Food Quality among breeders

[bombersmama]

I am not sure if you guys remember me posting a while back about a breeder that I found for boxers (in NC and she also breeds and shows sphynx cats) but I had a curiousity question.  She is a pretty good breeder from what I can tell.  She does all health testing and she is very knowledgable about the breed.  I dont want to go into detail again because I know alot of you said she looked like a good breeder....Anyways my question is does the quality of food that is fed to her boxers make her a bad breeder if it isnt good quality food?  I never asked her what she fed her boxers but I saw pictures with boxes of milk bones and i believe what was eukanuba bags in her kennel area.  Do all good breeders generally feed quality food or can some be good but just not be to educated on the food they feed? Or is it endorsments from putting her dogs in shows? 

[BoxerPerson]

Good question...I would think if you "cared" about the health of the breed you would feed good food, but I too know some breeders that feed "crap-in-a-bag" and yet they do all the other good things: health test, show and compete in agility or rally, etc.  I never judged them on the food cuz there are MANY with very firm beliefs on the food they feed.  Just like me...I KNOW factually that the grains I was feeding before worsened Tyler's diabetes and I would have lost him sooner if I hadn't gone to grain free and/or raw.

[blynn03]

Honestly, I didn't even think to do research on dog food until I joined this forum.  If someone doesn't open your eyes, you will go on thinking that what you are feeding is fine....especially if your show dogs are looking/doing fine. So, IMO, no...I don't hold it against a breeder if they are doing everything else right (showing, health testing, etc.).  Griff's breeder fed Eukanuba, I believe, but when I was going to pick him up she revealed that she was in the process of switching to Kirklands because her friend found a site (I would bet it was dogfoodanalysis.com) that said Eukanuba was only a 1-star.  She seemed pretty surprised by that.  Hopefully she's done more reseach since then, but I haven't asked.

The way I look at it, is if they are doing everything else right....you have the freedom to put the pup on a better diet when you get them.  (The only breeders that I've seen that have specific diet requirements for their pups are the ones that feed good food or raw anyway....)

[Hanna Banana]

Many of breeders and or handlers do feed the Pedigrees and Euk.   Reason being is that they are the companies that support the shows, and they do get kickbacks from certain companies as well.

Also many breeders / handlers are feeding numberous dogs.   So buying bulk timberwolf or wellness maybe a bit too much - however these are the one who normally need coat conditionsers before entering the ring.

I think however, about half do feed a hoslitic kibble or raw.  But IMO I would not discredit a breeding progam for the food they feed:)   

[steph0808]

Many of breeders and or handlers do feed the Pedigrees and Euk.   Reason being is that they are the companies that support the shows, and they do get kickbacks from certain companies as well.

I think however, about half do feed a hoslitic kibble or raw.  But IMO I would not discredit a breeding progam for the food they feed:)   

Ditto what Heather said.  Brody's breeder, as Brandy said, feeds Eukunuba, it didn't really bother me because I got to switch him to whatever I wanted when we brought him home.  The same with the next dog, the breeder feeds Euk, and I'm sure it is because they get kickbacks.

[Bruins_Boxer]

Many of breeders and or handlers do feed the Pedigrees and Euk.   Reason being is that they are the companies that support the shows, and they do get kickbacks from certain companies as well.

I totally agree .
Purina also has a good program to earn rewarsa and even gives $$ back for health research and published newsletters .

I would not disregard a breeder who feeds a food you do not like if all of the other things like health testing are done . Food is probably one of the easiest things for you to switch . You can not change failing health tests or a bad temerment .

[BoxerWB]

I think it's been pretty well covered. The companies mentioned do a great job of marketing themselves to the show community. And unless you have a reason to look into nutrition (curiousity, dog w/a problem) - you could easily spend years with dogs that appeared to be doing perfectly well on what we call "crap in a bag."  I know my step-sister feeds her labs Purina One and my mom says their coats are nice and soft... could be, although I find my definition of a dog's coat being greasy is a lot more strict than most!

[PoseidonsMom]

I wouldn't totally discount a breeder for what they feed their dogs unless it was really really crapalicious.

Pro Plan is heavily favored by many Dobe people, even those who are knowledgeable about ingredients. The reason? Their dogs do fantastic on it, whereas they don't always do so well on the very good quality foods. Gorgeous coats, firm small poops, no gas, etc. "Read the dog, not the label" and all that. Granted, a lot of them are feeding the sensitive skin and stomach version, which doesn't have any of the typical by-products and fillers.

I still wouldn't feed Pro Plan to my dog, but I'm not going to completely knock someone for feeding what works for them.

[bombersmama]

Ok that makes me feel better about the breeder I have chosen.  We arent getting a boxer any time soon but I just wanted to see what you all thought on this subject.  Thanks!

[Renee]

I never asked her what she fed her boxers but I saw pictures with boxes of milk bones and i believe what was eukanuba bags in her kennel area.

I weaned all of my puppies on Wellness Puppy, and after several sobbing calls to my mentor about why I had 7 cases of explosive runs, she marched me to the store for Eukanuba puppy.  Since most foods are "ALS" foods and I wanted a puppy formula specificially, I didn't have alot of options in the premium food area.

12 hours later, firm, good stools.

And they stayed on it until they went home and switched to whatever it is they were going to be fed.

[Newcastle]

We fed Eukanuba weaning formula to our last kibble-fed litter - the pups did well on it but holy fish stink!