View Full Version : Adult female boxer too thin
Camd2011
Jan 20, 2012, 12:54 PM
I have a four year old boxer and I feed her twice a day pedigree chum I give her three cans and two cups of nuts in the evening and two cans in the morning which she eats but will pick out the nuts of the evening meal and only eats a third of it if that she is thinner now thAn she was a month ago I have treated her for parasites so it's not that.. I give her left overs as well some times she will eat them other times she won't am fed up of the waste also as the food is expensive can anyone answer this question. She is also unable to have pups due to complications during her first proper season so she is neutered
JudyKayTee
Jan 20, 2012, 01:07 PM
What does your Vet say? (By the way, congratulations on having her spayed. You'd be amazed at the people who don't!)
My GSD is 150 pounds and she eats one can of dog food and one cup of kibble a day - and usually leaves about a quarter of it. She does have thyroid problems... but still - ?
I don't know that Pedigree is necessarily a quality dog food. Perhaps something of a higher quality would be a good idea - ?
Camd2011
Jan 20, 2012, 01:37 PM
Have tried loads of different types of food a d this one she will eat usually the vet recommend I only give her dry food and she would not touch it she didn't eat for almost a week I started wetting the nuts to soften them she ate them once Nd that was it when she goes to kennels they will only feed dry food and she eats it for them. I don't want to keep giving into her but I don't want her to thin either boxers seem to lose weight so fast this is my third boxer the other two were males though and fine big dogs I know females are of slight build I would love if she would eat all her food so I can take her bowl away
Lucky098
Jan 20, 2012, 01:43 PM
Dogs don't eat nuts. Stop giving your dogs nuts. Some nuts can be poisonous to your dog.. Stop feeding her nuts.
Pedigree isn't the best food. It's not going to put weight on a dog. You need to upgrade to something better. IAMS is better than pedigree..
Keep in mind also, that boxers are suppose to look thin. You are suppose to feel their ribs and their backbone. They are suppose to have the "hour glass" figure.
I copied two pictures.. a picture of a good looking boxer to see what the breed standard of weight should look like.. and I also attached a chart that scores body weight.
And also, some dogs just keep themselves thin.. If your dog is a very active dog, then you're going to have to buy a food with more calories in it. If you start specializing for your dogs needs, that is where the expense comes from. One dog isn't going to break the bank.. In fact, I wish I could eat good food for a month for $50-$60...
JudyKayTee
Jan 20, 2012, 03:28 PM
I wonder if OP says "nuts" when she means "kibble"?
Lucky098
Jan 20, 2012, 06:43 PM
Maybe! Never heard kibble be called "nuts" before
shazamataz
Jan 20, 2012, 08:28 PM
One of my dogs is over 2 years old and is still being fed on puppy and juinior branded food due to his weight. Most dog food marketed towards younger dogs and puppies have higher fat and protein content than their adult counterparts so they are great for underweight dogs.
I know your frustration at a dog only eating a certain brand, while pedigree isn't a great food, it isn't complete rubbish either, I know quite a few dogs who have been raised on pedigree with no problems.
I used to be a dog food "snob" and had to give my dogs only the most expensive brands, but lately I have been wondering why... I was giving one of mine $50 a bag special-uber-sensitive-stomach-allergy-friendly-oragnic-blah-blah kibble and he was still breaking out in rashes. I switched him to a brand which I pick up for $13 a bag and haven't had a problem since. It all depends on the individual dog as to what they do well on.
The problem I think lies with the canned food. Canned food contains a LOT of water so your dog is eating it and not getting anywhere near as much nutrition and fat as they would if they were eating kibble or more solid foods.
If she really hates eating kibble I would recommend you try something like a dog sausage.
http://www2.woolworthsonline.com.au/Content/ProductImages/big/126832.jpg
They come packaged like this and you just chop them up with a knife and serve. They still contain a lot of water, but much less than canned food.
Another option is to try soaking dry food a little before serving. The ratio is about 1 cup of dry food to half a cup of warm water, let soak for half an hour and then serve. The dry food soaks up the water and becomes soft.
JudyKayTee
Jan 21, 2012, 07:24 AM
Maybe! Never heard kibble be called "nuts" before
I had the same thought - but then I thought, "Nuts? Someone is using nuts as dog food?"
Of course, I've wondered about other things posted before.
Hopefully OP will come back and let us know.
Camd2011
Jan 22, 2012, 06:04 AM
Nuts are what we call kibble lol am not actually feeding her nuts that grow on trees am from Ireland
JudyKayTee
Jan 22, 2012, 07:16 AM
Nuts are what we call kibble lol am not actually feeding her nuts that grow on trees am from Ireland
Thank goodness! I kind of had the feeling -
How is the dog? Have you changed anything about the feeding pattern?
MissKamiKaze
May 18, 2013, 09:09 AM
Sounds like you're feeding garbage food! Try feeding a higher quality! The food you are feeding more then likely has corn or some other iller as the main ingredient. You want the first ingredient to be a REAL meat ( not a by product or 'meal'). First ingredients in why dogs food are fresh wild salon, Chicken breast, fish meal, turkey meal etc. Start reason labels. And for gods sake, stop giving your dog nasty canned food that's so bad for their teeth! ( op out of the table scraps too) Also, look up about feeding home cooked meals for dogs! You can add some boiled bonelesschicken Breast into your dogs food, some tuna, salmon. etc. Hopefully someone reads this and betters their dogs eating habits!
JudyKayTee
May 18, 2013, 09:55 AM
Pedigree dogfood is "garbage?"