How to Weigh a Boxer Dog (The Right Way) (2023)

Boxer owners are often concerned that their young dogs are too thin and try to fatten them up.

It is possible to increase a Boxer dog's weight in a healthy way by carefully increasing the amount of food or supplementing the diet with high-quality, protein-rich treats such as raw whole eggs.

But it is also important to understandBecauseyour boxer is skinny and realize he might not be underweight.

The Boxer pictured above is certainly very skinny.

However, the two Boxers pictured sniffing around on the beach (below) are just the right weight, showing off the ribs seen in this lean, muscular breed.

I'm not a veterinarian. This post is for general informational and educational purposes only. I encourage readers to view mydisclaimer🇧🇷 Boxer Dog Diaries works with a reader. I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you if you make a purchase through the links I share. Thank you for your support.

How to fatten a boxer dog

You can increase your Boxer's calories in a healthy way:

• Increase the amount oflow-fat meatfed
• Adding Whole Raw Egg Snacks
• Add fresh, raw and whole sardines
• Giving extra raw meaty bones like lamb necks
• Feed high-calorie fruits such asdates,bananas,manga,avocado(meat only, pits are a choking hazard and the skin is toxic)
• Add coconut flakes, chia seeds, quinoa, baked sweet potatoes to fruit meals
• Add a nut butter snack (make sure any store-bought peanut butter you choose doesn't contain xylitol, which is toxic to dogs)

Remember, plant/fruit and meat should be fed separately, rather than combined in the same meal.

Ignored by many raw food eaters, this principle mimics the way dogs eat in the wild: they consume meat and fruit, but never at the same time.

Eating plants and meat separately (as done in the raw eating style known as rotational monofeeding) leads to more efficient digestion.

This is because simple carbohydrates (fruits) are digested much faster than the proteins and fats that make up meat.

Fruits and other vegetable matter will ferment (and create harmful waste) if delayed in the GI tract when consumed at the same time as meat, which moves much more slowly.

HowNoto fatten up a boxer

There is a right way and a wrong way to give your Boxer more calories.

Some common approaches will do your dog more harm than good.

Avoid feeding:

• chicken andrice(cooked meat is not a biologically suitable food for dogs, nor is rice)
• Kibble (highly processed and full of additives, preservatives and fillers)
• Fatty cuts of meat (adipose tissue stores toxins, so it's better to increase protein than fat. Excessive fat consumption also creates excess waste in your dog's body)
• Fatty residue from cooked human food (cooked meat is not suitable for dogs)
• Synthetic supplements (nutrients are much more bioavailable when consumed as whole foods rather than as isolated chemicals)
• Yogurt, cheese and other dairy products (biologically unsuitable for dogs)
• Peanut butter
• mold pan
• Avena
• "Prescription" dog foods (Despite their commercialization, these are still highly processed foods that are a far cry from an ideal fresh food diet for dogs. They come with the same problems as all kibble and other manufactured dog foods commercially)

TempoSynthetic supplements are not recommended.for boxers, instead of proper nutrition, there may be some exceptions.

Digestive enzymes

Occasionally, digestive enzymes are worth a try to help restart digestive health.

Choose a good quality brand that does not contain foreign ingredients. You just want the enzymes themselves.

It's best to only use enzymes for a week or two at most and then stop.

You don't want your Boxer's body to become dependent on enzymes that the pancreas must produce on its own.

If you can get your hands on raw, untreated green tripe, even better.

It's the stomach lining of ungulates like sheep and cows and is packed with natural enzymes and beneficial bacteria.

If your Boxer is eating poop, he may be trying to replenish his gut microbiome.

Apple vinegar

Some swear by the benefits of apple cider vinegar to help an animal get the most nutrients from their food.

It is used in organic farming to help keep livestock in good health.

Be sure to use a trusted brand that features "the mother" likeBragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar with Mother - USDA Certified Organic - Raw, Unfiltered Natural Ingredients, 1 Gallon

A precaution against heavy meals when fattening a boxer

Wild dogs eat according to a feast and hunger schedule as prey availability dictates.

A pack of wolves may kill and gorge themselves, but then they won't eat meat again for a week or more.

