I Bought a Boxer today...

DDD

Well-Known Member
I've been looking for the right canine family member for six months or so and oila...today as I'm home sick coughing, sniffing, etc...there was THE ad. I sent easy child/difficult child to meet him and take the check.

We are proud to announce that our family now includes Ace (yes, that is his name lol) who is 16 months old and 65 pounds. He won't come home until Tuesday or Wednesday so that I have a chance to get over this bug. His ears are long but his tail is short. He has not been fixed as there are two AKC female families who want him to service them. easy child/difficult child sees this as a great way to make money. husband wants him fixed pronto. We've never had a dog that was "normal".

Hmmm.......what do you all think? Fix or not fix.
Gee, I wish I could do pictures. He is HUGELY darling. ;) DDD
 

Suz

(the future) MRS. GERE
:bravo: Congratulations!!! :bravo: I'm delighted for you and so are my girls!!! :bravo:

With overpopulation and so many sweethearts out there needing homes, I always vote for neutering our fuzzbutts.

Suz
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
If he has all the qualities they're striving for in the breed, plus a superb personality/temperment, I'd let him be a father at least once. (a donation back to the gene pool) Then fix him. An unneurtered male can be a handful if there happens to be a female in heat any distance from you. Because he will go looking for her.

Our Mr Rowdy has never been fixed. I wish I had way back when he was young. He's fathered several litters over the years. A female in heat is the only thing that will cause him to leave his yard. Now that he is older........it's more difficult for him to manage, but he still tries. I'd fix him now but I have no where for him to recover.

Oh, well. Had he been fixed I wouldn't have my truely lovable Betsy girl. sigh
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I woud definitely have him neutered ASAP! There are waaaay too many unwanted dogs being euthanized in shelters these days to be breeding more! I'll spare you my 'backyard breeders' speech, but breeding dogs is NOT a good way to make money. A really responsible breeder who does all the proper health testing and vet care usually just breaks even. And Lisa is right about him possibly being hard to manage if he remains unneutered. He doesn't need to be roaming the neighborhood fathering more litters of puppies, and unneutered males run a risk of testicular cancer as they get older.

I think you will LOVE having a Boxer though. I have Bostons and a lot of people who have Bostons also have Boxers ... they are very much like BIG Bostons. They have the same personality type, the same good temperment, the same clownish behavior and high energy, just in a much bigger package. They're usually just big, sweet, loveable goofballs! And PLEASE don't put him through the ordeal of having his ears 'clipped'. It's very painful for them and it's not done as much now as it used to be. Good luck with him! He sounds like a good one!
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Well, as we say "in the hood", there are "good pimps" and "bad pimps". I'm good. LOL!

One of the females belongs to the daughter of Ace's owners who also is into AKC activity. Since I "got a deal" I think the expectation is that Ace will visit that house at least once. Then.........after one "night of bliss" I guess Ace will have to live off memories. :redface: DDD
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Congratulations on the newest family member! :D

Unless you plan to show him to earn an AKC title and then run a breeding program of your own, I think I'd get him fixed. If part of the arrangement for your discounted price is a conjugal visit to the previous owners' dog(s), so be it. But then get him snipped. You'll have a mellower dog!
 

skeeter

New Member
I've had many boxers, we have one and a half (one of ours is mixed with - we think - a black lab) right now.

Boxers have fantastic personalities, but they are STRONG. Establish some good manners now. They usually love everyone, kids, people, other dogs - except they can get a little territorial in their own yard.

Leave the ears natural - the AKC recognizes natural ears as ok for show. At 16 months, your guy is too old to go through ear cropping (all of our boxers have had natural ears).

One word of warning, boxers are prone to cancer. That's a VERY good reason to have your boy neutered.

There are now two sizes recognized. One where the male is around 55 - 60 lbs and one where the male is larger. Our "pure" boxer is currently 75lbs, but I've had one in the past that was 85 lbs of pure muscle.

They do slobber - get yourself a steady supply of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers to clean dog boogies off the wall. They also think they are much smaller and will try to be lap dogs. They LOVE furniture, so if you don't want them on the bed, the sofa, all chairs, etc. - work on that from the get go.

Many do not like to have their heads in dog bowls to eat. We've always fed ours out of pie plates.

They are usually real wusses about rain or snow.

But I think you'll come to be a "boxer mommy" too.
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
Congrats on the new addition. It's a great thing to have a pet in your home.
I vote for neutering.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Congrats! He sounds great. Boxers are so smart.

What does your contract say? Usually, if you get a deal, it's because you plan to have to dog neutered. Breeders don't want competition.

Also, if you do mate him, I would make sure you have homes already lined up for the puppies, rather than run an ad afterward. Waiting until after the puppies are born often guarantees puppies growing to adults and being dropped off at the shelter.
Just my few words of wisdom ...
 

muttmeister

Well-Known Member
A vote here for neutering also; for lots of reasons.

