What Do Boston Terriers Eat?

First of all, as I said, I am no expert or purist. I do, however consult a lot of people and do quite a lot of research on what matters to me like my dog Ivar, the Boston Terrier. This is how this article is gonna go… I will give you   Is that what you’re looking for? Then here we go..

What is the best dog food?

That is a very hard question to answer because no dog is alike nor has the same owner which influences the quantity needed and, depending on the resources and the geographical region, there are many answers to this question. For starters, your Boston Terrier needs a balanced diet rich in nutrients for his development. His diet must therefore include proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals and water.

Whether you prepare it yourself or buy complete or semi-complete food, it is imperative to include those. Fish, eggs and lean meats are the first sources of quality protein for your dog. Fish such as salmon and sardines can provide him with the proportions of lipids he needs. Broccoli and kale plus fruit and vegetable superfoods, amino acids, flax seeds and brown rice for healthy digestion, skin and coat.They will be the sources of vitamins and minerals. Avoid giving grains, potatoes and starches to your companion (we will discuss grain in another post).

Now, just like human diets, we can talk for hours about what brand is better, what grains are acceptable and which are not. We could debate whether they prefer fish or beef and so on…. Truth of the matter is… No one has the truth.

Our Method

So J-F, what  do you suggest I do? Well, here it is:

1. I suggest you talk to your vet, your breeder and the best pet shoppe supply in your area and see what is available to you easily because trust me, it sucks to have to wait for 2 weeks because of chain supply problems. Ask veterinarian free samples if available.
2. There is no specialized Bston Terrier dog food to my knowledge so find a brand that you can afford but don’t worry, they don’t eat that much 😉
3. If you can, continue on with your local Boston Terrier breeder’s brand because your pup will be familiar with it
4. Choose something easy to chew and don’t worry if they spill on the floor, they like to do that!
5. Try stuff and mix brands to see what your Pooch likes. He deserves the best so give him options but give him time to adjust as well. I always try a small bag (5 to 10 lbs) first and leave him a week or two to observe how he likes and digests it. You can mix flavors and brands too. Just keep track of portion sizing depending on the brand because you don’t want to overfeed or starve him.
   
6. Last but most important of all: Don’t feel guilty if you screwed up, just do your best.

Best Homemade Dog Food Ideas… don’t come easy!

When we got Ivar, the breeder gave us a bag of leftover lamb and rice mix. I have talked to a lot of Boston Terrier owners that told me their companion loved it but mine didn’t seem to enjoy this flavor that much. Often times he would actually leave his plate untouched and would rather eat the cat’s food instead!! So being the male that I am, I told my family “That dog is like my son (I only have daughters), so he probably wants red meat!!”  and one day just stopped by the butcher’s place and got Ivar some meat. Could I make homemade dog food BostonTerriers will love?

I had researched what to serve with the meat and was willing to do the whole mix and stuff when I realized (well my wife made me realize) that I was missing a few elements before I could start with my new project of Dog Food Producer. She said I was missing TIME, bowls, TIME, space, TIME, patience and mostly time. Remember I told you to not feel guilty? Well, I should say learn to forgive yourself but anyway, here is why.

Since I was lacking a few of the elements mentionned and more, I decided in my infinite wisdom to cook the meat and put it on top of his kibbles. WoW! that was fantastic! He loved it immediately and ate everything underneath as well! What a boy! That was genius! I was THE PERFECT MASTER because I could read his mind. So, yeah, good idea. It went on for a few days and I was careful not to put too much meat or kibble because I didn’t want him to get fat.

The good thing was he was really getting all the nutrients he needed (I have learned later it was too much protein). After a while though, work started to ask a lot of me. Two of the things my wife said I was missing were now extinct…my patience and my time! Obviously because I was out of patience and time, I started botching things and didn’t cook his meat right once and I left it outside because I was in a rush. It only took a few hours before he started vomiting and had diarrhea in his cage, what a messy time that was! ( I would like to apologize to Ivar for the suffering but also to my wife who helped me clean many times because you know, I am easily disgusted ).

We took him to the Vet, got the right meds AND advice then everything went back to order. The Vet sold us meat based food from a brand that we tried for a few weeks but it was not the best food my boston terrier ever ate…

Therefore we decided to go to a well reputed Pet Fod Store and asked for advice. We got Acana Classic Red Meat  He really loved it! If my memory is good, we didn’t even have to mix with his old food, we just gave it to him and he ate like a gluton. Yeah, they tend to do that lol

The cat was happy for a while. That is until Ivar started going for his food again. We wondered why then we remembered that Bostons were prone to liking salmon: Lemmy’s cat food flavor.  We decided that we love that dog so much we were willing to try it.  This time, the genius idea came from my wife. She suggested we bought Acana Pacific Recipe and mixed it together. That was the best idea we could ever have ! Ok, it’s not homemade per say but Ivar is now the happiest dog on earth about his food…that I keep complementing with a topping of steak in juice when I have time 😉

Some supplements can be good for them too——->Probiotics

In conclusion, I believe that, just like being a parent to a kid, having a dog takes time, love and mistakes. Ask questions to the specialists, stay within the healthy advice but try different things because just like us, these littles creatures are all unique.

J-F Blanchette

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Reference from: American Kennel Club and https://www.canadianveterinarians.net/