Recued Boxer - What food should i start him with?

MaxDBoxer · #1 07-25-2009, 08:17 AM

Hello everyone,

Apparently this is a fequent question that may people seem to ask in the forum. I've visited Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble and have find the ratings very helpful yet I dont know what would be a good start for a 9-10 month fawn male boxer which we just adopted from someone. The dog was left tied to someone's mailbox and was/is very skinny. The lady i got him from was feeding him Pedigree small bites and she gave me whatever she had left for me to continue to feed him. I've had him for 4 days and food is about to run out. Before getting the same food, i figure it'll do some research and see if its best changing the food for a better more nutrional meal. He is very skinny and even though i know seeing the ribs in some boxers is normal, mine actually has the hips bones sticking out. I'm feeding him twice a day 3-4 (8 oz cups) cups each serving.

I would really appreciate any suggestions.

Will & Max from Florida

ehayes21 · #2 07-25-2009, 10:05 AM

from Florida, too!

Food is really a trial and error, I definitely would ditch the Pedigree. Some of my favorites are Wellness, Natural Balance, Solid Gold, Castor & Pollux, Orijen. If I were you I'd give Wellness a try - Wellness Core is grainless which is always a plus. Good luck and thank you for giving this boy a home!

kayboxer · #3 07-25-2009, 10:05 AM

Well, the thing to do is probably just pick one and try it out. A lot depends on what you can afford and find in your area. I would pick a good "all life stages" food and start from there. Do you know of any allergies she has? That could make a difference also. I personally feed Wellness, but there are many other good foods to choose from. If you want to, you could also add a meat to her diet, such as lightly cooked chicken or beef. They also make good canned meat by Wellness or Merrick. You could add a bit to the evening meal or both meals. It's hard to say what food to start with, you just have to pick one and go from there. Congrats on your new addition!

MaxDBoxer · #4 07-25-2009, 11:22 AM

Thank you guys!

Well I've noticed that Wellness seems to be a popular choice here in the forum (after reading several threads). I also see both of you guys feed your boxers wellness.
Kay, I have a Petsmart and Petco closed to my house and while i noticed that petsmart does not sell Wellness, Petco does. So i'll be stopping by today to pickup Wellness CORE Original Adult Dog Food at PETCO (Wellness core) probably i'll start with a 12 lbs bag to see how he (is a boy LOL) reacts to it. I may get a few cans as well to mix it up a bit.

About alergies, I dont realy know much about him. I've had him for 4 days and as I mentioned before, the dog was left tied up to someone's mailbox who was the person looking for anybody to take care of the dog. I've taken him to the vet and apparently his very skinny but healthy yet I also noticed that every time i bring him back into the house from a walk after he drinks water he always throws up

The vet says that this is becuase they're hyper and may throw up because he was jumping after just eating but i'm not too sure that's the case (then again i'm not a vet)

Thank you guys for taking the time to recommend me what seems to be a very good choice. I'll be posting a few pictures of Max as soon as i can get a camera

MaxDBoxer · #5 07-25-2009, 11:53 AM

One more thing, I noticed that the Wellness CORE its for Adults. I dont know the exact age of my boxer; however, when i took him to the vet for a checkup the Vet said that he's between 9 to 10 months old. Would this food (Wellness core) be fine for him?

kayboxer · #6 07-25-2009, 03:57 PM

Wellness Core is one of the grain-free foods that is not as high in protein as others. I personally think it would be okay since the protein content is not as high as say Solid Gold Barking at the Moon. I would give it a shot. Since he was not fed well and just tied to a tree, he could probably use some protein to build up some of the muscles.
About the throwing up, my first girl Roxy would vomit every time we came in from a walk. I don't know why, but she would. I learned just to put her in the back yard to let her rest for a few minutes until I brought her in the house. I had to do that every time, but it's better than cleaning carpets!

BxrMommieNAZ · #7 07-25-2009, 05:26 PM

Does he drink TOO MUCH water after coming in from a walk? My boy will drink and drink and drink and drink some more and if I don't tell him to stop he'll drink too much and then puke up a bunch of water regardless of being hyper or not (he really isn't). So watch him, if he drinks more than a minute or so back him away from the water dish for 5 minutes and let him go back, too much water at once will make anyone puke humans included.

On the food you know he's so close to being a year I wouldn't worry about it. If the Wellness Core is available at your PetCo (it isn't at mine), you can afford it, he eats it and does well on it I wouldn't be stressed over a couple of months. Also remember that ALL of the high quality foods are 100% returnable (even if opened and some eaten), so if you get the big bag for economy sake and it doesn't work out you can return the unused portion for a full refund or exchange (just make sure to keep the bag). Also PetCo has a deal of buy 10 bags and get 1 free (not all at the same time), GREAT program IMO and it really is as simple as that. They keep track of it on your PALS card and once you hit that 10th bag within a few weeks they send you a coupon for that size bag in the mail you take it in buy the bag to redeem it and just pay the tax.

Anyway, good luck! Oh also, you will be feeding SIGNIFICANTLY less than 8 cups a day on the Core so make sure not to overfeed or that can cause stomach upset, vomiting, and diarrhea.

MaxDBoxer · #8 07-26-2009, 09:30 AM

Guys,

Thank you very much for the suggestions!

Kayboxer & BxrmommieNAZ,

So i went over to petco and they did have Wellness core. They only had "1" 4lbs bag available of core; however, all other wellness bags were available in different sizes. I bought the 4lbs bag and even got 3 6oz cas of food (from wellness) for free as they had a deal on buy a 4lbs/6lbs bag and get 3 cans free

I also signed up for the PALS card and will def take advantage of the free bag when i get to there

Max ate Wellness CORE for the first time this morning (mixed with pedigree) and seems to be okay so far. There isnt that much pedigree left so i dont know if i should buy another small pedigree bag just so i dont have to completly switch him to Wellness in a day or so.

About throwing up, that may be my case as well (BxrmommieNAZ). He does drink & drink till there isnt anymore. Me thinking he's still thirsty I fill up the bowl again and he goes at it again, so i may just do one bowl and wait a bit before giving him more water (def appreciate the advise here)

Once again, Thank you all for the great help you guys have provided me

kayboxer · #9 07-26-2009, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaxDBoxer

There isnt that much pedigree left so i dont know if i should buy another small pedigree bag just so i dont have to completly switch him to Wellness in a day or so.
Once again, Thank you all for the great help you guys have provided me

I wouldn't buy another bag of Pedigree when you are done with what you have. Just finish off what you have and then just do the Core.