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

[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

[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 !!!

[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.