9781422279298

1 Boxer

Beagle Boxer Bulldog Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Chihuahua Cocker Spaniel Dachshund French Bulldog

German Shepherd Golden Retriever Labrador Retriever Miniature Schnauzer Poodle Pug Rottweiler Siberian Husky Shih Tzu Yorkshire Terrier

By Laura Clark Boxer

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com © 2018 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval

system, without permission from the publisher. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3848-6 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-3850-9 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7929-8 First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Cover photograph by Anna Baburkina/Dreamstime.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

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Contents

1 Introducing the Boxer. ........................................ 6 2 What Should a Boxer Look Like?. ..................... 16 3 What Do You Want From Your Boxer?............... 26 4 Finding Your Puppy. ......................................... 36 5 Getting Ready.................................................... 46 6 Caring for Your Boxer. ....................................... 70 7 Training and Exercising Your Boxer................. 76 8 Keeping Your Boxer Busy.................................. 94 9 Health Care.......................................................100 Find Out More.......................................................................... 126 Series Glossary of Key Terms................................................. 127 Index. ...................................................................................... 128

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Chapter 1 Introducing the Boxer T he Boxer has a worldwide fan club and owners are, quite sim- ply, passionate about the breed. The Boxer is both friend and companion. He will be happy with you, sad with you, chill out with you—in fact, as long as he’s with you, he’s happy! The Boxer comes from lines of guard dogs, and he takes his role as family protector very seriously. He adores his human pack and wants nothing more than to spend time with them and be included wherever you go. He will be alert for the approach of strangers and may be wary to begin with. He needs to figure out if there is a potential threat. But once he has been reassured, he will be more than ready to welcome everyone with typical Boxer enthusiasm. The Boxer is an active, playful dog, and he will retain his joyful personality throughout his life. He appears to have a real sense of humor; he is happy to play the clown and relishes all the attention he gets.

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Intelligent, loyal, and loving, the Boxer is the breed that has it all. He is easily trained, and actually enjoys the work, so he is more than capable of competing with distinction in canine sports such as obe- dience, tracking, and agility, but he will also be content in his role as family companion and protector. The Boxer is one of the easiest breeds to live with, as long as he understands what you expect of him and you give him the training he needs. A Boxer needs to be loved and well cared for. He’s a dog who needs you. He is low maintenance in terms of coat care and dietary requirements, but he demands both mental and physical exercise. Many people think of this breed as high-energy, perhaps with ex- cessive exercise needs, but this is generally not the case. A Boxer will settle into most routines, and as long as he gets the opportunity to be outside and have a run every day, he will be just fine.

Living in a family The Boxer has a kindly nature, and he gets along well with children. He will enjoy joining in their games and will keep a watch over them. However,

it is important to keep in mind that a small, cuddly Boxer puppy will grow into a powerful dog, and this can be quite intimi- dating if good relations are not established from the start. Children must learn how to behave so a Boxer does not

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get too hyped up, and the Boxer must learn to be gentle with even the smallest members of his family pack. With careful supervision, the Boxer will soon become a cherished member of the family. Living with other animals Sociable and fun-loving, the Boxer will enjoy the company of an- other dog. Two dogs will benefit from the additional exercise they get playing together, and they will settle more easily when you have to leave them alone. Boxers seem to get along especially well with other Boxers— maybe because they read each other’s facial expressions and body

language so easily, while other breeds may struggle to under- stand “Boxer-speak.” But if you work at early introductions, a Boxer will learn to live with any breed. Cats may be more of a prob-

lem, as the Boxer has quite a high prey drive and may find it hard to resist chasing a running cat. However, there are many instances of Boxers and cats living in harmony, particularly if a pup- py and kitten are brought up together. Small animals, such as hamsters, rabbits, and guinea pigs, should be kept in a secure home and a Boxer should never be left alone with them. It is far better to be safe than sorry. Boxer beginnings Ancestors of the Boxer go back more than 2,000 years, to a type of dog called the German Bullenbeisser. These dogs were descend- ed from Mastiffs—ancient war dogs. They were used to hunt bear, Meet the Boxer breed!

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deer, and boar. Their job was to catch and hold the prey until hunters arrived. Eventually, Bullenbeissers began to be used by farmers and butchers to guard and drive cattle. In the 16th and 17th centuries in Germany, they became valued as guards and companions. Three distinct types emerged. • The heavy Bullenbeisser, the descendant of the Mastiff • The large hound type, which became the Great Dane • The small Bullenbeisser, the ancestor of the Bulldog and the Boxer The Boxer breed we know today was developed in the late 19th century. In Munich, Georg Alt bred a female Bullenbeisser named Flora with a local male. Then he bred one of the males from the lit- ter, Lechner’s Box, back to Flora, his mother. One of their daughters, Alt’s Schecken, was registered as a Bierboxer, or Modern Bullenbeiss- er. Schecken was bred to an English Bulldog named Tom to produce a dog named Flocki, who became the first Boxer to be entered in the German Stud Book. A Boxer club was formed in Munich in 1895. The dogs varied a lot in size, shape, and color, so club members decided to write down a standard for the breed. In January 1902, the first German breed standard—known as the Munich Standard—was adopted. The stan- dard for today’s Boxer is not very different from that original. (You can learn more about it in chapter 2.) Developing the breed Among the early pioneers of the breed was Friederun Stockmann and her husband, Philip. They married in 1911 and began a life-long journey to breed top Boxers under the kennel name Vom Dom. In 1914, when World War I started, Philip took 10 of their Boxers with him into the army and set about developing the breed for the military. They were trained to find wounded soldiers, remove their

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tags, and then lead medical officers back to the wounded, proving the versatility of the breed. Boxers served as messenger dogs, attack and guard dogs, and pack dogs. As with most breeds in Europe, Boxer breeding programs suf-

fered greatly during the war. The Stockmanns helped restore the breed. Most of today’s top Boxers can be traced to dogs from the Vom Dom kennels. Friederun Stockmann wrote a book called My Life with Boxers , which is a fascinating account of the breed’s history and development. She was outspoken on a number of subjects, including the envy of fellow breeders. She wrote, “If you wish to become unpopular, just buy a beautiful dog!”

The Boxer comes to America

One of the greatest Von Dom males was Sigurd. At the age of five, the Stockmanns sold him to a breeder in California. Three of Sig- urd’s grandsons—Lustig von Dom, Dorian von Marienhof, and Utz von Dom, were later also sold to American breeders. These four Boxers are largely responsible for establishing the breed in the United States. They were highly successful in the show ring, but it was through their offspring that their influence was tru- ly felt. They produced generations of champions, and even today, many of the greatest Boxers have one of these four in their pedigree.

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The Boxer was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1904, but had to wait 43 years to win the Westminster Kennel Club show. The first Boxer to win Best in Show was Warlord of Maxelaine, in 1947. He was a son of Utz. Probably the greatest American Boxer of all time was Bang Away of Sirrah Crest—and all four of the great German dogs appear in his pedigree. He was born in 1949, and first spotted as a puppy at a show judged by Friederun Stockmann, who declared him the best Boxer in America. He completely changed the look of the Boxer breed, mak- ing it more streamlined and adding style and flair in the show ring. Everyone wanted to breed to him, and he fathered 81 champions. He appeared in Life, Collier’ s , and Esquire magazines, and was so famous that when he flew to shows, pilots let him ride up front like a human passenger. He was defeated only five times, and retired with 121 Best in Show wins—a record for all breeds.

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