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Raskolnikov · 02-09-2010, 08:01 AM

Hello all. Firstly, I would like to apologise for any daft questions I have about Boxers as I have only had one and he was a street urchin who we picked up about 3 1/2 years ago. He had an owner who used to visit him once every 3-4 weeks (he lived about 60 miles away) and a neighbour who used to feed him more or less daily, but it was apparent as soon as we turned up that he wanted to be ours.

We were renting a house up in the freezing north of Spain and Thor used to jump in our van to sleep at night while my wife, my Bullterrier and I rented a house for a month. We started taking him to the beach everyday, walking miles together etc-in short, he became our boy- and there was no way on earth we were going to leave him up there all alone when we left for pastures warmer in the south.

He needed no training whatsoever, he was good as gold and was the loyalest little buddy imaginable until he started suffering with epileptic fits last January. We medicated him for months but, in the end, he was a zombie, a shadow of his angelic former self, so we took the horrible decision to put him to sleep.

He was my first ever rescue (we've also lost the Bullterrier to age in the meantime) but he started us on our crazy rescue campaign-we've subsequently rescued a scavenging Malamute from the streets, another BT from a rescue centre and a little terrier cross from the streets as well. These 3 are all males so now we are determined to find a young female Boxer to rescue. She would have to be young so that she grows up with the other dogs as my biggest fear is of rescuing an adult who takes exception to my little terrier at some point, as one bite and shake from a powerful breed would do away with the little bugger.

I figure, the younger the better to bring the girl up as a "sister" to the others. This is where my potentially silly questions begin, I'm afraid. I don't want a show dog, just an athletic and healthy pet. Would I be able to approach a breeder to pick up/rescue a whitey, for example, or are they sold as pets? My wife is 100% against buying a dog for various reasons but the danger of rescuing an adult is bothering me. I have friends who work at the rescue centres here and I could pick up an adult tomorrow, and in an ideal world I would do, without hesitation, but I can't help fearing that things could go wrong in a second. By introducing a much younger dog, however, we'd be minimizing the danger. So I'm just wondering, what is the situation with the undesired whiteys (at least from a showing and breeding point of view?) Are they sold, given away or culled, or does it depend on the breeder?

Thanks all.

Oh yes, I will try to put some pix up of our gang, but it might take a while as I am having problems with my internet access here. Thor was a huge headed, skinny bodied boy but I wouldn't have had him any other way!

02-09-2010, 08:01 AM	#1 (permalink)
Raskolnikov New User Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 3	My limited Boxer history Hello all. Firstly, I would like to apologise for any daft questions I have about Boxers as I have only had one and he was a street urchin who we picked up about 3 1/2 years ago. He had an owner who used to visit him once every 3-4 weeks (he lived about 60 miles away) and a neighbour who used to feed him more or less daily, but it was apparent as soon as we turned up that he wanted to be ours. We were renting a house up in the freezing north of Spain and Thor used to jump in our van to sleep at night while my wife, my Bullterrier and I rented a house for a month. We started taking him to the beach everyday, walking miles together etc-in short, he became our boy- and there was no way on earth we were going to leave him up there all alone when we left for pastures warmer in the south. He needed no training whatsoever, he was good as gold and was the loyalest little buddy imaginable until he started suffering with epileptic fits last January. We medicated him for months but, in the end, he was a zombie, a shadow of his angelic former self, so we took the horrible decision to put him to sleep. He was my first ever rescue (we've also lost the Bullterrier to age in the meantime) but he started us on our crazy rescue campaign-we've subsequently rescued a scavenging Malamute from the streets, another BT from a rescue centre and a little terrier cross from the streets as well. These 3 are all males so now we are determined to find a young female Boxer to rescue. She would have to be young so that she grows up with the other dogs as my biggest fear is of rescuing an adult who takes exception to my little terrier at some point, as one bite and shake from a powerful breed would do away with the little bugger. I figure, the younger the better to bring the girl up as a "sister" to the others. This is where my potentially silly questions begin, I'm afraid. I don't want a show dog, just an athletic and healthy pet. Would I be able to approach a breeder to pick up/rescue a whitey, for example, or are they sold as pets? My wife is 100% against buying a dog for various reasons but the danger of rescuing an adult is bothering me. I have friends who work at the rescue centres here and I could pick up an adult tomorrow, and in an ideal world I would do, without hesitation, but I can't help fearing that things could go wrong in a second. By introducing a much younger dog, however, we'd be minimizing the danger. So I'm just wondering, what is the situation with the undesired whiteys (at least from a showing and breeding point of view?) Are they sold, given away or culled, or does it depend on the breeder? Thanks all. Oh yes, I will try to put some pix up of our gang, but it might take a while as I am having problems with my internet access here. Thor was a huge headed, skinny bodied boy but I wouldn't have had him any other way!