Choosing The Right Food For Your boxer

   Boxer dog feeding is extremely important especially for this breed. Boxer dogs have very sensitive stomachs and are susceptible to Pancreatitis. I have heard of people that tried the raw diet with their Boxer dogs with poor success. One day I thought I would give our young Boxer dog “Scout” a real treat so I bought one pound of raw chicken liver. I brought home the liver and cooked it then let it cool and fed it all to Scout. Of course he loved the liver and devoured it, and at first no problems occurred. That next morning we woke up to explosive diarrhea in his crate and that continued for a couple of days. I took Scout to the vet and they said that the liver was way to rich and it caused his pancreas to work extra hard creating digestive enzymes. They wanted to do all sorts of Blood work that would come to hundreds of dollars. I opted for the more prudent course and started him on some prescription mild wet food. After 4 days on this food all was normal again.

   I literally have had to change our dog’s food about ten different times until I found a good quality food that lets him produce a good stool sample. I can't stress enough the importance that Boxer dog feeding programs work. Choose a time for feeding that works and stick with it. The food I finally settled on is called Natural Balance and is endorsed by Dick Van Patton. The Natural Balance line offers several different mixes including wet and dry foods. I have had the best luck with the sweet potato and bison mix; all of which are premium grain free products. It was finally clear to me that at least in my dogs case that he had a problem digesting grain or had some allergies to corn and grain, this may not be true for all Boxer dogs. You can’t find this food at Petco or PetSmart I buy mine at a local feed Store or online. Some of the boutique pet stores will sell this food also.
   I shop at Costco a lot and noticed all their so-called premium foods at a great price point. 

I fed our dog about ½ a bag of the Costco food and he started having a very soft stool again and began losing hair by the handful. I guess you get what you pay for and it is well worth it to pay for premium food with boxers. The Natural Balance costs about $55.00 for a 28lbs bag and lasts for nearly a month.

   As you experiment with your puppies diet remember not to switch the foods cold turkey. You’ll need to ration the old with the new at 75% to 25% and so on until you have completely switched over to new food.

   Another tip I’ll share is about the food bowls. I bought our dog a nice large stainless steel bowl  to eat out of  and a large plastic bowl for his water. Our Boxer dog" Scout " did not really like to eat out of the steel bowl, maybe it’s the noise it makes I'm not quite sure. I switched the bowls and found that he eats much better out of the plastic bowl.

   Storing the dog food in the right container is very important. The container should be fairly air tight and it should not be translucent as light will degrade dog food. Also look for one with a pour spout or at least a nice separate feed opening. I can recommend the Pet's Scoop'n Store container by Rubbermaid. This has been an article about Boxer dog feeding and I hope it helps.