When it comes to searching for the best dog food for Boxers, it's certainly not a walk in the park with all the choices you're surrounded with and all the marketing in the dog food industry that's shoved down our throats on a daily basis.
Go anywhere that sells dog food products, whether online or offline, and try to search for some dog food options to have a quick look at.
In no time, you'll be bombarded with 10's and 10's of dog food options that are all competing to convince you that they're worthy of that #1 spot in your mind.
However, and the sad truth is, many of these dog food products are nothing but a waste of your money - which is exactly why we've put together this list of the best dog food for boxers that will give you the best bang for your buck, all while making sure your Boxer's nutritional needs are met just the way they need to be.
Our List Of The Top Dog Food For Boxers - (Updated List For 2023)
Pick #1: Taste of the Wild Dry Dog Food
Pick #2: Ziwi Peak Beef Air-Dried Dog Food
Pick #3: Wellness CORE Natural Grain Free Dry Dog Food
Pick #4: Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain Free Dry Dog Food
Pick #5: Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Dry Dog Food
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*Note: The links in the table above, as well as several links in the remainder of the article below, will take you to over to Chewy.com where you can find out more information about the products, such as current prices and customer reviews.
Best Food For Boxers
We've put together this list of what we think are the best food for Boxers to help save your valuable time by not having to do the research on your own.
The list of dog food below consists of all high-quality, premium dog food that take into consideration your Boxer's potential health problems as well as their general overall dietary needs.
Pick #1 - Taste of the Wild Dry Dog Food
Taste Of The Wild dry dog food is one of the best options you could go with when looking for the best dog food for Boxers.
This dog food meets our nutritional requirements criteria, having protein sources that come from the highest quality meats and boasting a well balanced overall macro nutrient profile.
With Taste Of The Wild, you won't be tricked into believing that you're feeding your Boxer all the protein content they have to eat through the day only to then find out that they're getting it from the lowest-quality of sources. The protein sources found here are from real meat.
This is also a very good option for Boxers because it's grain free and hence won't cause any of those nasty allergies that Boxers are so prone to suffer from.
This specific dog food is also packed with all the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants your dog needs to boost their overall immune system.
Be sure to gradually switch your dog over to Taste of The Wild dry dog food if you're currently feeding them something else though, as switching over way too fast will most definitely lead to digestive trouble such as vomiting, diarrhea and loose stools
Pick #2 - Ziwi Peak Beef Air-Dried Dog Food
Ziwi has got an excellent option for you to feed your Boxer.
To start things off, this option is LOADED with all the high-quality protein (coming in at around 38%) your Boxer needs to maintain their energy levels throughout the day and maintain their lean, strong and muscular physique.
The protein found in this dog food (with all its different formulas) is also from very high-quality sources such as beef or lamb, combined with mussels from New Zealand. These are some of the best sources of protein you'll find when searching for dog food products.
All ingredients are organically and ethically sourced.
Pick #3 - Wellness CORE Original Formula Dry Dog
For our #3 spot on the list of best dog food for Boxers, we chose the Wellness CORE Original Formula dry dog food recipe.
Let's face it, you really can't have a list of best dog foods for any breed (alright, most breeds) without it including an option from Wellness! That's just how high quality this stuff really is.
The protein your Boxer will be getting from this Wellness option is around 34%, which just goes hand in hand with the many expert recommendations that you feed your Boxer a high-protein diet of around 35% protein.
Again, and similar to our #1 and #2 picks noted above, the protein in this dog food all comes from the best quality sources available.
The only reason we've included this as our #3 choice and not as our #1 choice instead of Orijen dog food is because this one has a slightly higher carbohydrate count than Orijen, and we do know that Boxers can get a few digestive issues when it comes to high-carbohydrate content in their food.
However, their carbohydrate content is very well within the lines of the industry standard, and we're not taking anything away from Wellness just because of this issue. It's just that between Orijen's carbohydrate count and Wellness's carbohydrate count, we prefer that of Orijen for Boxers.
Last but most certainly not least on our list is Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain-Free dry dog food.
When it comes to food from Blue Buffalo, we have, are, and will be recommending many of their dog food products for the foreseeable future because of their sheer quality.
Blue Buffalo always try to go the "100% natural" way when manufacturing their dog food, and they've done just that with this specific recipe.
This duck recipe/formula is a fan favorite among many dog owners, and we've certainly had very positive results when trying it out ourselves with dog breeds that have very similar nutritional needs to Boxers.
One thing's for sure, if you decide to go with Blue Buffalo (even if it's #4 on this specific list of ours), you can say goodbye to those nasty allergies your Boxer always has (or was THIS close to going through before you made the switch).
What Makes The Best Boxer Dog Food?
For some dog food, you'll be paying top dollar and getting top-notch quality for your dog in return, while for others, you'll be paying top dollar and getting nothing close to that in return.
The same way you'll be paying relatively cheap money sometimes and getting high-quality dog food in return, and paying relatively cheap money other times and getting, well, cheap dog food in return.
