How Much 2 Feed?

[Scoobysmomma]

Im a new boxer owner and Loving it!!!
I adopted him a local rescue a couple weeks ago. Ive just been keeping his food dish filled, and he eats when hes hungry.
The previous owner fed him Purina dog chow and said he kept it filled.
I bought him Purina Pro Plan, but am looking for a better quality food if that is not now.
Scooby weighed 80 pds. this past Friday
What is the best food and the amount to feed? Thank you


April

 

[Net45582]

Check out www.dogfoodanalysis.com for great info and reviews on foods. The amount will be suggested by the individual manufactuers.

 

[courtney323]

80 pounds is on the heavy side for a Boxer, so the very first thing I would do is to quit free-feeding (for several reasons). One reason is that you are unable to guage exactly how much food they are taking in, and two, free feeding sends the wrong signal in terms of who is leader in your household. The pack leader always controls the resources (including food), and by leaving him free access to his food all day long, you are showing him that he is in fact the leader.

As for Purina, I would say it is a pretty low quality dry dog food. The link posted to you above is a great website that ranks various dog foods in terms of quality. Another great resource is www.boxerworld.com/feeding.

Good luck

 

[Scoobysmomma]

The vet said 80 pds. is big but he has good muscle tone and showing no fat on him. I think because his previous owner did not have a fenced in yard where he was able to run free and the vet agreed now that he is in a home with a fenced yard he will be ale to run some of it off. His previous home he was on a trolley so didnt have much room to run.

Thank you I will check into the better high quality food.

 

[rockysmommie]

check out the web-site posted above. Especially learn about by products, which are not good. I've always followed what the bags of food recommend for amouts to feed for their age & weight. That should help to keep them from over eating.

 

[EricaG]

another thing to keep in mind is that if you decide that you want Scooby to drop a few pounds, feed him based on the weight you want him to be, instead of the weight he is - so if the food you choose says feed an 80 pound dog 4 cups a day, and a 75 pound dog 3.5 cups a day, feed Scooby 3.5 cups a day, and he'll get down to 75. However, if the vet said that he has good muscle tone and no fat, he might be just fine at 80 - the look of the dog is always the best thing to go by. If you're unsure, you could upload some pictures, and ask peoples advice. I'm sure you'd get tons of opinions. Congratulations on your new rescue baby!!

 

[Fuzzydog]

just my experience, but having had boxers as a kid, and now my second boxer as an adult - we have always free fed and never had a problem with obesity. I also like to keep their dishes on the smallish side, and that way I fill it right up and when he wants to eat he scarfs (official technical term for a boxer eating) it all down. I will refill it in a while but by then his brain has realized that he is filling up and he usually eats some of the new food, but not all. I think this keeps him from overeating and also reduces the risk of abdominal problems

just my .02 and experience