Hey guys,
I'm writing on behalf of my little sister who has a 7mo old Boxer. She recently decided she'd like to start the Raw diet for various reasons.
She belongs to a Boxer Board, but can't find much info on there about it. :confused:
Here is her baby (and mine)::D
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6d838b3127cce8a11295e85b500000046102CctmLlq0Ym

I told her I'd see what you guys had to say. I did a search but didn't find a whole ton of information, maybe some got lost in the Board Crash....?

Here are a few questions...and if anyone has a boxer too, I'd love to hear from ya! Thank you!! :smile

p.s. my sister has already researched some things, but I'm kinda asking for myself too. :)

1) How much to feed, I've heard about an adult weight = amount of meat...anyone have the guidelines?

2)feed once or twice a day?

3)different meats every day/week/month?

4) any supplements need to be added?

I hope these aren't irritating repeat questions...just looking for some advice and information from others who have "been there done that". Thank you!!:D :D

An awesome place to send you sister is to the yahoo group called rawfeeding. It's got loads of info and lots of what I do comes from there. :)

I feed raw at night (the biggest meal) and feed a small kibble meal in the morning. Mostly, because its easier, my dogs do really well with it AND Annie hasn't made it to full raw since she has allergic issues with proteins (chicken and beef). SO, she gets to eat kibble with raw meals given occasionally. When she eats her kibble meal, the other two get a small meal so they don't feel "left out."

I try for variety but not within single meals or even the week. It all depends what I have going. For example- my dogs will sometimes get to eat something different each day (if they are bagged in portion sizes) or if I buy a 20# pork roast they may eat pork for the whole week.

The calculation that was suggested to me for amount was 2% of ideal adult weight. Of course, this will fluctuate depending on the dogs system, metabolism, activity, etc. Tyson only needs to eat 1/4 of kibble and 1 lb of meat to maintain his frame. Rylie eats more to keep her weight. "Know Thy Dog..." :)

When I started, I started very slow. Just giving chicken each day till the dogs were used to it (there can be diarhea, loose stools, etc) from the change. Slowly, I added proteins in to the point that I now feed regularly:

Pork
Chicken (my kiddos cannot eat a lot of chicken, we use it sparingly)
Beef
Turkey
Lamb
Emu
Venison
* I have also fed bison and goat

I feed greentripe and Organ Meat Blend from Greentripe.com which makes my life MUCH easier! They dogs love their organ meat blend and recently Rylie has decided that she refuses to eat emu liver!

My style has evolved to grain free, limited veggies, prey model raw style. My approximate calculations are 10% organ (1/2 of which is liver), 15% edible bone and 75% meat, which is based on a prey animal. I do limited supplementation with Omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil capsules) and kelp/alfalfa powder for trace minerals and micronutrients.

awesome thank you for the information, I'll be looking into that other group and will forward the information to my sister!
Thank you! :)

heather already gave you a pretty complete answer.:) but here is how i feed my pups.

1) How much to feed, I've heard about an adult weight = amount of meat...anyone have the guidelines?

my dogs eat about 1 1/2 lbs to 2 lbs of meat a day... they are pretty active doggies. just like amounts of kibble, this can vary quite a bit depending on the dogs metabolism and activity level.

2)feed once or twice a day?

we feed twice a day.

3)different meats every day/week/month?

my dogs eat a lot of different meats, i try to spread it out as much as possible and rotate the meals. chicken, beef, lamb, pork, organs and tripe. yum. its usually best to start out simple, maybe with chicken, and then gradually add different types of meat.

4) any supplements need to be added?

if you are feeding a good variety, and an appropriate amount of organ meat and bone, supplimentation is IMO optional. i give a suppliment that provides extra minerals, etc, but i am fairly confident that my dogs are getting most of what they need from their food. no multivitamin or anything like that.

come visit us in the natural diets section, there is a lot of information there and there are quite a few folks on the board that feed raw. natural diets was alive and well long before the crash so there is still a lot of good reading there, even though the recent stuff was lost.:) there is a good sticky on books over there.

We actually started feeding raw because of our Boxer's allergies. We had gotten to a point where we had gone through a few premium foods and he still had issues with his skin.

We started with chicken. We were on chicken for a couple weeks (at least) and then moved on to other things. Our variety is somewhat limited due to tolerance issues. The Boxer gets turkey, chicken, fish, tripe, pork, and beef. The other two get lamb and duck every so often as well. Buster cannot tolerate that much fat and for whatever reason, seems to require more organ meat than the other boys.

We feed twice per day otherwise two of the boys get sick to their stomach and will vomit foamy while stomach fluid.

Amounts vary. So much, in fact, that the 62 pound Boxer and the 83 pound Lab get the same amount of food per day. Both are very active, but I think Buster has a crazy high metabolism. Jake, on the other hand, has to be closely monitored or he packs on the pounds.

There is a Boxer forum (www.boxerworld.com) but the people there are a bit harsh and will take your head off over the littlest things.

We feed about 1.5-2 lbs of food per day. More active days, they get a bigger meal. In the warm months when they are out and running more, we feed more all season.

The amount to feed varies from dog to dog... it is important that you find an amount you're comfortable with for your own dog(s). We started at 2% of their IDEAL body weight (not their current weight) and went from there.

We feed once per day. We feed an assortment of meats. Chicken, turkey, pork, beef, fish, emu, kangaroo, ostrich, rabbit, and others. We don't rotate it every day- maybe chicken for 3 days, then rabbit for 2, then turkey, then chicken... we really don't have a set plan. Just whatever we grab out of the freezer is what they get.

As for what we feed in addition to the RMBs, organs, and muscle meats.... this is what we add on a typical day:

1 egg with shell
2-3 squirts of salmon oil
few teaspoons of glandulars
few teaspoons of digestive enzymesWe started raw last summer and have had full chem panels done on both of them to make sure nothing is lacking in their diets, and all was good. To be safe we are going to do that 1-2 times a year, it gives us peace of mind so that makes it worthwhile.