Since I'm getting one in a couple months I'm looking around the web and doing my research. I read commercial dog food isn't very good and can shorten the life span of many dogs. What do you guys feed your Boston's? Any brands that are recommended. Making home made food is also an option but it'll save me alot more time if I didn't. Any suggestions? Can't wait for my Boston I have a name picked out and everthing. I originally wanted a Pug but, I need a dog thats a little more active and Boston's remind me of a mini version of a Boxer who are my favourite.

Hey there Jay, When I picked up my pup a few weeks ago the breeder gave me Innova which was suppose to be the food they were feeding him... few days after bringing him home he started getting real bad diarrhea at first i thought it was stress till a week later and notices a week later and found some blood in his stool... took him to the vet and the vet prescribed Prescription I/D canned dog food for a week and towards the end of that week i switched him gradually to Nutro Puppy food. (sensitive stomachs)
he loves it and no longer has loose stool or diarrhea.

I myself asked a few other BT owners what they feed and they recommended Nutro. I'm also researching a RAW Diet for him. Duke's been in our home now for 2.5 weeks and he's happy as can be.

I would give your pup the same thing that the breeder has been feeding him and if you decided to change, gradually introduce the new food. Also talk to your Vet they will let you know what or should be good for him. Just make sure it's the puppy food if he's a puppy... a mistake that a friend of mine made was giving his puppy adult food as a puppy, he didn't get the right mix of proteins and all the good stuff that his puppy needed and wasn't as active has he should be...

Good luck with your pup...

I'm also a Lover of Boxers but their a lot bigger breed than what my wife and i can have in our small home, and after researching BT's for a few months we decided to pick one up and now BT's are our new LOVE....

I had a boxer too.. Loads of fun with him! I feed mine Canidae dry food. Good for their coats,allergens, no wheat or corn in it. He's eating Lamb & Rice. Bruin is 3 months... he had food allergies.. cant eat Chix. so we went with Canidae dry. He loves it. He also had flaky skin.. he's coat is beautiful now!

i have stella on a raw food diet. we have a health food pet store in our town and the brand is called nature's variety. she's on the lamb formula.

it is a all natural food with ingredients that you can pronounce! there are no grains in this food. it comes in small pucks that are easy to thaw and gage how much to feed.

i have checked it out with my vet and there is everything she needs in this food and does not require further suppliments. i have over the winter months put a tsp of omega oils over top as i have electric heat in my house and her skin got quite dry at first - this seems to have helped and her coat is super shiny now!!

the best thing i have found about a raw food diet (this is my third dog to eat only raw food) is the dog will poop less and they will be smaller, darker and turn to ash over a few weeks if left to the elements, the other great thing is less gas - no more stinky dog farts!!!

the hard thing about this diet is traveling as it needs to be kept frozen at all times.

Nutro Puppy food with 1sp of canned puppy food and a scoop of low fat yogurt.

Having loved, raised and shown Bostons for over 20 years I started out like everyone else with my first Boston Terrier by feeding her what the breeder sent her home with... With a background in animal husbandry and nutrition I was NOT happy with what was in the dog food. Somewhere in time in the last 50 or 60 years it seems we have all been brain washed into thinking that our domestic dogs are no longer carvivores!

However, open their mouth... Look at the teeth. NO molars to grind and chew or break down grains! They also do NOT have the enzymes in their salivia to digest and break down grains or vegetables! They have very short intestines that were designed to quickly digest meat and bone in a matter of a couple of hours. I could go on but doubt you guys come here for biology or physiology lessons. LOL Suffice it to say, that even though our Boston Terriers look nothing like a wolf on the outside, if you were to look inside at both you would see NO difference in thier digestive system what so ever.

Think small, house wolf. They are carnivores and the very BEST diet for a Carnivore is raw MEAT and bones. It contains all the nutrition, amino acids, enzymes, vitamins the dog needs to THRIVE.

Yes, our Bostons can survive on a processed kibble diet just like we humans can survive on McDonalds every day. But, for how long and how healthy would we be?

IF you can not provide a raw meat and bones diet to you Boston, the next best is a home cooked diet with supplements and lastly would be canned or processed comercial dog food.

The ONLY dog food I have found with NO grains or carbs (which again, dogs don't need nor can they digest) is Rubicon Grain & Potato Free. It not only does not contain ANY grains (not even rice) but no potatoes either.

It has been found that Potatoes contain a carcinogen- *acrylamide

As a daily maintenance food, potatoes are not a health food! They may actually be a part of the cancer epidemic in pets! The August 14, 2002 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, reported presence of high levels of acrylamide in carbohydrate rich foods like potatoes.

*Acrylamide induces gene mutations and has been found in animal tests to cause malignant stomach tumors. It is also known to cause damage to the central and peripheral nervous system.

If you would like more information on raw diets and how to switch your Boston OR more information about the Rubicon dog food, There are two yahoo group lists available :
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/BrachyNaturally/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/NRBostonTerriers/

And/or Whole Dog Forums at http://www.wholedogforums.com with lots of great information and support.

Dr Jeannie Thomason
Veterinary Naturopath, Companion Animal Nutrition Consultant, Natural Pet Care Educator, Breeder/Exhibitor of Champion Bostons Terriers

I feed my boston pedigee I have no problems with my two bostons. My previous boston I owned have skin problems I feed her upper end foods like seince diet or ucunuba. If you are about to buy check with other people that have purchased from this breeder to see if they have any problems with thier bostons. Problems like skin problems seem to genitic.

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Boston Terrier Lover

I feed Performatrin dry with a little canned mixed in... I have been thinking about switching to RAW, but for some reason still a little leary, mainly I think because Ihate change...LOL

I also am having the hardest time deciding what is best. Of course the vet recommends anything that is in his office, but that is not reasn enough. I hope I figure it out before my new baby comes home!!!

For food info...try www.dogfoodanalysis.com. Get the best food you can afford. Our favorite is anything by Nature's Variety.