Boxer
| Recognized By: |
ACR
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AKC
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APRI
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CCR
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CKC
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CKC
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FCI
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KCGB
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NKC
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NZKC
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UKC
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| AKA: |
Deutscher Boxer, German Boxer |
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| Mispellings: |
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Living with a Boxer
Temperament: The Boxers guard dog instinct makes him a constantly alert, dignified and self-assured dog with a patient and playful personality. They are curious, fearless, intelligent, loyal and affectionate dogs.
Family Dog: The Boxer makes a wonderful family pet. They are loyal and affectionate dogs that bond closely with their family. They are patient with children yet wary of strangers. Boxers who have been properly socialized with get along well with other dogs and household pets.
Shedding: The Boxer is an average shedder.
Grooming: The smooth, short coat of the Boxer is easy to groom. It should be brushed with a firm bristle brush. They should be bathed only when necessary to avoid removing the natural oils from the skin. This breed is very cleanly and grooms themselves like a cat.
Training: The Boxer is a highly intelligent dog that is eager to please and able to learn new commands quickly. They can be stubborn and sneaky at times. It is important to begin training the Boxer with firm, consistent training at a young age especially not to be boisterous and jump on people.
Weather: Boxers are somewhat sensitive to the weather and can chill easily in the winter and have trouble cooling off in the hot weather.
Exercise: The Boxer is an active breed that requires daily exercise including a long daily walk, playing, running and/or fetching a ball.
Living Conditions: Boxers can make fine apartment dogs provided they are given plenty of daily exercise. Ideally they should have an average sized yard for outdoor exercise. They are relatively active when inside.
Boxer Appearance
Appearance: The Boxer is a medium-sized dog with a square build, short back, strong legs, short coat, elegant appearance and alert expression. The muscles are clean and well-developed appearing smooth under the tight fitting skin. This breed has lots of energy with swift movements and a long, elastic, ground-covering gait. Their head is carried high and proud. The Boxer's chiseled head gives him a unique look.
Size: An adult male Boxer should be between 23 to 25 inches tall at the withers weighing between 60 to 70 pounds; while females should be between 21½ to 23½ inches tall with a weight between 53 to 65 pounds.
Companionship: Boxers make great loyal and protective companions that need lots of human attention.
Head: Much of the Boxer's beauty lies in the proper look and proportion of the head. The head should be proportionate to the size of the body, clean and free from deep wrinkles. Wrinkles should be present on the forehead when the ears are erect and always visible from the stop down both sides of the muzzle. The Boxer should have an alert and intelligent expression. The skull should be slightly arched with a slight indentation between the eyes forming a distinct stop. The cheeks are relatively flat and clean tapering into the muzzle gracefully.
Nose: The Boxer's nose should be wide and black in color lying just slightly higher than the root of the muzzle.
Eyes: The eyes of the boxer are set moderately together in the front of the skull. They should be neither protruding nor deep-set. They should be moderately sized and dark brown in color. The third eyelids should have pigmented rims.
Ears: The Boxer's ears are set on the highest point of the sides of the head. The ears are typically cropped long and tapering toward the end. They are erect when the dog is alert. If the ears are left uncropped, they should be thin and moderately sized, lying flat against the cheeks when the dog is a rest and falling forward with a defined fold when the dog is alert.
Muzzle: The Boxer's wide, blunt muzzle is its distinctive feature. It should be 1/3 the overall length of the head and 2/3 the width with a distinctive set of wrinkles running down both sides. The shape of the muzzle is determined by the formation of the jawbones, placement of the teeth and texture of the lips. The top of the muzzle should be level. The upper jaw is wide with a very slight tapering toward the front with the lips meeting evenly. The upper lip is thick, filling out the space over the protruding lower jaw to the long, widespread canines giving the muzzle its square appearance. There should be a visible chin.
Teeth/Bite: The Boxer has an undershot bite with the lower jaw protruding farther than the upper jaw with a slight upward curve. The lower incisors are in line with the canines giving the jaw the maximum width possible. When the Boxer's mouth is closed neither the teeth nor tongue should be visible.
