[KymP]

Have any of you ever been talking with someone about your precious boxer baby(s), and all of a sudden they say something like "yeah, there a nice breed, but they don

 

[southerngirls]

People i run into while walking Chloe back away from her becuase they think she is pitt-bull!! she will try to scamper toward people and they get this look on there face and and take a few steps back-then they look at me and say "what is she??Pitt?? those are bad dogs" at that time i inform that she is a boxer-alot of time they look like they dont believe me!! I mean she is just this gangly little 13 week old pup, she hasnt even gained all her height and muscle yet!! I guess most people in my are dont know boxers too well or else the ones that do i dont run into because i havent had any issues with people trying to explain health issues to me-just the mistaken identity.

 

[KymP]

YES ! That happens to me too! I just wrote about that in my "Leash Agression" post.  With the pit bull ban here people really think they are a "bad breed".

 

[samsonsmom]

Sadly there are ignorant people everywhere & chances are you will run into some eventually. When I lived in Calif I used to rotate which dog I walk, cos walking 2 boxers at one time that are basically still puppies is very difficult. Buck ia a reverse brindle, very dark coloring, but natural ears, tall & rangy & thin...I cannot begin to tell you how many people used to cross to the other side when they saw us coming, convinced that this was a nasty Pit Bull coming their way !! Those that would stop, automatically assumed also that he was a Pit. Now if you look at pictures of him in my gallery, there is no way that he can be mistaken for a pit. I just chalk it up to ignorance. Tia is a fawn, also natural ears & nobody ever confused her..Then there is Samson, my poor child has been called a Bulldog more times than I can count, also a Pit. Grrrrr...I politely correct them, but for some reason here in the South, no matter how many times I say he's a boxer, people just want to continue labeling him a Bulldog...Have you ever looked at a Bulldog? I mean seriously...

AS far as the ones that say you boxer won't live long, now I'm sorry, that's a mean & spiteful thiing to say. First of all, that's not always true. Some Boxers have lived to 12, 13 even 14. Samson will be 10 in Jan & his life was very hard before I got him, so there is no telling how long he could live. Think of it this way, would you choose not to have a child due to the fact that they could get sick & die early? What's the difference??

So Kym, I feel the same way.. When I can educate, I do, if not, I just let it go & grumble to Hubby  

 

[heather-mumofdaisy]

When I tell anyone about my boxer I don't normally get any funny comments, but as soon as I mention that she is a WHITE boxer, you wouldn't believe the things that people will say to you! Examples are "Ooh, don't they have health problems?" or "Oh, you don't see many white boxers do you? They must be the runts of the litter?!" It annoys me and breaks my heart soooo much to think that people judge my boxer as being sickly and inferior to any other boxer! I long await the day that white boxers are accepted and welcomed and lose this reputation for being sickly, runts and inferior! I do accept that boxers are a breed that are prone to certain health problems, but lets face it, there are LOADS of breeds out there that are prone to certain problems. I have never ever found any article or piece of research that proves that white boxers are any "worse" than there fawn and brindle brothers and sisters! Sure, deafness is often a problem, but if I'm right in thinking, it's not as common as is made out by people!
Ooh, sorry, I went off on a bit of a tangent there! Good to get that off my chest though!
And yes, when Daisy was a puppy sooooo many people thought she was a bulldog! And now I notice how people do cross the street to avoid us, which is such a shame because Daisy loves people so much! Plus it's so much better for Daisy if a dog passes us in the street on our side of the road, so that they can stop for a sniff and to say hello and then carry on, but when people see us and quickly drag their dog across the road to avoid walking past us, Daisy is missing out on the socialisation that I think is really imprortant to her!
Sorry, I was going off on one again there!
I so understand where you are coming from though! And yes, it is very annoying!

Heather

 

[samsonsmom]

Isn't it amazing the stigma that gets attached to a breed, or in your case, Heather, a color. When I first started researching boxers years ago, yes, I did learn that White boxers were prone to deafness, but, that does not mean every one is going to be deaf..Which there could be additional health matters, that's why the AKC highly urges people to get their white boxers fixed. It does not mean they are "bad" dogs, far from it as anyone who owns a white boxer will tell you..They are just the same as a brindle or fawn...Are we now getting racial over our dogs??? Seems that some people are, huh?

