  Thin is better, particularly in dogs, as above, prone to hip troubles.

My male was a large dog. He weighed 119 when he won his last major and became a champion.  I was always asked to look at other's dogs who were "big," they were fat like overstuffed sausages, no tuck in front of the rear legs.

Visible ribs is too thin for a Shepard, but you want a well-defined waist.
 
Be VERY careful about tweaking his diet because he's turning up his nose, you will train him to expect variety and become a finicky eater.

One other thing, DO NOT FREE FEED.  Meaning, measure his moring ration, put it in front of him, give him 2 minutes to think about it, then take it away.  Run his ass off all day, then put his evening ration out and take it away if not gone in 2 minutes.

This lets you know EXACTLY what HE'S eating, not the birds, other dogs, etc.  It keeps down ants, etc, and it WILL condition him to eat what's put in front of him NOW or it will be gone.  Eating time IS NOT playtime, playtime is not eating time.

My dogs racted to food like they hadn't eaten in weeks.

Try it.

Marijuana has a weird property of stimulating the appetite.  AIDS and cancer patients use it for that purpose, and after smoking it they can eat all they want without puking it all up afterwards.  Get your dog stoned.

Never tell your dog that he/she is fat.

Another vote for thin is good.  I have two Greater Swiss Mountain dogs and I fight to keep both of them thin.  They are voracious eaters and will eat just about anything, definitely no free feeding with them.  Any dog that is susceptibel to hip and elbow problems should be kept very thin until at least three years of age.

CITADEL- Did you show the dogs yourself?  We just got our older girls championship and the younger one has a major.  I did all the handling myself, probably would have gone quicker with a pro but seemed more fun to do it myself.  But alas it is all to come to an end next Tuesday when we have the girls spayed and tacked.  Don't have the time or room to breed.

When do you feed him, what time of day? My dogs like to eat after I walk them at night about 10:00pm.

Try feeding him at different times of the day and note when he is most receptive.

Are you a FED, I mean I would use the stuff after almost 26 years of piss test threats and the like, but giving it to my dog sounds extreme, he is my pal, and I don't think getting him stoned is the answer, for me it is free choice, for him it is different. Just my opinion !!!

I went to the shows, but I had Andy Linton show him.  You are spot on about how the judges react to a professional handler, it's not fair to the dogs, but Bismark was a beautiful animal, so he deserved to win.

Worm regularly.

Where in CA are you?  I know around here in the Bay Area there are a lot of beautiful Rotts, and if yours won, it deserved it.

me no spell good.

SouKal, but he was on the road almost a year.  He did some time in the bay area and even the midwest.

His very first win was a major, and he got his 3 or whatever majors out of the way early, then it took forever for him to tack on his final points.  He won 3 majors, then he can't win a 4 dog show?  Yeah right. THe politics stank.

I'll try to scan a pic of his first win and shoot it to you, he was a pretty boy.