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

[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

[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.