how can i get my boxer to puit biting my kids?

[timlewis]

i know i have a lot of questions but i dont know a lot about dogs and we dont have any kind of training around here where i live. my boxer pup bites my kids all the time and i know it is in play but her little teeth are sharp they hurt me so i know they hurt my kids. and i need to know how i can get her to quit biting them. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

[coco-bean]

i have a question for you, why is he so skinny?

[Cataholic]

Good grief, no kidding. Why is he so skinny? :eek:

[timlewis]

i WONDERED Y MYSELF BUT THE VET SAID SHE HAD A PERFECTLY FRAMED BODY. THAT IS JUST THE WAY THEY R SUPPOSE TO LOOK. WHEN I FIRST GOT HER I FED HER A LOT BECAUSE I HADN'T EVER HAD A PUP BEFORE, ALL SHE DONE WAS POOP. MY BROTHER IN LAW HAS MORE EXPERIENCE WITH DOGS AND TOLD ME I WAS FEEDING HER TO MUCH. SO WHEN I STARTED FEEDING HER WHAT THE BAG RECOMMENDED SHE DIDNT POOP ALL THE TIME. AND WHEN I FIRST GOT HER SHE LOOKED THE SAME AND THE VET SAID SHE WAS PERFECTLY PROPORTIONED, I WAS WORRIED MYSELF. AND I HAVE LOOKED AT A LOT OF BOXERS ON DIFFERENT WEB SITES AND FULLY GROWN THEY LOOK JUST THE SAME CHECK THEM OUT, TRUST ME IM NOT NEGLECTING HER I LUV DAISY. U CAN GO TO www.boxerworld.com AND LOOK AT SOME PICS

[Love That Collie]

Hi Tim;
Never fear, this too shall pass re the puppy biting.
There's several methods people use, you should find out what will work best for you.

1. Every time the puppy bites, discontinue playing with her immediately and say "no bite" ignore her for a little while then resume play. Do this each time she bites. Puppies hate to be ignored.

2. Every time she bites or teeth touch skin, yelp loudly or say OUCH/OWWW
loudly and put a chew or toy in her mouth immediately and praise her when she chews or bites on something she is SUPPOSED to.

There are other options, these are just 2, but whatever method you end up choosing it must be consistent and all of the family members must use the same method. Hope you find something that works. I had the biggest puppy biter I had ever seen just last summer, he now has one of the "softest mouths" I have ever seen.

[timlewis]

Thank U For The Advice I Will Try. I Read Someone Said When She Bites Put Ur Hand Further N Her Mouth And She Will Try To Spit It Out And Eventually She Will Quit. I Dont Know Its Not Really Having Much Affect. And My Kids R Only 2 And 5 So Getting Them To Help Will B Hard But I Will Try And I Surely Appreciate The Advice Ill Let U Know How It Turns Out.

[Love That Collie]

Tim;
You are welcome.
I have never been a fan of pushing the hand back farther in the mouth way.
And yes, you are correct, that way wouldn't be good for the kids to do as
they could get hurt. Your 5 year old could be a big help, five year olds are always wanting to help with things. LOL So it wouldn't be difficult for you to
show your 5 year old how to teach the puppy not to bite. The 2 year old is
another story though, as you know. ;)

[coco-bean]

I know how boxer's should look, im not saying by any means that ur neglecting your puppy, sorry if i offended you! BUT....when you see all her ribs and parts of her hips, i think their may be a problem! If you are feeding her correctly, maybe you should have your vet check for worms or something!?! let me know how that goes for you!

[Corinna]

I love Daisy shes adorable. I have a 1 year old boxer He was a rescue from anothe Pet talker. He was abused and was very thin also. looking at the muscle tone on her front . I would say she's still a very young girl. How old is she.? It could be she's just a pre teen and they some times look that way . Boxers don't get tired so they burn off evey thing they eat.
I hope you are ready for a lot of exercising and playing if you have never had a dog before you are in for a lot of learning and work. Boxersare a very high maintanice breed. I just had a 6 foot cedar fence put up and Tyson will jum froma stand still to hook his paws over the top and watch people go by.
I would suggest you " Boxers for dummies "at your local pet or book store.
I have raised dogs for 40 years (mostly spaineils) boxers are a totally different expience . I love him to peices ( which is what most of my lawn furnyure is now) But if bored they will be destructive, keep lots of toys and keep her busy. Get on the obediance training NOW as they are Very strong dogs as they get older.
They are a soruce of eternal amusement also. If you want to se some of what i mean look up threads labeled Boxer shorts by me or Dugansdad (my hubby ) they will be in dog general. enjoy your sweet heart.
You can e mail me any questions if you want. winky@ bresnan.net

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

You already recieved some wonderful advice regarding the biting issue. However, I agree that your pup is on the thin side (I am not implying that you are neglecting her though). I know quite a few Boxers, one of which is a puppy and I've never seen one that thin. If you don't mind me asking, how much food are you feeding her? How often? and, what brand?

[timlewis]

Sorry Coco If U Thought I Was Mad I Didnt Mean For It To Sound That Way At All, I Just Didnt Want Anyone To Think That Because I Truly Do Luv Daisy. The Vet Checked Her And Said She Was Fine Just A Week And A Half Ago And I Gave Her A Worm Pill Today That The Vet Gave Me. Im Not Sure The Name Of It But Im Suppose To Give It Once A Month And Its For Heart Worms And All. She Stays Out All Day Long Running And Playing So I Think That Has A Lot To Do With It She Is Only 9 Weeks Old. I Will Ask The Vet When I Take Her Back To Get Her 2nd Set Of Shots This Week Or Next And Ill Let U Know What She Says. Thank You For Ur Reply TO ANSWER UR QUESTIONS ORANGUTANGO SHE IS 9 WEEKS AND I FEED HER BETWEEN 1 3/4 TO 2 CUPS A DAY. AND THAT IS WHAT THE VET TOLD ME AND I MADE SURE SHE MEANT ONCE A DAY NOT TWICE SHE SAID TO GIVE HER A CUP OF THE MORNING AND THEN 3/4 OF THE EVENING OR OF THE NIGHT. DOESNT SOUND LIKE MUCH TO ME BUT THAT IS WHAT SHE TOLD ME SO IM TRYING IT. AND I DONT KNOW HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE IT MAKES BUT I TOOK THOSE PICS IN THE EVENING AND SHE HAD ATE THAT MORNING, BUT I DID FEED HER THE REST SHORTLY AFTER. DO U ALL THINK THAT IS ENOUGH FOOD FOR HER OR SHOULD I GIVE HER MORE??????? I FEED HER PUPPY CHOW.

[timlewis]

Corinna I Tried To E Mail U And It Wouldnt Go Through If U Dont Care E Mail Me So I Can Reply I Have A Few Questions For U About Daisy If U Dont Mind.

[coco-bean]

i would def. give her a little more! Not anything like 2 or 3 more cups, but at least 2.5 daily!, one of my pamphlets i got from akc said puppies should be fed at least 4 times a day, so myabe you should look on the internet or do some research! Thanks!! :)

[catnapper]

Every dog is different, and the feeding guidelines are for the typical dog. Not for the ones who are inactive or hyperactive. I would recommend putting down as much food as she'll eat in a 5-10 time. When she's done, pick it up and put it away til the evening. Do the same then. Her ribs shold not be as prominent. I have seen thin boxers before, and yes, their ribs do show but not as prominently.

As for the nipping and biting
Rule #1: Teach the kids not towave their hands or scream/squeal/cry. To a puppy thats one big invitation to play.

Rule #2: never pull your hand away since that's a great way to get bit AND deep scratches.

Rule #3: If its nipping and biting from teething, redirect to something she can chew one - a bone, a toy, a kong thats got penutbutter and has been frozen. Ooooo they LOVE frozen peanut butter Kongs! The frozen feels good on their sore gums and they'll spend time getting the peanut butter out.

Rule #4: Many times they are nipping and biting for attention. Do NOT pay ANY attention to her unless she's being polite and leaving her mouth off you. Stand up, fold your arms across your chest, stare at the sky. You'll KNOW you're getting to her when she starts jumping up, biting your feet, grabbing the hem of your pants, etc. Whatever you do, do NOT acknowledge her. Do not push her down. No looking at her, no verbal corrections, no cries, no screams, NOTHING. Within a few minutes, she'll pick up on the fact that she's not getting anything from you. Most likely, she'll back off a few feet and sit down or wander off. Then you go up to her and offer to play until she starts to mouth at you again. Repeat, repeat, repeat. If you are truly consistent with this, she'll stop because she knows her mouth on you means she gets zero attention from you. This same technique works wonders on jumping up. To recap: NO attention. No verbal, visual, no touch. NOTHING! Pretend she's not even there.

Rule #5: Never play with her using your hands. People seem to think roughousing by quickly rubbing puppy's face is fun yet they are confused when the dog nips back. If you want to rough house, play tug of war.

