READ YOUR BREED

The Boxer

While Boxers are elegant in appearance, athletic, and courageous, they love to play the fool, find fun in everything they do, and just generally resist taking things too seriously. Just where the Boxer learned this “forever young” philosophy is not really clear. The Boxer’s immediate ancestor, the Brabant Bullenbeisser (literally “bull biter”), was developed in Germany from huge mastiff-type dogs for the then-popular sport of bull baiting, a cruel and gory spectacle that set dogs to fight against bulls. By the mid-nineteenth century, the name “Boxer” was associated with a lighter-built version of the Bullenbeisser, the name possibly arising from the dogs’ habit of using their front feet when wrestling an opponent. Today, these dogs are beloved family members. This brachycephalic (short-faced) breed is medium in size, yet muscular and strong. Most Boxers are naturally energetic—too energetic, perhaps, for owners who live a calm and sedentary lifestyle. Boxers need daily exercise or they will channel their zest for life into undesirable, often destructive, activity. The Boxer is devoted to his family, wanting always to be included. Perhaps because of their own perpetually youthful natures, most Boxers relate well to children. Boxers retain enough of their heritage as police and guard dogs to be vigilant in their self-appointed role as protector. Strangers may be viewed with dark suspicion until introduced by family as friends, but once a Boxer accepts someone, he reverts to his usual lighthearted and charming self. Could the Boxer be the dog for you? Read more at moderndogmagazine.com/boxer.