 

[heather-mumofdaisy]

The comments that I hear about white boxers upset my so much because it is a subject so close to my heart with owning a white boxer. There are just too many rumors that people hear and decide to believe. Does anyone know if any real research has taken place concerning the white boxer? If there is then I would be interested in hearing the real facts, but if there is no research then I think that some should be done because I wish there was something I could throw back at people and say, "Well actually......"

If anyone does know of any research that has taken place I would love to know!

Sorry, I do go off on one on this subject, but as I say, it is a subject close to my heart!

Heather

 

[nano]

Yes, I too have gotten the health problem b.s. comment and from veterinarians who should for sure know better and this is at various times over the past 25 years of owning boxers. I don't know why vets get off on saying this, but I also got a comment from a vet once at Iowa State University who was from France.

 

[southerngirls]

I actually had my first run in with a guy who started trying to tell me about the health issues with my boxer on saturday!! We went to poke around the local flea market, i figured it would help chloe socialize a little with all the people there, so anyway we get there and are walking around and one of the people selling stuff there stops us and starts asking us questions about chloe. Then he had the nerve to try to tell me about the health concernes with the breed! to top it off he said that it was better to buy one of the dogs from the market because they are looked at by a vet and will NEVER have health issues!!!Now i have worked in an emergency vet clinic for over two years, and not to pass judgment but we had more sick dogs come from flea markets than the shelters or anywhere else- I just looked at him like he was "special". how can a person state a dog will NEVER have health problems??? you cant!!! we left after that. I was so irritated with that guy, we took chloe to the park and let her play with the little children who love a dog just cause she is a dog.

 

[mom2scoutandgunner]

Thank goodness we live in a neighborhood that has 9 boxers in all colors and sizes.  I walk both of mine at the same time and no one has walked to the other side of the street when we are out.  I have had people take one look at our puppies at Petsmart and walk the other way.  I even had one man ask his cashier last weekend as we were both checking out if she had ever been bit by one of those dogs.  I asked him if he was confused because this was not a pitbull but a boxer.  The man checking out behind me also had 2 boxers and he also commented about howing loving boxers are.

I have heard of how boxers are supposed to have a short lifespan from a few people and I tell them that I am amazed that it is the only thing they chose to remember and not all the other good qualities of the breed.  Some people are complete morons  :evil:

Thank goodness we have each other to discuss our joys with  

 

[instructor74]

I will have to see if I can find the book that I was reading that addressed the whole white boxer "issue". The long and the short that I gathered from it was the white markings that we love in our boxer and that can produce the all white boxer. Came from the breeding of the bull dog into the boxer line that gave use the form of the modern boxer that we love today. It did touch on the poss of deafness but continued into how it was more the akc and other org. that made the all white boxer a taboo. A  white boxer is the reason I started looking into getting a boxer in the first place. 8)

 

[Zhanna]

We have our first boxer, he just turned four months, and we've not had any problems yet.  Our last dog was half Weimaraner and half Rottweiler.  He was absolutely the sweetest dog we have ever encountered!  People would see us coming at avoid us like we had the plague!  His name was Rocky, he was 27 inches at the shoulder, and weighed 120 pounds.  He looked like a Rottie, but he was gray instead of black; and he had the light eyes of a Weimar.  He was beautiful and I think I'll probably miss him forever.  Now we have Henry and he is wonderful and I'm looking forward to watching him grow!
Zhanna

 

[lopezhk]

I'm not promoting that boxers die early, but if that were true, our babies are adolecents a lot longer then a lot of other breeds and that may almost make it worth it.

 

[caillou]

Genetic problems etc. Choose a good breeder.