When shopping for the best dog food for your Boxer dog or puppy, it's hardly ever about how aggressive a dog food manufacturer is marketing their product, and hardly ever about how much they're charging for it.
Each and every dog has special dietary needs and certain lifestyles that must be complemented with the right dog food JUST for them, and Boxers are in no way or shape different than other dog breeds when it comes to this issue.
First off, we must note that Boxers have a certain physique to them as well as a unique lifestyle that's not existent among other dog breeds.
Boxers are strong, muscular dogs of medium-large sizes that like to spend a decent amount of time during the day being active and moving around.
An average Boxer dog will weigh around 50-70 lbs and stand around 20-25 inches tall. Of-course, that's referring to the male Boxer dogs, as the female Boxer dogs will generally weigh less and stand a bit shorter.
So, to be able to maintain these high energy expenditure levels and maintain their muscular physique, Boxers need more calories from their diet than other dog breeds that don't have such a muscular body and/or aren't as physically active.
Generally speaking, an average adult Boxer dog will need around 1100-1500 calories, which is just about average considering a dog this size and weight.
If you've got a Boxer dog that's REALLY physically active all day long, is used for some jobs a work dog would do or is involved in extensive training, then you could expect your Boxer to need somewhere along the lines of 2200 calories at certain times to make up for all that.
With that being said, at the end of the day, these caloric estimates are only ESTIMATES that depend on a whole bunch of factors that differ between one Boxer to another.
Before you go ahead and design a specific diet for your Boxer dog or puppy, or decide on a specific number of calories you want to feed them in a day's time, please talk to your veterinarian about this because they will best be able to determine what YOUR Boxer's exact dietary needs are.
Without proper veterinary consultation regarding this issue, and if you don't have a proper dietary plan for your Boxer that has been designed/approved by a professional, it's really easy to get your Boxer to overeat like crazy (because large, active dogs like these LOVE to eat), and this will only lead to dangerous health problems such as obesity, diabetes, joint problems and cardiovascular diseases.
Besides these issues, you can directly tell (most of the times) if a dog food is going to be high-quality and appropriate for your Boxer right from the ingredients list on the bag.
Protein
Just like the case is with practically every other dog breed out there, protein is probably the most important macro-nutrient when it comes to your Boxer's diet.
Remember how we talked about the strong physique of the Boxer in the introduction to this article?
Well, adequate levels of protein in your Boxer's diet will go a very long way in helping their bones maintain their strength and prevent them from becoming fragile, maintaining and strengthening their lean muscle mass and providing adequate recovery to their muscle tissue after all the physical activity they get during a day's time.
Again, protein is probably the most important macronutrient for all dog breeds in their diet, but even more so for Boxers in particular because of their large size and above-average activity levels and energy expenditure.
It's often recommended that you feed your Boxer a diet consisting of around 25-30% of proteins, while some experts would recommend feeding your Boxer a diet consisting of around 35-40% protein, sometimes even 45% protein.
Start off at the lower levels, somewhere around 30% protein, and then gradually test the waters to see the optimal level of protein in your Boxer's diet without them getting sick or experiencing adverse health effects.
The last thing you'll want to do is immediately feed your Boxer a diet consisting of something like 40% protein while they've been eating around 25% their whole lives, that'll shock their digestive system and have negative health effects on them because there wasn't a proper transitional phase in between.
Then, you've got the issue of where the protein is coming from (aka the protein source). Some dog food brands will boast about their high protein content, while the sources of protein they have on the ingredients list are plant based protein or those from ingredients that are a result of meat by-products.
You don't want that. What you want for your dog is meat-based protein sources, such as de-boned chicken, lamb, salmon as well as meat meals.
These are some of the highest quality protein sources you can ever come across when it comes to dog food.
Fat
Similar to protein, fat is also a very important part of your dog's diet and should definitely not be overlooked.
Not only does supplying your Boxer with adequate levels of fat ensure that they're able to keep up their daily activity levels and not feel lethargic throughout the day, adequate fat levels also help with things like improving your dog's coat condition, keeping it shiny and preventing excessive shedding.
It's often recommended that you feed your Boxer a diet that consists of around 10-15% fat levels, while some dog foods may even contain up to 30% fat levels.
Your Boxer will probably be requiring less amounts of fat in their diet than other dog breeds, because they have a relatively short coat that doesn't need that much fat levels to keep healthy.
The last thing you want to do is give your Boxer more fat than its body needs, as that will put it at risk of health problems such as pancreatitis and obesity.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are also vital in your Boxer's dietary regimen, but the key is in choosing dog food that contains only the highest-quality, complex carbohydrate foods, and not carbohydrates that are packed with sugar.
The good kind of carbohydrates (the complex-carbohydrate type of foods) can go a long way in helping your Boxer with their digestive system and keeping their energy levels up the entire day to cope with their relatively high activity levels.
Boxer Health Problems
Just like other dog breeds out there, Boxers have their fair share of health problems they are more prone to suffer from than other dog breeds.
Boxers are more prone than other dog breeds to suffer from the following health problems during their lifetimes:
