The Boxer - A Great Family Dog

While cropping of a boxers tail and ears remains popular most European breed standards ban the practice, the ban is slowly spreading to other countries.

The British Veterinary Association says 90% of vets are against what it calls a painful procedure which should only be carried out for medical reasons.
And the RSPCA says three out of four people in Britain want cosmetic docking banned, as it says it is unnecessary and unethical.

The call comes ahead of a debate in Parliament on the Animal Welfare Bill.

The government has not included a ban in the new bill, but has left it open to introduce a full or partial ban later if there is enough support in Parliament.

The RSPCA says docking involves amputating a dog's tail and is usually carried out without anaesthetic when puppies are between three and five days old.
Boxer dogs are typically fawn or brindle in colour with a white underbelly and white on the front of all four feet. The whiteness, called 'flashiness,' often extends onto the shoulders or face.

According to the American Boxer Club "Approximately twenty-five percent of all Boxer puppies are either white or almost all white, making white puppies neither 'rare' nor 'unusual.'"some boxers are entirely white. Conversely, some brindled boxers are so dark as to appear black.

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Read More About The Boxer And Other Dog Breeds At Dogs-Worldwide

These are of paramount importance in the Boxer. Instinctively a hearing guard dog, his bearing is alert, dignified, and self-assured. In the show ring his behavior should exhibit constrained animation.

With family and friends, his temperament is fundamentally energetic, playful, yet patient and stoical with children. Because of their strong personality it is best to start training the dog when it is young. As a breed they enjoy their puppy-hood and are reluctant to leave it behind for this reason they are not considered fully mature until age three, one of the longest times in dogdom.

You can discover more on training your boxer HERE

Boxers respond promply to friendly overtures honestly rendered. Yet they are deliberate and wary with strangers. The boxer when threatened displays fearless courage. . His intelligence, loyal affection, and tractability to discipline make him a highly desirable companion

Boxers make excellent, friendly, lively companions and as such are often a family dog. However, they have also made appearances at dog agility trials, flyball. These strong and intelligent animals have even been sometimes used as guide dogs for the blind and police dogs in K9 units in place of the typical German Shepherd.

Boxers are prone to develop cancers, heart conditions such as Aortic Stenosis and Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (the so-called "Boxer Cardiomyopathy"), hypothyroidism, hip dysplasia, and degenerative myelopathy; other conditions that may be seen are torsion (bloat), intestinal problems, and allergies (although these last two may be more related to diet rather than breed). Poor breeding can also lead to entropion, a malformation of the eyelid requiring surgical correction. Responsible breeders test their breeding stock before breeding and in some cases throughout the life of the dog in an attempt to minimise the occurrence of these diseases in future generations.

My own boxer had remarkably good health although in his later years he did develop hip dysplasia and at this state I was glad that I had taken out A Good Pet Insurance it saved me hundreds of dollars at the end of the day. With the increase of vet fees the necessity of a quality pet health insurance has never been as necessary. For those who decide to forgo pet health insurance, it can come down to a choice between pocket and pet.

Just as in humans proper exercise will help keep your Boxer in good health and should add to the longevity of their life.

Walking is one of the best exercises. Your boxer, and you, should try for a 1-2 mile walk each day. A walk of this nature will help avoid future heart problems and help build muscular volume.

My own Boxer use to get very excited when the lead was produced but be warned Boxers are strong dogs and you should use a good strong lead/chain.

Running for a boxer is not recommended because of their short snout and can prevent proper ventilation. When the dog is off lead the occasional short sprint will do no harm.

Training your Boxer is important. For advice and information on training please click HERE

Read More About The Boxer And Other Dog Breeds At Dogs-Worldwide

Through years of refining the Boxer breed has grew to what we all love today. A family safe dog, a child in many ways but a dog that will give unconditional love. Being a big and strong dog as well as a highly intelligent one. They are a dog that needs both physical and mental stimulations to keep them even-tempered and dignified while still keeping their impish spirit and fearless courage in tact.

