Say hello to Chaos!

Hey guys, here is my new dog (hopefully), haven't gotten him check for a chip yet. My girlfriend found him out on the street, his toe nails are ground down to the quick and he is about 28 lbs, 15 under the advised 40-45 lbs advised for a boxer of 4-5 months.

He is emaciated and has no fat or muscle. I need some pointers on how to healthfully get him back into shape and up to good weight. We will be taking him to get shots, getting him dewormed and fixed when he can handle it.

Any other advice on boxers and dog rescue would be much appreciated.

 

Good looking guy! Call your local Vet on how to get an underweight dog back to normal weight safely. I'd imagine just throwing a big bowl of food in front of him wouldn't be a great idea, probably better to make sure he eats smaller portions and slowly at first (I'm not a vet so please don't quote me on that). Hopefully the previous owners did have him chipped and it's just a sad case of a runaway puppy!

If not, and you do end up keeping him, not sure if it's your first dog, but socialize him well and get the training done early! Boxers are fairly high energy and those thin limbs makes them prone to broken legs during rough play. Because of their short snout, they are also prone to breathing problems and could end up being a very very bad snorer.

 

That's a good looking boxer! I've had two boxers and I loved both of them! Great personalitys and loving dogs. I would just feed him like normal twice a day and he will put on the weight in no time!

 

This ^^

We have 2 boxers. Great dogs. Feed him twice a day and get her checked out by the vet. Looks like he needs a good loving home. Get plenty of exercise, young boxers are very energetic.

 

Good dog. Great color. Box with him.

 

Boxers, in my experience, tend to have very weak digestive systems.

If you can afford it I'd start him on a diet of raw food... the best diet for dogs. In the long run it'll be much better for him health wise.

 

Well, the owner reported him missing to the humane society, so I had to have animal control come get him. As it stands now, they are going to cite the owner for dog at large, unlicensed dog, and bring a neglect/cruelty case against the owner based on his looks and obvious lack of care.

It will be stated in the report that I would like to take custody of the dog and I will do my best to be at the trial/court when judgement is passed and hopefully the judge hands down an animal forfeiture motion. If so, I will be there to volunteer to take ownership of the little guy.

 

I've had Boxer dogs all of my life, currently have a fawn female. Great dogs. Good luck with the court/trial and ownership pursuit.

 

If he just lost weight like that from being away from home for a while it's ok. I worked at a vet clinic for a while and we had a St. Bernard that jumped out of the back of his owner's truck and was missing for 5 days. In just that time that dog lost 15 pounds (we know this because he was on his way home after a vet visit, and when the owner found him he came back to get the dog checked out).

But if it's found that he lost weight from being neglected, I hope you get him. What a cute dog. Boxers are so cool. They can be hard to train, because they are definitely persistent and willful, but they're loving and energetic dogs.

 

If they find that it was animal cruelty I hope you get the dog, but if they find that the weight loss was just from being on his own, I'm glad you found him and were able to bring him in for the time being.

 

Thank you for stepping up & providing a safe home for him.
Chaos is cute!