Need some food suggestions...

TugsMommy · #1 10th August 2004, 06:40 PM

I have a very very picky eater for a boxer. I swear he is 10x more picky then my other dog who would eat me out of house and home if I let her.

I currently give him Iam's Large Breed PUppy food dry, and he picks at it. I give him dry because sadly I work a good amount of hours, and when my hubby is at work I like to leave him food. I have started giving him canned at night, but he still picks at it.

I am considering swtiching foods, but would like some suggestions to get a picky eater, to eat more. I am at the point where I am tempted to cook him up some hambuger meat to go into his food, but that isn't good for him either.

I admit he does like to try and eat my sugar free popsicles.

Rockys Mom 2 · #2 10th August 2004, 07:20 PM

My Rocky was a picky eater too. We finally got lucky with Solid Gold. He has been eating that now for the past year and seems to be doing great. I am not a big fan of Iams. I think I read that Boxers shouldn't be given large breed dog food since they are a medium breed dog. I think it's bad for they're bone growth. Good luck finding a good grade food food that he will like. Just remember to mix the new food with old food gradually.

lmwenske · #3 10th August 2004, 08:18 PM

I just want to say that I asked a food question once and I was getting people constantly telling me not to feed large breed puppy food. However, I am going to say now that I take my boxer to the top vet clinic in the country and they actually have a dietician so I asked her about this. She said that dog food that says large breed should really say slow maturing. You can actually read on the side that according to the food, anything weighing over 50 pounds at maturity is considered large breed. And boxers are indeed slow maturing. My boxer LOVES purina one large breed puppy, and the first ingredient is real meat which is what you want, and I think it makes it taste good too.

Good luck.

kit02 · #4 11th August 2004, 08:46 AM

If you do searched on here for premium kibble you will find a ton of stuff and you will find Iams is not the greatest food. I recommend Chicken Soup for the Dog lover soul. But there's a lot of other premium kibble also.
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
When I 1st brough Owen home he was picky, but that was also b/c the breeder had him on Eukanuba (not a good food either). I immediately switched him (slowly) to Chicken Soup and he loves that. But half of his food consists of homecooking I make for him. Cooking is great for them.
Check this out (Chicken Soup is also on the 2003 Whole Dog Journal's list) :
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/sho...highlight=2003

Jags_Mommy · #5 11th August 2004, 09:46 AM

Our Jag was a bit picky when he first came to live with us. He was eating Pedigree with the breeder and we switched in the first week with us (6 wks old). He really didn't want his kibble much so I started mixing it with canned food.

He loves to eat now and is now at just over 12 weeks and is over 20 lbs. He is eating Nutro Puppy Large Breed (which my vet recommends) dry and canned.
I also mix in really well different foods at least once a day that I have home cooked liked Chicken, Roast Beef, Scramble Eggs also cottage cheese, yogurt and of course treats. I don't see anything wrong with cooking an extra piece of chicken or roast as long as it is not seasoned and is cut up really good. It can keep a couple of days in the fridge and they of course love it.

His coat is really shiny now as it was course in the beginning and he received a clean bill of health last vets visit for his shots. Also, my vet told me to add a teaspoon of olive oil to his food once a week to keep his coat even more shiny.

Good Luck!

Penda · #6 11th August 2004, 08:24 PM

Penda's 5 months now and she's been eating Science Diet since she was born...she doesnt seem to have a problem with it. For breakfast she'll eat it plain, for lunch i usually mix it with yogurt or canned food and for dinner i mix it with canned food. She loves it!!!
Maybe you can try mixing something different in your pup's food maybe he's just sick of the same old???

lorishields · #7 12th August 2004, 05:58 PM

I feed Canidae - it's human grade and it's for all life cycles.

Don't leave the food down at all times. Feed twice a day and only leave down for a max 15-20 minutes. The dog will not starve itself to death.

Are you sure that there are no other health problems that are causing her not to eat?

If you need to add something to your kibble to make it more tasty, try a TSP of yogurt or canned pumpkin. This may help to spice it up a little!

Lori Shields
Boxer Luv Rescue