I live in France and over here people do also cross the road sometimes when they see me coming! I assume it's due to my brindle boxer being mistaken for a pitt bull and not due to my own looks! On the other hand people who are or have been boxer owners will always come up and talk. It still surprises me. There are no bad natured boxer owners in my experience (only nice people choose such lovely dogs!). I've met three seperate people who have had boxers up to age 12 years. And my vet (a boxer owner) says if you've chosen a responsable breeder with good pedigree dogs he will over the years have done his utmost to select and breed out the "genetic problems" this dog has had in the past. Also it's up to us to make sure that their food is balanced and exercise sufficient. And lots of love and happiness probably helps!

 

[JeepKuntry]

Jess locked herself out of the house last fall and had to go to one of our neighbors to use the phone.  His friend showed up and she said that he told her that he would "just walk over here" so Charlie wouldn't attack!  I about died laughing, Charlie will attack you and love you to death.  His little nub will go 100mph and he'll lick ya but that's the extent of it.  I've had a couple people at PetSmart make comments and I'm not bashful about telling them the truth.  I would imagine more people are scared of boxers with cropped ears.  I could care less either way, I'll go up to the owners of any dog and ask if I can pet them.

 

[Honeyec]

Tink has been mistaken for a pit bull on many occasions (particularly when she's "smiling") and the fact that she's white probably has a lot to do with it.  I can also see how people might mistake a boxer with cropped ears for a Pit bull aswell.  But any breed "bigotry" annoys me so much.  99% of all Pit Bulls I've ever come across have been gorgeous - it's stupid owners who buy them to look "hard" or "rough" that give them a bad name.  Same with Rottweilers. Tink's best friend is a Rotti, twice her size, but Tink is by far the dominant dog.

As for ignorant strangers, I had one woman in the park come up to me and tell me that Tink was "required by law" to be muzzled.  Ehh, sorry to disappoint you, but no she's not.

I have also noticed that more children in general these days seem to be afraid of dogs than when I was small.  When I'm walking Tink I have noticed children cringing away from her before she has even looked at them, or have had kids practically climbing up their parents' legs to get away from "the dog".  My theory on why this is works out as follows:

1) When I was a child (I'm 25 now) we were literally out playing in the street all day every day during the summer holidays. Rounders, tennis, Kick the Can, football - if it wasn't raining, we were out.  

2) Parents these days just don't let their children out unsupervised, for various reasons - concerns about injuries, traffic, "stranger danger", whatever.

3) People also used to let their dogs roam the neighbourhood during the day when I was young - we knew every dog around by name, and they often followed us around on our "adventures".  Thus, even if your family didn't have a dog, there were always dogs around to play with.

4) No-one lets their dog roam free these days (myself included - I would NEVER let Tink out on her own for fear she'd be hit by a car, be stolen, be attacked by another dog, be poisoned, get lost, etc. etc. etc.!)  So basically, if kids don't have a dog in their family, they're never exposed to them and so never learn not to be afraid of them.

Bit of a long post, sorry, but would anyone else agree?

 

[Zhanna]

ABSOLUTELY!

 

[beckhamboxer]

i would totally agree with all of that.

boxer was our first choice for a dog, but second was american staffordshire terrier (considered to be part of the pitbull breed).  our association where we live (town home) as well as our insurance wouldn't cover 5 breeds:

-pit bulls
-rotweillers
-akitas
-chows
-any half wolf mixes

its completely rediculous, as you said.  because of these ignorant interpretations of breeds and awful people who want to raise mean/scary/aggressive dogs, everything suffers. there must be so many who can't be adopted due to situations similar to ours.  

beckham's new friend Archie is a boxer as well, and his owner Luke tells us all the time about how many kids are frightened of them. parents need to educate their children and not continue this false view of dogs.  

 

[instructor74]

I hate it when people cross the street just to not walk buy our boxer. even if some of them have allready met him as a puppy. However i guess Ive been lucky no one has called him a pit bull.......howevery many people thougtht  he was a pug whan we first got him

 

[JessiesMom]

I also get a lot of people that are hesitant about Jessie... The cable guy wouldnt come in unless i had put her in my bedroom... Hes a grown man, over 6 feet tall... and hes afraid of a lick machine...

so many people have asked me if she is a pitt...