Due to the risk of bloat or gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV) in deep-chested breeds like Boxers, it is best not to feed large amounts of food at one time.

Feeding a single large meal has been linked to an increased risk of bloating.

So if you're trying to increase your dog's food intake, consider doing so by adding an additional meal.

lean phase of the boxer dog

When a Boxer puppy comes home between eight and ten weeks old, they are usually quite poly (at least, for a Boxer).

Usually, when it starts to increase and the dog's fat drops, some owners start to worry that their dog is "losing weight" despite eating a lot.

There may be comments from outsiders or even veterans.

It is perfectly normal for boxers to be thin, especially when they are one, two and even three years old.

Boxers are late maturing dogs that are still growing and are not considered adults until they are three years old.

Veterinarians unfamiliar with the Boxer breed sometimes tell owners that their dogs are underweight and recommend "put some meat on" diets.

As long as your dog is getting adequate nutrition, don't fall into the trap of trying to gain mass before his body is ready for it.

What makes a dog skinny?

Aside from being young, there are several other reasons why a Boxer dog might look skinny.

alimony

Typically, a dog gains weight when he consumes more calories than he burns in exercise.

A raw-fed dog (as all Boxers should be) generally requires between three and five percent of its ideal body weight in feed composed of edible bones (e.g. chicken carcasses), lean muscle meat (e.g. lean beef on cubes). and a small amount of organs (offal), such as liver.

Every dog ​​is different, so experiment to find the right amount for your dog.

A dog's needs also change over time, so the amount that was right in the past may need to be adjusted up or down now.

If you're already feeding five percent of your body weight, you can try going a little higher, but a lot more, and you're probably overfeeding.

Signs of overeating or excessive fat intake include:

• itch
• "Scooting" or dragging the bottom on the ground, often confused withanal gland problems
• licking/chewing paws,"yeast"ofeet that smell fried
• Gas
• acne i don't complain

worms

This is usually the owner's first thought when a dog is thin, but it's probably not the problem.

Just as "slipping" is often mistakenly associated with worms but is more commonly caused by other things, lack of weight gain is usually not due to intestinal parasites.

Chemical dewormers are toxic chemicals known to cause problems for many boxers, as over 20,000 members ofthis groupyou can attest, so they're not something you want to use regularly or lightly.

If you want to rule out worms, opt for a fecal test that will show if parasites are present.

disease and medication

Dogs recovering from illness may be overweight or underweight and may appear generally out of shape.

Steroids like prednisone cause dogs to gain weight while losing muscle.

They may develop drooping abdomens in what is known as a "Cushingoid" appearance.

That's what prednisone did to my 18 month old Boxer.

If this occurs in a dog not on prednisone, it could be a sign of Cushing's disease, caused by an excess of the stress hormone cortisol, produced by the adrenal glands.

Malabsorption and gastrointestinal problems

Boxers are often labeled "sensitive stomachs" and very often suffer from gastrointestinal problems.

They may receive diagnoses of inflammatory bowel disease or"Colite do Boxer".

The vast majority of these dogs are fed kibble.

Regardless of brand and price, kibble is a low-quality diet compared to the fresh, raw meats a dog is expected to eat.

As a result of this poor diet and the intestinal damage inflicted by commonly prescribed drugs such as antibiotics and steroids, boxers can become "poorly absorbed".

This is a condition in which a damaged intestine is unable to properly extract nutrients from food.

Even when fed more food, it does not result in weight gain because the dog's body cannot access the nutrition.

In fact, the solution is not to eat more, but less, in the form of fasting days.

Fasting your Boxer helps heal the gut by providing digestive rest, allowing energy to focus on cell repair and regeneration.

Human research shows that extended three-day fasts protect against toxicity, restore the immune system, and help prevent and cure disease, including cancer.

detox

This is not a process well understood by conventional, human or veterinary medicine.

However, dog owners who have been heavily medicated (or repeatedly medicated over an extended period of time) often find that their dogs go through a period of intense detoxification when the medications are discontinued.

The same effect can be seen when the diet of many years of kibble feeding is updated to fresh, raw, species-appropriate foods.

The same phenomenon occurs in humans.

During detox, a dog will lose weight quickly and will not be able to gain weight no matter how much it is fed.

