Pet Articles
How To Choose Your Boxer Dog
Author: Amy Howells
An easier and more pleasant journey with your chosen Boxer
starts with checking out the parent dogs for unbecoming traits
like aggression, hyperactive and extreme shyness.
This is easier to do when you get your Boxer from a reputable
breeder or from a pet shop that get their animals only from
known breeders.
Exercise prudence if you are getting your Boxer puppy from pet
stores, which often get their supply from breeders of unknown
reputation.
These "puppy mills" as they are called are not known to put much
emphasis on the quality and health of pups they are producing.
Reputable breeders would adhere to the accepted standards for
Boxers in terms of uniformity in the breed, good health,
temperament, size and color. Reputable breeders would be able to
show the pedigree and registration papers and/or pictures of the
parent dogs that may reside somewhere else. Professional
breeders are also there to produce dog show champions or
prospects.
Even if you are not looking to raise a show champion Boxer,
known breeders can provide you with some "best buy" puppies
because not all the puppies in a litter are show
prospect/champion materials.
But the full litter would have had benefited from the same
proven bloodlines, nutrition and medical care. So you can choose
from among the good-looking brothers or sisters of potential
champion for a bargain.
Your other source option is animal shelters that in the US alone
receive up to 12 million homeless dogs and cats every year, and
about 25% of them are purebred. Paying the adoption fee is a lot
cheaper than the price you will pay to a breeder or pet store,
and you will be saving a life.
The definition of good stock or purebred must include beauty,
and in a Boxer good look means the coat is fawn and brindle,
with the white markings or "flash" covering not more than
one-third of the entire coat.
Sometimes the distribution of the "flash" alone may make the
difference between a show champion and just a pet Boxer.
The all-white Boxer or "check" is prone to blindness and
deafness, and the American Boxer Club members are not to
register, sell or use the "whites" for breeding.
When it comes to choosing male or female Boxers, there are not
much clear-cut differences in their personalities.
At times, the male is calmer, more tolerant of other dogs,
willing to hold still for those hugs than the female. But at
other times, the female can be so. One owner said the female
Boxer is hyper and more aggressive especially toward other
females, and that the aggression has increased as the female
gets older
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