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How To Choose Your Boxer Dog
by: Amy Howells
An easier and more pleasant journey with your chosen Boxer starts
with checking out the parent dogs for unbecoming traits like aggression,
hyperactive and extreme shyness.
This is easier to do when you get your Boxer from a reputable breeder
or from a pet shop that get their animals only from known breeders.
Exercise prudence if you are getting your Boxer puppy from pet
stores, which often get their supply from breeders of unknown reputation.
These "puppy mills" as they are called are not known
to put much emphasis on the quality and health of pups they are
producing.
Reputable breeders would adhere to the accepted standards for Boxers
in terms of uniformity in the breed, good health, temperament, size
and color.
Reputable breeders would be able to show the pedigree and registration
papers and/or pictures of the parent dogs that may reside somewhere
else.
Professional breeders are also there to produce dog show champions
or prospects.
Even if you are not looking to raise a show champion Boxer, known
breeders can provide you with some "best buy" puppies
because not all the puppies in a litter are show prospect/champion
materials.
But the full litter would have had benefited from the same proven
bloodlines, nutrition and medical care. So you can choose from among
the good-looking brothers or sisters of potential champion for a
bargain.
Your other source option is animal shelters that in the US alone
receive up to 12 million homeless dogs and cats every year, and
about 25% of them are purebred. Paying the adoption fee is a lot
cheaper than the price you will pay to a breeder or pet store, and
you will be saving a life.
The definition of good stock or purebred must include beauty, and
in a Boxer good look means the coat is fawn and brindle, with the
white markings or "flash" covering not more than one-third
of the entire coat.
Sometimes the distribution of the "flash" alone may make
the difference between a show champion and just a pet Boxer.
The all-white Boxer or "check" is prone to blindness
and deafness, and the American Boxer Club members are not to register,
sell or use the "whites" for breeding.
When it comes to choosing male or female Boxers, there are not
much clear-cut differences in their personalities.
At times, the male is calmer, more tolerant of other dogs, willing
to hold still for those hugs than the female. But at other times,
the female can be so. One owner said the female Boxer is hyper and
more aggressive especially toward other females, and that the aggression
has increased as the female gets older.
About The Author
Amy Howells
For more information about boxer dogs visit: http://www.dog-owner.net/
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