This is because the body prioritizes the elimination of long-stored toxins, a process that requires a lot of energy and takes precedence over fat storage.

Once the detox is complete, the dog quickly returns to a healthy weight, but thinness often has to be endured while the body heals.

human perception

Perception plays a role in this.

Because many domestic dogs are overweight, many owners believe that a dog at ideal weight is too thin.

An important factor is neutering, which makes dogs heavier.

As it is the norm for domestic dogs to be neutered, people are used to seeing Boxers fatter than they should be.

Another effect of neutering, particularly when young, is that it makes dogs grow by interfering with the closure of the growth plates in the bones.

Dogs of normal height and height may appear more robust in comparison.

Check your own perceptions and resist the temptation to overfeed your Boxer so that its appearance matches society's misguided expectations.

Why You Shouldn't Overfeed Your Boxer

All things being equal, it's much healthier for a dog to be lean than it is to be overfed.

Overfeeding causes a number of problems.

For starters, it won't work.

You cannot override the biological program that your Boxer's body is following.

Second, overfeeding will just create more workload for the body, more waste to process.

This depletes vitality without gain.

Third, hoarding calories can cause a Boxer puppy to grow too quickly, which can cause bone and joint problems in larger breed dogs, including the Boxer.developmental deformity known as jointsWhat can affect Boxer puppies?

As Australian veterinarian Dr. Ian Billinghurst explains in his bookgive your dog a bone, it is better to err on the side of less food than more for a growing pup, in a way slightly retarding its growth.

This mirrors what happens in nature, where dogs are always thin due to limited food and energy expended to find, capture and kill prey.

Your Boxer will naturally develop according to his own body's timeline, not any one we impose on him.

Why are so many boxers fat?

Domestic dogs lead a sedentary lifestyle compared to their wild counterparts.

However, we feed them more often.

Wild dogs eat more every three days to once a week, not every day.

And we feed our dogs foods with far more fat than they evolved to thrive.

Game meats consumed by wild dogs (such as venison and rabbit) are lean compared to farmed livestock.

The disparity in fat content between a dog's natural diet and what is fed to domestic dogs is even more dramatic when lean fresh and wild meats are compared to highly processed dog foods such as kibble.

What is the correct weight for a boxer?

A boxer's individual height, weight, and physique vary according to their lineage.

As a guide, a typical adult Boxer weighs between 55 and 65 pounds (25 to 29 kg).

According to the American Kennel Club, an adult male Boxer can be larger, weighing 65 to 80 pounds (29 to 36 kg).

These numbers are not very important.

Rather than counting pounds, the best way to gauge whether your boxer is the right weight is to look at how he looks.

First, look at your dog from the side.

There should be a hint of the last two ribs visible, if not standing then in certain positions while your dog is moving.

You should feel the rest of the ribs under a thin layer of fat, but not see them.

The deep chest should taper to a tucked in waist.

Now, look at your Boxer from above.

Instead of a barrel shape, you should be able to see the waistline from above.

A boxer is really very thin if he can see:

• More than a pair of ribs
• Coluna vertebral
• hip bones
• Leg bone when a man bends his leg

conclusion

If a Boxer is really underweight, it's a matter of increasing calories consumed in relation to energy expended.

The important thing is to do this by increasing your intake of high quality protein sources rather than adding junk food or high fat foods which will only have a negative impact on your health.

But in the vast majority of cases, time and proper, ongoing nutrition will make the boxer build muscle and reach a healthy weight.

References

Risk Factors for Canine Bloat, Jerold S Bell, DVM, Tufts Conference on Canine and Feline Genetics and Reproduction, 2003

A way of life for wild dogs, this can be a boon for your dog, Dr. Karen Becker, Mercola Healthy Pets, May 27, 2018

Fasting Triggers Regeneration of Old and Damaged Immune Stem Cells, Suzanne Wu, USC News, June 5, 2014

Is your dog thriving?

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If you want to raise a healthy, long-lived dog free of allergies, itchiness, acne, yeasty ears, paw bites, stomach problems and other afflictions that are often attributed to "just one part of the breed", this is the place to be. you. for you.

No more vets, potions or complicated regimens. Just simple but powerful tweaks you can make to your daily care to see your best friend reach new levels of vitality.

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