Feeding Your Boxer

Giving your Boxer a raw, natural diet (as opposed to commercially prepared one) makes the feeding task flexible and you get to control the quality of the food your Boxer is getting.

The Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or “BARF” diet is easy to prepare. You are basically feeding him “bones and raw food”, adding in or taking out supplement as needed.

It is better to first understand the principles behind this feeding method. And there are excellent reference books available on this subject matter.

Basically, the BARF diet is made up of raw meat and raw meaty bones, raw processed vegetables plus dairy products, eggs, fish, offal, muscle meats, fruit and maybe some supplements. It is a very balanced diet and you get to control the ingredients as well as the quality. Some people leave out dairy products or grains.

On the other hand, an owner suggests that you keep a Boxer healthy with occasional yogurt treats.

Boxers tend to have lots of food allergies. One owner put an ailing and lethargic Boxer on a strictly venison diet and the dog finally thrived, gained weight and became very active.

There is also a recent concern about eating a large amount of grapes or raisins, since they can be toxic to dogs, leading to acute kidney failure.

The reports concerning this grape/raisin poisoning have only just surfaced and the information is still sketchy at best. The Animal Poison Control Center in the US is investigating this new medical development.

Some questions remaining to be answered are:

· How much grapes or raisins eaten could become toxic to your dog?
· What is the toxic substance?
· How does it affect the kidney?

To be safe, have your veterinarian check your Boxer if he has eaten a large amount of grapes or raisins because a healthy kidney is key to its survival.