Choosing the right dog food to feed your Boxer is vital! Providing your boxer with a nutritious and high-quality diet will ensure they get all the necessary vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to maintain good overall health. But how much food does a boxer need? And what is the best food to feed them?
Eating a healthy diet is important for your Boxer, so read on to find out everything you need to know about feeding your dog.
Boxer dogs require different amounts of food depending on their age and their stage of life. Here is how much your dog should be eating accordingly.
A Boxer puppy requires approximately 55 calories per 0.5kg of body weight. In order to reach this need, puppies will need to eat up to approximately 3 cups of puppy food, shared among three meals per day.
Check our puppy feeding chart:
Every Boxer puppy is different, but many remain rather skinny until they grow into their tall bodies.
An adult Boxer needs about 40 calories per 0.5kg of body weight. They will need to be fed between 3 – 5 cups and one to two meals a day.
If you feed your Boxer dog snack foods, one meal might be enough. Boxers tend to be predisposed to bloat, so if your dog starts to gulp, split the amount into smaller portions to serve up twice daily.
Many Boxers from the age of six to nine years old become more sedentary. Since this breed of dog is prone to weight gain, it is important to adjust their diet to maintain a healthy current weight as they get older.
Feeding your senior Boxer one to two meals a day is still fine, but choose an age-appropriate dog food to assist their older digestive system and provide them with the necessary nutrients for older bones, joints and muscles.
After the third trimester of pregnancy, your Boxer might need to eat three times her normal food intake. During this time, it’s best to increase their food intake by 10% every week until the birth.
Different types of dog food will have its benefits and drawbacks for your Boxer. Let’s take a look at which food is best to feed your Boxer dog.
A standard diet of commercial, dry kibble food will ensure your Boxer receives all the necessary vitamins, minerals, and nutrients it needs to maintain a healthy immune system.
Low-quality kibble food can be processed with chemical preservatives, which can cause your dog to gain unnecessary weight.
High-quality commercial dog foods are formulated alongside veterinarians to help pet owners feed their Boxers well. Therefore, commercial dog food is the best and most convenient food option for Boxers. But don’t be afraid to add in some fresh and raw foods into the mix.
Feeding your Boxer raw food and lean meats lets you design a specific diet. Raw feeding your Boxer fresh food filled with high-quality protein, including meat, fresh fruit and vegetables such as green beans, can help your Boxer dog lose weight.
Feeding your Boxer a diet of raw foods and fresh food to eat is the healthiest way to maintain your dog’s weight. Raw feeding is also a good way to design a specific diet for a finicky eater. Speak to a veterinarian about supplementing a raw diet with the necessary vitamins.
It takes knowledge and experience to be able to ensure you’re providing your Boxer with a balanced diet that meets their specific needs when feeding them with raw and fresh foods.
Snacks can be used to fill the gap between mealtimes and prevent an increase in hunger and gulping food. If your dog is eating snacks often, consider reducing meals to once per day.
This breed of dog is prone to weight gain, so fatty foods or foods laden with preservatives are a no-go. Equally, high-grain foods are difficult to digest.
Boxer feeding is a bit of trial and error; some are fussy, and some are not.
The Boxer dog is an active breed and can quickly become dehydrated if they don’t drink enough. Fresh water should always be available for your Boxer, especially living in the hot Australian climate, but each dog will drink as much as it needs depending on its diet and lifestyle.
Finding the right diet for your dog is one of the most important things you can do as a pet parent, and for a dog like the Boxer, substituting commercial food for a raw food diet can be game-changing.
If you choose commercial food, find one suitable for the age of your dog, and if you do decide to switch to raw food, speak to a veterinarian about supplementing with vitamins to give your dog all the nutrition it needs.
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