My 12month Boxer Seems To Be Small For His Age..

[kim21]

Hi everyone,

I am just wondering if you have any recommendation's about Basil's size and weight? To me, he seems like he is short for his age (only judging by other boxers his age or younger at dog school) and he seems to have stopped growing at the moment... Should I be concerned about this? He gets Eagle Pack holistic for large puppies and rabbit mince as well as chicken necks/carcasses/thighs etc. He has been on premium brands of dog food since birth (euk, science and EP) so I don't know if I am doing something wrong or if he will have another growth spurt? He has always been properly wormed etc.

His dimensions are:

Paw to shoulder (height): 59cm

Largest part of chest area (around): 78cm

Narrowest area around (flank): 49cm

base of neck to base of tail: 47cm

It would be great if someone could let me know if this a normal height/ size or not. He is not skinny for his height, but on the recommendation's of the vet I have always been careful not to over feed him.

Also, I was wondering if sunflower oil is ok to feed to dogs to get coat condition? I feed it to my horses for shiny coats and I was thinking of putting a bit in Baz's food to brighten his coat

[kim21]

another pic... (i cant figure out how to get more than one on here at one time!!!

[sas]

I can only comment on Eagle Pack for Giant Breeds, it grows them very very slowly.

Have you spoken to your breeder?

[bommy]

dont stress, there is no uniform exact size for boxers - hence why the standard gives you the following:

Sizes: Dogs: 56-61 cm (22-24 ins) at the withers. Bitches: 53-58.5 cm (21-23 ins) at the withers. Heights above or below these figures not to be encouraged. Dogs around 58.5 cm (23 ins) should weigh about 30 kg (66 lbs) and Bitches of about 56 cm (22 ins) should weigh about 28 kg (62 lbs).

the above is for a fully grown dog

If Basil is from slow maturing lines, give him at least another 6-12mths

This link shows the anatomy of a boxer http://worldwideboxer.com/ANATOMY.html

For the height measure to the withers as shown by line D in the picture on the link.

When you measure as well try to stack him square as shown in the picture...

ETA: Just read the rest of your post properly, by Science - do you mean science diet? Though its a premium price I will never feed it to our guys... We feed allour dogs on a Raw Prey Diet, if you want his coat to deepen & shine try abit of cooked pumpkin in his diet or go for livamol.

Edited June 12, 2008 by bommy

[kim21]

Well I have been using EP for large/giant puppies so maybe he is slowly growing from that!!

Thanks for the info Bommy, made me feel better!!

-Ill call my breeder to ask her whether his lines are slow maturing!

And I wasnt impressed with Science diet, so he wasn't on it for long, same with the Euk.