Read More About The Boxer And Other Dog Breeds At Dogs-Worldwide

Visit my other Doggie Lense Bringing Home A New Puppy

You should start toilet training your Boxer as soon as possible. Boxers, like all dogs are creatures of habit so the sooner you start to train them the better.

We are often asked how long will it take to toilet train a dog, in truth there is no set answer we can give but a general rule of thumb and that is that larger dogs generally take longer to toilet train than smaller breeds. Both patience and time are required.

Follow these guidelines and you'll have your dog toilet trained in no time. First define a sleeping and living area for your dog. It can be anything: some rugs thrown on the floor, a sleeping basket, a child's playpen that is no longer needed is great. Remember dogs by nature are clean animals and will want to release themselves some distance away from their sleeping and feeding places. As a dog owner your job is to reinforce this innate desire.

Next get some old newspapers, or better still a litter tray, and place it in some other spot in the same room, away from your puppy's sleeping area. Now patience. Each time your pup has a meal, or wakes up remove it from its sleeping area to the newspapers and just wait!

At other times if you notice your pup anxious or restless then pick him up and remove him to the tray; you'll not be disappointed.

If your dog has made a 'mistake' then pick him up and bring him over to the litter tray. Boxers are intelligent dogs and it won't be that long until it learns to associate the litter tray with doing the business. A tip I've learned over the years is to leave a little soiled newspaper in the toilet tray that way the pup will be drawn to that area by the scent.

Whatever you do please do not hit your pup, shout at it, or rub your pups nose in any dirt he may deposit away from his designated area - you wouldn't do it on a child? Well why do it on your dog? Remember we all make mistakes. If you do happen to catch the pup in the act of making a mistake then a firm NO! or BAD DOG! Will do and immediately take it to its designated area, set it in the right spot and wait.

Also don't forget to tell your pup how wonderful he is when he behaves properly. Follow these simple guidelines and it won't be long until you have a perfectly house trained boxer pup.

Training your Boxer is important. For advice and information on training, including toilet training, please click HERE

I normally promote this story at Christmas but something happened last week that decided me I had to give it an earlier run. My local rescue centre collected four Boxer pups within five days

A quick check in Google will show you that there are a large number of Boxer rescue organizations. More and more Boxers appear to be abandoned but don't blame the Boxer blame the individual who either sold or bought the dog in the first place.

As with other popular breeds there is an awful lot of irresponsible breeding taking place and the vast majority of it is so these so call breeders can make a quick buck. The irresponsible breeder and more especially the puppy farmer will not be interested in who buys their puppies and once the sale is complete that's it as far as they are concerned

In my time working with Boxers I have discovered that business men often buy these animals as guard dogs but when they discover that they are not really an attack dog and are really difficult to train in this regard if they can't find a quick sale then they are abandoned with as little concern as yesterdays newspaper. My last boxer was a killer dog - he could have licked you to death %uF04A

Many domestic owners do not spend the time to properly train their Boxer or learn about the breed, nor do not want to foot the vet bill to spay/neuter the dog so they add to the problem by letting the dog breed and have puppies. The sad result in most of these cases is not only the original Boxer being abandoned, but also a litter of mixed puppies.

The Boxer, like other breeds does have its health concerns. Many Boxer owners have not done research into what diseases the breed is prone to and thus have no plan for paying for a potential illness if it should occur. Although illness is common for many breeds, this is magnified in the Boxer because of the popularity and the number of unethical breeders that sell Boxers to unsuspecting, uneducated owners. The end result in many cases is an owner that is uninformed in choices as to payment for a major illness and the Boxer often being abandoned.

The Boxer is not to blame, the blame must rest fair and square upon the shoulders of those who through ignorance, greed and misunderstanding do not understand that if you take on caring for any dog then it is a lifetime commitment.

Training your Boxer is important. For advice and information on training please click HERE