Rule #6: NEVER clamp your hand over her mouth. I've seen people recommend it, but all it achieves is frustrating her, making the problem worse.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Puppies generally eat between two and three times a day (preferably 3), and Boxers being such an active breed do need quite a bit of food. Boxer people I know give their pups about 5-6 cups a day, which is about 2 cups per meal. Purina Puppy Chow isn't a high quality food, so it's going to go right through her system thus making it harder for her to gain weight. I'd recommend feeding something of higher quality, which wouldn't be anyhting that you can find in a gorcery store. Nutro (Natural Choice or Ultra) is a step up from Puppy Chow and can be found in PetsMart aswell as Petco and any other smaller pet store. Natural Balance is even better than Nutro and I think can be found in Petco (I'm not from the US, so I'm just going by what I've heard). If you can find Canidae, Innova, California Natural, etc. those would be even better but if you can't, Nutro or Natural Balance (which ever one is easily available to you) would be a great start, in my opinion. Of course, you don't have to change her food if she's doing okay on it but in the long run it would much better for her. Good luck with your pup :).

[timlewis]

Im Sorry But I Dont Think 5-6 Cups A Day Is The Right Diet For My Pup. I May Need To Up Her Food A Little But My Vet Told Me 1 1/2 Cups A Day Was Enough For Her. I Have Been Feeding Her 2 Cups A Day For The Last Few Days But 5-6 Cups Would Be Way To Much For Her Right Now. When I First Got Her I Would Just Poor Out Food And Let Her Eat What She Wanted And She Just Pooed All Over The Place. So That Much Would Just Go Right Through Her.

[catnapper]

She pooped so much because of the food. I think of Puppy Chow like McDonalds, and Nutro like a homecooked square meal. Look at the ingredients. Puppy Chow is filled with fillers and by-products. Nutro has no byproducts and it takes a while (if ver ) to get to corn, and then they don't have the whole corn (which is hard to digest)

I swear, feeding her 2 cups of Nutro is a HUGE difference than the same 2 cups of Puppy Chow. They eat less, poop less, and get much better nutrition on a better food.

I am willing to bet her poop also smells pretty bad and is kinda squishy. The Nutro will also give less stinky poo and much firmer consistency.

PS: Get a new vet. Didn't they tell you about Puppy Chow? Didn't they go over Nutrition? From the photos, she is NOT in breed standard weight.

[timlewis]

One Problem Is I Have Never Heard Or Saw Nutro And I Live In A Very Small Town So We Only Have One Vet. She Did Tell Me Something About Some Kind Of Food They Have Which Is Called Scientific Diet. And I Have A Lot Of People Telling Me A Lot Of Different Things To Do One Main Problem I Think Is That I Saw A Cat Around Her Kennel Just A Few Minutes Ago. So I Think I Will Try Putting Her Up For 20 To 30 Mins When I Put Her Food Out. And As Far A Nutro We Dont Have Any Pet Stores Around Other Than One And I Wouldnt Even Let My Pup Go Into It.so I Dont Know Where I Can Get It Unless The Vet Has It There, Have U Ever Heard Of The Scientific Diet Food Before. If Not Where Can I Find Out About It? And I Think Im Going To Pick A Couple Of People Out That Have Boxers And See What They Think No Offense To Anyone I Would Still Like To Know Everyones Thoughts And Opinion. All I Really Want Is To Have A Very Happy Healthy Well Trained Pup. I Thank You All For Your Thoughts And Hope To Keep Hearing From U All, And Ill Keep U Posted On Her With Some Pics.

[catnapper]

My cats eat prescription Science Diet. I personally don't like it -- vets get paid to push it. but its considered a premium food and is a million times better than Puppy Chow!

Don't worry, no matter how small your town is, Petco or Petsmart will be moving in soon! Both chains are building rapidly!

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Science Diet is awful...but I think it is a bit better than Puppy Chow. Vets, in general, really don't know a whole lot about dog nutrition. If you have to purchase grocery store food, I think the highest quality they have is Purina ONE and even it isn't great. 5-6 cups of (give or take a bit, depending on each pup) probably food would be right for your puppy (not all at once, like I said, about 2 cups per meal) if she was being fed a good food, but since she isn't, it is going to go right through her which does result in a lot of poop. Do you have an pet stores in your town (or close to your town)? Any pet store will sell Nutro if you do, not just the ones I mentioned in my previous post.

Here's a comparison thing between Purina ONE, Science Diet, & Dog chow...they didn't have puppy formulas for all of them on the site but I'd imagine the puppy would be similar to the adult.
Dog Food Comparison (http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz-results&animal=Dog&id1=1285&id2=1232&id3=1123&id4=&x=42&y=12)

[timlewis]

i thank you both i will try to find some nutro but i still cant see my pup eating 5-6 cups a day. she would be big as a hog i do know that boxers r suppose to be a little on the thin side maybe not like she is now but still. maybe your right but i dont see how her little stomach could hold that much food. but ill try and find some nutro and see what happens.

