Boxer overactivity

[apollosdad]

I have a 16 week old boxer who is very energetic. I live in an apartment, and I understand apartments + boxers is probably a bad combination. However, i walk him often, have him crate trained, and he is spoiled with lots of toys. I would like to be more active in his playing. What are some games I can play inside my apartment with my dog? I also have 2 health related questions. 1) Is it safe to control his water intake? He tends to drink a lot, which means he tends to urinate a lot. He needs to use the bathroom every 45 minutes which seems a bit much for a 4 month old boxer. 2) Does the type of food you feed a dog determine the smell, texture, and frequency of him having to poop?

Thanks in advance!

[Noobs]

There's a great pamphlet called "Play Together, Stay Together" by Patricia McConnell which gives lots of tips for games and ways to play with your dog. http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/produc ... y-together

There are also threads on this forum about clicker training, which is a great way to tire out your dog: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=513 and the website http://www.clickertraining.com (registration is free) with tons of articles and how-tos.

No one here would recommend withholding water for any amount of time. At 16 weeks old he should be taken out to wee pretty much every hour anyway. As for food, do you free feed or do you give him 2 or 3 meals at the same time each day? Feeding on a schedule will help put him on a regular poop schedule too. As for the actual food, do some research on the Health, Diet, and Exercise board viewforum.php?f=6 or dogfoodanalysis.com to make sure you're feeding good quality food.

And because I love to give these links to puppy owners, here's some more good reading for you:

Puppy development stages:
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1981

"Raising a Puppy" at dogstardaily.com, a positive training site:
http://dogstardaily.com/training/raising-puppy

And lastly, welcome to the forum! Pics please!

[Nettle]

Are you feeding dry food? That tends to make them drink a lot and so wee a lot.

[Noobs]

Oh right, good point. I personally soak my dog's kibble in water for at least 30 mins before feeding. The kibble expands (he thinks he's eating more), and it's moist so he drinks less. Not right now that it's hot, but in general he used to drink a whole bowl of water after eating, and after I started soaking it, he didn't even touch his water bowl after eating.

[apollosdad]

Ok that makes sense to me. I'll give that a try.

[josie1918]

Please no rotten eggs or tomatoe throwing, but just in case you want to know, there are a ton of studies out there showing that soaking dry kibble with water is MUCH less likely to cause bloat in large breed dogs than feeding dry, so you may want to continue the practice for the rest of his life.

[Noobs]

Good to know, Josie!

[Helper and Seeker]

Hello All,

I never feed dry food as a meal and when I do use it I do like Noobs does and soak it in hot water for 15 mins till it is soft.

I tend to think in the wild as nature intended complete dry mixes of food do not exist ever. So to me dry food is for treats only.

A boxer is a very intelligent and also stubborn breed which has a lot of energy and gets bored very fast.

You need to walk them a minimum of twice a day but ideally at least 4 times a day especially as your in an appartment.

I concur with wetting the dry food for the dogs entire life.

On a general note get your puppy very used to you handling his ears and paws and checking his teeth , in getting them used to this early in life if they step on a bit of glass or you need to check teeth or put er drops in it is simple .

Debbie x