Neck: The Boxer has a clean, muscular, rounded neck of sufficient length and arch to blend smoothly into the shoulders.
Body: The Boxer has a sturdy, balanced, muscular body that is square in profile with its height is approximately equal to its length. They have a wide chest with a well-defined forechest, visible from the side, deep brisket which extends down to the elbows. The depth of the body is equal to half of the dog's height at the withers. The ribs are well-arched and extend well back. They should never be barrel-shaped. The Boxer has short, muscular loins. The underline has a slight amount of tuck up as it blends smoothly into the rear. The croup flat, broad and slightly sloped. The pelvis is long and wide especially in female Boxers. The Boxer has a short, straight, muscular, firm back with a smooth appearance. The topline slopes slightly when the dog is standing at attention and is level when the dog is in motion.
Forequarters: The Boxer has long, sloping shoulders. They should not be excessively covered with muscle. The long upper arm meets the shoulder blade as a right angle. The elbows are spaced evenly under the body. The legs should be straight, long and muscular. When viewed from the front they should appear parallel to each other. The pastern is strong, practically perpendicular to the ground with only a slight slant to it.
Hindquarters: The Boxer's muscular hindquarters should balance the front in angulation. The broad, muscular thighs are slightly curved. Both the upper and lower thighs are long. The legs are well-angulated at the stifle having clearly defined hock joints. The legs should be straight with straight hock joints turning neither in nor out. The lower leg should be perpendicular to the ground with only a slight slope toward the rear.
Gait: When viewed from the side, the Boxer's gait should appear smooth, efficient and level throughout the ground covering strides. The hindquarters provide powerful drive while the forequarters have adequate reach such that there is no interference nor overlap in the two sets of legs. When viewed from the front, the shoulders appear trim and the elbows remain in. The legs are parallel throughout movement converging toward the center line under the body as speed increases.
Feet: The Boxer's front feet are compact with well-arched toes and face forward. The front dewclaws may be removed. The Boxer has no rear dewclaws.
Tail: The docked tail of the Boxer is set high on the body and carried upward.
Color: The coat of the Boxer may be fawn or brindle with the shades of fawn varying from light tan to mahogany. The Brindle coat can range from clearly defined, sparse black stripes on a fawn base to heavy brindling where the fawn base is barely visible creating look of reverse brindling. The Boxer may have some White markings that enhance the overall appearance provided they do not exceed one-third of the coat. There may be white marking on the face that as part of the black mask extending upward between the eyes so long as they do not detract from the Boxer's expression.
Coat: The Boxer has a short, shiny coat that is smooth and lies close to the body.
Boxer Facts
Category: Mastiff, AKC Working
Life Expectancy: The Boxer has an average life expectance of 11 to 14 years.
Characteristics: The Boxer excels in competitive obedience and schutzhund as well as police and military work. They make excellent watch dogs able to restrain an intruder much like a Bulldog can. Like their name says, they have been known to walk on their back legs and use their front paws as in a boxing motion. Boxers have a tendency to drool, snore and may have excessive flatulence.
More Info: There are two variations of the Boxers, the American Boxer and the larger more muscular German Boxer.
Boxer Health
Allergies: The Boxer is prone to skin allergies.
Health: The Boxer may suffer from epilepsy, hip dysplasia, sub-aortic stenosis, thyroid, cardiomyopathy and other heart issues. They also have an increased risk of tumors starting around the age of eight. White Boxers also have an increased chance of being or becoming deaf.
Litter Size: The average litter size of a Boxer is 6 pups with litter sizes ranging from 2 to 10.
Boxer History
History: The Boxer is a descendant of two German Mastiff dogs, the Bullenbeiszer and the Barenbeiszer. Later, these two dogs were crossed with the Mastiff and Bulldog creating a dog used for hunting, bull baiting, and for pulling carts. Farther down the line, the Boxer's ancestors were used as cattle dogs and in the circus and theaters. It wasn't until 1904, when the first Boxer Studbook was created, that the breeding of the Boxer began to take shape. Despite the German beginnings, the name Boxer is of English descent and describes this breed's punchy fighting style. Derived from more ferocious breeds, early Boxers were much less gentle than are today's standard.