[coco-bean]

I personally would give your pup dog chow, i just know from experience with coco my 5 month old, it made her very sick, she would throw up a few times a day, then we switched her to Science diet and she is actually excited about eating again! I know every dog is different but for a pup of such high energy i would def. recommend higher quality! Good luck on your dog food quest ;)!!!

[Love That Collie]

Tim, just a suggestion,........if I were you , I would contact 4 or 5 different
breeders. Email them, call them whatever suits you. You can see a number of different breeders on such websites as Qualitydogs.com to name only one.
Then see what all of them suggest. Email them pictures and tell them what you have posted here. I have found breeders of most breeds of dogs to be very helpful even though they didn't sell you your dog/pup.

I know from experience the better the dog food the more nutrition that the dog or puppy absorbs, therefore less stinky poop and less poop all together.
I have a large breed dog and have always had a large breed dog, he now weighs 75 lbs and only eats 2 cups to 2 3/4 cups per day. BUT, when he was in his growing stage between 3-6 months he was consuming, at times, 5 cups a day, I didn't know where he put it all, he was fed 3 times daily. But on the average, during that big growing stage he did eat around 4 cups a day, give or take a few ounces and his "output" was not even imaginable compared to what he ate at the time. He has been on Canidae for a long time now. Less output, uses more nutrition and healthy as a horse.

I agree with the previous posters from experience that most vets don't know all that much about nutrition unless they specialized in that additional field and yes, my vet too reccomended Science Diet too and I never took that recommendation. Vets who sell this also get some kind of compensation for it but that's not why I didn't use it. Anyway, that's just my input for whatever it's worth but I would contact some breeders and ask them what they feed, how should your dog look/appear and tell them what you are feeding her.

[dragonfly]

I agree her ribs are very prominent and also her hip bones are sticking out on the top, so I think she is a little too thin. 1 3/4 to 2 cups doesn't sound like very much for a growing pup, especially a high energy breed. Our dog is 6 months now and he still eats about 3 1/2 cups a day and he's not too fat and not too thin. I would switch her food and then up the amount to try and get a bit more weight on her.

Thanks for all the biting tips folks, I have the same problem with my dog even though he's older he was not trained at all when I got him and he still has some lapses of judgement. Hoping he'll be easier to train once he gets the snip-snip here shortly.

[new mom to a veiled]

My boxer puppy Tyson ( who I still really miss) was very thin also when he was about Daisy's age.....and he was on a not so good food when I got him. I changed him to Natural choice large breed puppy and he not only put on some weight but also got a much healthier coat and skin. I would feed him about 4 cup a day.....1 cup per feeding. As was said before, she was pooping so much due to the type of food, not just the amount she was eating. Please pm me if you would like to chat...... :)

[LilacDragon]

First off, I would like to recommend two books to you. Boxers for Dummies and Dog Training for Dummies. While the titles may sound offensive - they are excellent books - easy to read with excellent advice.

Boxers are very high energy! Lots of excercise is needed daily. Personally, I would make sure that the kids and the pup are not allowed to interact at all unless there is an adult present.

As for food - Boxers can be very gassy. Canidae is an excellent food as are a couple of the others mentioned earlier. I would avoid foods that contain corn, soy and any meat by products. Science Diet is pretty bad food for the price and not something that would make it in my front door. Neither is puppy chow.

My pom eats a cup of food a day and he weighs all of 8 pounds. Your pup most definately needs more then what she is getting. My suggestion would be a cup and a half in the morning, a cup and a half at lunch and a cup and a half for dinner. You will find that with better quality food, your dog is digesting and utilizing more of the food and pooping less.

[lady_bug_mistress]

hi! i'm new here et love this site! i had to write to you to say first off your dog looks fine. ive had 4 boxers, not counting 2 litters with a total of 14 pups in all. im no expert, but boxers have such a high metabloism they are almost always that thin. my first boxer didnt really start to put on weight until he was 5 et calmed down. even then he just put on muscle. my GSD on the other hand is a different story lol. as far as getting your boxer to stop nipping the kids..i had to teach both my kids et the dogs together. my kids now know the "rule of thumb" with boxers...you run from boxers, they WILL chase you. not to intentionally be aggressive, but in my experience they are VERY play oriented. we use toys a lot, ranging from tug ropes to balls (be careful with more then one tennis ball at a time though because a boxer can et will fit up to 3-4 in their mouths et could possibly choke). as the dog grows et the mouth gets bigger soccer balls are good, but invest in stock because they can easily bust them lol. we change toys a lot too, because our boxer has the attention span of a nat, so we try to keep her interested with variety. like i said, i'm not an expert but i hope my experiences could help you.