My difficult child#2 and family just got a boxer. He is a real delight. He has been to puppy preschool and obeys lots of commands; is as smart as can be. And he is a clown; last time I babysat we were playing outside and he decided to grab a toy shovel (about 3 feet long) and off he went. The kids had a good time laughing at him and the more they laughed the more he ran with it. Now if only we could teach him to use it....
Enjoy him; he should be a sweetheart.
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Ace will be my third boxer although the first AKC registered one. They are so affectionate, smart and playful that I haven't looked at any other breed now we are finally thru mourning Logan. ;) Evidently Ace has that lap dog thought going too, lol.

He has "always" slept in a crate. We are not crate people. Those things are so huge and our one short term experience was a bummer some years ago. I'm planning on getting him a doggie bed and putting his familiar sheet and blanket on top. on the other hand, I'm feeling a little guilty about not bringing his crate home too. They say that he goes to the crate, opens the door, goes in and when he wants out he opens the door and comes out. Since I'm too busy coughing etc. to sleep, I am quietly obsessing about whether he will be traumatized by having to sleep with-o his enclosure. I suppose it makes him feel secure. Do you guys crate? DDD
 

skeeter

New Member
My were all crate trained. As with Ace, they use it not just by my command, but when they want to "get away" from everything.

One of mine would also "punish" himself when he did something wrong. Used to drive me nuts to come home and find Porky in the crate, when I didn't put him there when we left. I would then have to go through the house to figure out what he had done.

Porky was also a vacuum. By that I mean, given the chance, he would eat anything. He ate skeleton keys. He ate the ex's tie tack - 5 times (don't ask why it was somewhere the dog could get it after the first time). He ate a cassette tape - I mean the entire tape, case, etc. It came out whole. It got to the point I didn't just "clean up" the yard, I would have to hose it to see if there was anything valuable out there. But he never got in the garbage or things like that.

We currently have the world's dumbest boxer. Wyley has always been somewhat "slow" - in fact (and I mean no disrespect by this) we swear if there is Down's in dogs - he's got it. He's big, he's extremely lovable, but you can tell that thoughts just don't always connect in him. Every day for the past 8 years (we adopted him when he was 3) he's walked into the piano leg. The piano hasn't moved. He's now over 11 and getting senile - so what little brain function he did have is slowly going away. He will walk into a room and you can tell, he has NO idea why. He'll just stand there for 5 minutes or so with this completely blank look on his face - then give up and lay down.
 
K

Kjs

Guest
Awww, I don't think I could wait.

And, I'Learning Disability (LD) have to go with "fix". I waited to fix my girls...that was a mistake. not only their actions, attraction to neighbor dogs..it is more expensive the older they are.
 

Suz

(the future) MRS. GERE
I never believed in crating until I saw how much my girls learned to love theirs....well, all except Chelsea. I guess the husky in her just couldn't tolerate being cooped up.

Molly and Chloe have both loved their crates. They came in handy when they were youngsters to train them. I put away Molly's when she stopped chewing the house up to shreds. It took Chloe forever to be reliable in the house when I wasn't around. It was never a housebreaking issue but another chewer like Molly.

I have Chloe's up because she considers it her sanctuary. If she gets scared she goes in it, if she wants some "privacy" (said loosely since it's the kind that is completely exposed-lol). I keep it for her mental health more than anything else.

If Ace is accustomed to using a crate I would suggest bringing it home with him. He's learned to consider the crate his home and it would be like removing a blankie from a baby without any opportunity to withdraw. If you are philosophically against it, then don't lock the front and let him come and go as he pleases and then slowly wean him from it.

Suz
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
I'm enjoying your responses. Thanks. I think the self-discipline thing is a total riot. ;)

Suz, that's what I'm concerned about. Maybe Ace gets psychological reassurance from the crate. I'm going to try him with just his familiar bed covers (from his crate) for a night or two. If it appears he is uncomfortable then I'll head to Wally World and buy a crate. Our home is neither large nor small...but a crate for a big dog will have to go in our room as the only other space is the guest bedroom. Somehow, I don't think sharing a room with a miniature horse would be appealing to our overnight guests!
:redface: DDD
 

Lothlorien

Active Member
From what I understand, (friend had three boxers) they can be a bit high strung. Moving him to a new location without the crate may cause him some anxieties and create unnecessary problems. I would give him a crate for now, until he's comfortable and "home." Then perhaps, after a while, you can train him to stay on his bed.
 

Suz

(the future) MRS. GERE
D3- Well, it's pretty obvious that you and I (and Loth) are diametrically opposite on this :) . Perhaps you can borrow his crate for awhile from the person he's with now. That way you don't have the expense if it's not needed but he has his den if he does need it during this adjustment period.

Suz
 
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