Watch..They will attack.....with slabbers!! (Boxer)

Member Name: jonnynec

Product:	Boxer
Date:	16/05/09 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great pet, great dog end of!!

Disadvantages: None,,well the slabbers lol

The boxer..a wonderful wonderful dog.

I remember the first time that I saw a boxer, I thought to myself, now that's a vicious dog just look at it. But the inquisitive person in me made me do a bit of research on these dogs and I was quite surprised at what I read and found out.
Although from a stock of dogs that would have been used for bear baiting the present day boxer had evolved so much. It still had some of the old traits in it, such as loyal commanding and strong, but vicious it was not. A dog recommended in the book I read as an ideal pet, the author even stated "every child should grow up with a boxer in their life" and with that my story began.

After studying the boxer a bit I decided that a brindle bitch would be the dog for me as opposed to the red or white boxer. Incidentally white boxers aren't recognized by the kennel club as they have some hereditary problems, but they are a great pet all the same. Male's also tend to be a bit bigger and that slight bit more boistrious where as bitches, when castrated where accepted in the book as being one of if not the most loyal of dogs.

I eventually bought my brindle boxer from a local breeder. Reasonable enough cost £275, Im not sure if this is the price everywhere but it's maybe a reasonable marker.
At first as a pup the boxer who I named Jessie was so shy, hid under tables, wouldn't stand up and walk, this wasn't the dog that the book had sold to me. As Jessie got that bit older her confidence grew, as did her appetite as did she, rapidly at that.

She was fast becoming the dog in the book, big, bold and boistrious. At every opportunity these dogs want to play with you, they run and jump and love water. You need to have time on your hands for one of these magnificent dogs as they require time to blossom into wonderful adult dogs.

So here are some facts to assist you if you are choosing a boxer.

Upkeep; If they are walked regularly their nails should be fine as the tend to run very hard every time the are off the lead and in 7 years I never clipped Jessie as her nails where always nice and trimmed. Although they have very short hair don't me mistaken or fooled into not grooming as they get a new coat twice a year (well mine did). It is quite easy to groom them though, a good brush in your local pet store at around a fiver and a bottle of Johnson's velvet coat did the job for me.

Feeding; Well if you wanted a cheaper option you could go for a horse lol. These dogs require a good standard of feeding as they will do a lot of exercise when you have them out. I went down the route of giving the dog mixed food, meal and meat. Usually I bought 2 7 kg bags of meal, I bought Gusto, a meal designed for working dogs and 30 tins a month, a tin a day mixed served in two portions. Although this may seem like a lot this dog was exercised a lot so that may have contributed in her needing that bit extra.

Training; How can I put it, very very easily trained. Their dumb image is only an image and I found no problems in getting all the basics done correctly, sitting, staying, lie down, heel ect. They are a very responsive dog and I never had any problems with obedience and this was the same response I found from other Boxer owners.

Health and Well-being; When I got the pup she was already vaccinated, but I would advise you to make sure you have the relevant veterinary certs to prove this as the initial inoculations are important. I carried out these inoculations for the next seven years and with them you get a once over for a few pounds extra so it makes good sense. I made sure she was fleed and ticked every 6 weeks again using Johnson's products, I found these to be the most reliable and easy to get.

Exercise; Before you get a boxer be warned that you must be ready to give them a lot of exercise, plenty of lead walking and a place to let them run free as they are so big and powerful that when you don't exercise them, even for a few days they become very excited in the wrong situations, ie. in the house, the start bolting about as if they are in a field, lol, it really is like a bull in a china shop.

Suitability with kids; They couldn't be more suitable as long as they get their own time and space, you must remember they are a big dog and very boistrious, they love to play and run and as long as you keep their exercise routine up they remain nice and calm in the house. There temperament is superb, I don't think they could even bite if they where pushed, around kids they are gentle and around other animal they are very calm also.

These dogs are very loyal and hold their yard as their yard, they will bark and growl when unknown people approach, which is only a good thing.

Here's my one and only warning for these dogs;
They will see you, lock in on you approach with speed and with that intimidating snarling face they will pounce on you and......lick and slobber all over you until some nice person takes them off you!!!

If when you get one you can overlook the sad eyes and put this dog in a kennel you are doing well, we couldn't and we ended up with a big dog living in the house.

Sadly she died on us at the age of seven, she was scared by a car backfiring and bolted and got run over, we all felt her loss and it is like a member of the family gone.

A great pet but you must have time on your hands as they deserve and need a lot of exercise and they are people dogs, a boxer rotting tied up in a back garden will lose all the wonderful personality that makes boxers boxers.

Summary: If you want a dog and have time on your hands to exercise a boxer is for you!!