I have a three year old female boxer "Venus" who has always been a little on the thin side although she eats correct amounts and vet reccommended foods... Does anyone out there know of anything I can do to help her gain weight and also tips on how I can calm her down a little ( still very pup like ! ) ALSO would anyone recommend that 2 dogs would be easier than one?? Help please!! Thankyou lcross5@hotmail.com

Vitalin bitch diet is a good complete food. Also Highlife is very good. I've fed both to my boxers and they do very well on it.
Good luck. Boxers don't calm down !! Try to chanel her energy into something eg training classes with some agility.
HTH Aimix

:D  Aimix

>Good luck. Boxers don't calm down !!<

Didn't have the heart to warn him/her :D :D :D   Teri

Hi Guest,

It would really be best if you could register to join the forum because often replies require answers to further questions ;)  Re Venus being on the thin side and still "pup like" it could be (apart from the breed being a wonderfully boisterous and happy go lucky type anyway ) that the protein levels of her current diet are too high.  Have a look at what the protein % is on the bag - I'd guess above 20% :rolleyes:    If so try and find a food with lower protein % figure.

As to 2 dogs being easier than one, *only* if the first one is already easy :D  Think you should experiment with calming your existing girl down between possible diet change and perhaps some training to mentally tire her and if you see a distinct improvement in her then perhaps 6 months or so down the line you could consider adding to your number.
HTH, regards Teri :) 

Thankyou all for your advice!! Took a while to register on here but I did it!! What a fantastic web site!! :-)

Welcome aboard !!!

<As to 2 dogs being easier than one, *only* if the first one is already easy   Think you should experiment with calming your existing girl down between possible diet change and perhaps some training to mentally tire her and if you see a distinct improvement in her then perhaps 6 months or so down the line you could consider adding to your number.
HTH, regards Teri   > 

I agree, having two "muppets :)" looneying around may make your life abit more hecktic and although my 4 1/2 year old girl has calmeddown slightly it is her pup (actually 15 months now) that inishiates the play 95% of the time and I end up with a very noisy house - double bill of "chewbacca" noises !! Also twice as much poop to clear up and twice as much food to buy.
On the plus side they are fab friends and when they need a good romp in the field they tire themselves out nicely !! Its also good to train them together as mine learn from each other.

Having said all that - I couldn't imagine life again with only 1 boxer. 2 clowns for me please. I think it depends on how much you value your sanity !!! (a friend of mine has 7 :0 - insane !!!)

Aimix

Hi Blackpool1,

Welcome to the forum :)  Don't have Boxers myself but am strangely drawn to them ....... I have 3 BSDs so I guess I just like *mad* dogs :D  

regards, Teri

Oh dear I have all this to come. Mind you he has entered an insane household anyway.

Hi Blackpool welcome, i think boxers are like big energy bags there is loads of them at my ringcraft class and i can seee why they are called boxers.  They are great to watch though, i wouldn't use vitailin though it's known for causing alot of gas in the dogs stomach, whats your dog fed on now?  some times the food is to rich for pedigrees and it just goes straight through them or it's full of additives and it has the same effect.

Sorry but Boxers NEVER calm down....they may eventually 'slow' down a little as veterans
but on the whole they are maniacs for their whole lives :D
Says she who has 3 Boxers bitches ranging in age 16 months, 4 yo and 7yo.
My old veteran lived til she was 10yo and was still a bouncy puppy til two weeks before she died.

When you say on the thin side, how thin is she?
I feed mine a good quality complete dog food that is gluten free. I'm feeding James Wellbeloved at the moment
but have fed Arden Grange, Nutro and Burns.
Burns didn't suit my Boxers but know others have had great results on it.
Arden Grange and Nutro were ok. Only changed to JWB as my youngest is a fussy eater and
decided she would eat JWB fish and rice...so I put the others on it too.

It is also important if she won't put on weight to make sure that she hasn't got any medical
conditions that are preventing weight gain. Some Boxers can get thyroid trouble which either causes
underactive thyroid (they typically gain weight) or over active thyroid (where they are skinny).
It might be worth asking the vet for a blood test for Venus?

Some Boxers don't tend to 'body-up' until they are two years of age.
It also depends on what lines she's from as some tend to be slow maturers.

Two dogs easier than one? Well that depends!! My three get on really well, but they are a complete pain in
the butt when trying to take for a walk. I have to walk on the whole seperately as when together pull like trains
My oldest girl has to be walked on a headcollar as she's never stopped the pulling habit (still one day she might...like when she's
a really old veteran and then maybe she'll slow down.......sigh)
The younger two are ok to walk together but the oldest of the pair (4yo) her recall isn't fabulous so have to be careful she
doesn't teach the youngest one her 'bad habit'. The youngest ones recall is beautiful at the moment....
So having just one dog to walk would be easier.....

Would I be without them??? NO :D