[Barbs2Ks]

Based on Willows suggestion in the pit bull - rant thread thought I would add a good story about a neighborhood women and boxers.

Last fall I was walking Kiah late in the evening and an elderly women (in her 70's) walked up to me and asked what kind of dog Kiah was and I told her a boxer.  She said there were two of them just down the street which she described as a fawn and a brindle and often when she walked they were out in the yard unattended.  At first she was really frightened of them because she was afraid they would knock her down or bite so she would go on the opposite side of the street.  She didn't see them out one day so walked by the house, the two dogs came running from the side of the house and she said she was so frightened.  She said the dogs stopped and just layed down in the front yard never barked at her or showed any sign of aggression.  She has gone by there many times and they never have bothered her.  She didn't know much about dogs and wanted to know what kind they were so that is why she asked me.  She was so impressed with the breed because of these two dogs.  I can't tell how many times I walked down that street hoping to see the dogs but have not to this day.

 

[AshleysMom]

Barb,
what a great story!..I'll add mine..even though Ashley is a Pup still..she is large enough that I worry about her knocking somone over. I had her out for a walk a few weeks back, and a woman I had never met who was wheelchair bound came up to us..I though..oh no..Ashley will try to jump on her legs and hurt her..but NO, Ashley gently sniffed the womans hand..gave her one lick, and then placed her paw on the ladies wheel on the chair...I almost fell over! The lady gently petted her head..and Ashley layed it in her lap..and looked up at her with these big eyes like.."I promise to be gentle". There was some bonding that I could have never guessed at 4 months a dog could share with someone.
She told me she had seen Ashley and I out walking several times, and wondered if they made good companions for someone in her situation. I tried to describe the inteligence level, but did tell her, that they are high energy dogs...( as Ashley is disproving this by sighing in the womans lap, and falling asleep!!lol ). She now wants a Boxer very much, and asked if I knew where to purchase one..All I could tell here was that she would need a trainer to get the dog to "assist" her. To which she put..well..maybe YOU could help me...I wanted to sob, that she had been won over by my little girl. I ssured her I was very unqualified to teach a dog, but that I would see if there were others in town that could help her.
About that time the womans boyfriend arrived, and of course Ashley turned back into a wild-child..and I think he didn't believe what had just occured..but she seemed like a strong person, that could convince him otherwise..
I keep her in my prayers, and am thankful that Ashley was so sensitive to her...I left with tears in my eyes that we made someone SO happy for a few minutes

 

[choas2k]

I have to be honest I really haven't have a problem yet with the misconception of my two, maybe it's because you can tell they are still puppies and boxers.   But the thread I posted last week about ppl asking me to breed, at the street faire; I should have mentioned all the the positive attention that they had gotten as well.  I don't think that there was one person that walked by that didn't compliment me on both Maggie and Herbie.  I had ppl of all ages coming up to both of them petting and ohhhing and ahhhing over them.  I would always put them in a "sit, stay" position if anyone asked to pet them, which impressed several grown men.  It was awesome, I had service members, policemen, firemen, and EMT's be-lining over to me to pet them or just talk about how great the breed is in general.  I had a couple that came up to me and questioned the breed and asked about how they were with children?  My daughter who is 11 began the explaination, she says "kids how are they?  Well they are my fur brother and sister and we have soooo much fun together, they play hide and seek with me, they shower with me, they eat breakfast with me, we do everything together".  I was so impressed with her (my skin kid as she refers to herself now...lol) and obviously the couple was as well, they asked for the name and number of the breeder.  I actually referred them to the rescue in the bay area as last I heard they had a lot of puppies.  I have to be honest I am normally the person that flys under the radar and really do not like attention, but both days attention was something that neither of them were longing for.  I actually met a ****** and we exchanged numbers to play together at a local dog park.  Needless to say my husband asked me if everytime I go shopping I would take them both b/c I did not spend any money, my reply was "how could I the two of them attracted quite the crowd, maybe we should have a boxer booth next year"........LMAO!!!!

 

[tootsie]

Hmm...the really great story that I love and really surprised me, because it involves Maddie,  :lol: is when we took a vacation to the mountains and brought Maddie along. We made a stop over in Georgia to visit my MIL in a nursing home. I had just rescued Maddie, so I only had her for about 2 months and she wasn't really trained too well yet. I was going to have to leave Maddie in the car, and my hubby and I take turns going in to visit while one of us stayed with Maddie in the car. Well, while the hubby was in the home he asked one of the nurses if we could bring our dog in. They asked what kind, and if she was trained and leashed. My dh told them she was a boxer and yes she was leashed. He skipped entirely over the trained question.  :lol: They told him to bring her in. I have to tell you, I was very nervous about bringing her in to a lobby full of old, alzheimer patients, basically crazy folk.  :?  Well, we brought her in and I thought the old people would freak and Maddie would be jumping on everyone in there. I had her on the leash, I sat down next to my MIL and Maddie sat down right next to me. I could not believe the amount of people that rolled their wheelchairs right up to us and started just petting and having conversations with Maddie. She was the most well behaved I have ever seen her, even to this day. It's like she knew she would have to be calm around these people. She was so good, and there wasn't a person in there that seemed to be intimidated by her in the least. I was so proud of her. If I had more time to devote to it, I think she would make an awesome therapy dog.
Anyway, that is my feel good story for the day!  

 

[Allie]

We currently live in Tirana, Albania.  Here, they are afraid of dogs because there are so many that are wild and are strays.  Often times, we walk Allie people will scream or run away from her.  Boxers are incredibly patient dogs and Allie tolerates this sort of thing.  So, a couple of weeks ago we decided to take Allie to Durres and show her the Adriatic Sea.  While we are walking along the cobble stone walk, a toddler came running up to Allie, laughing and ready to have a good time with her.  She sat down for him and allowed him to pet her.  The father on the other hand, caught up to his son and quickly grabbed him away.  DH explained that Allie is a Boxer and the breed is very good with children.  The man allowed his son to continue etting Allie and he also petted her.  On the same day in the same city, just a little further down from this incident, we stopped for ice cream at an outdoor cafe (Allie was not turned away).  As we were eating and Allie was enjoying her ice cream and water, two models walked up and wanted to pet Allie.  She turned ont he charm for them and posed to have her picture taken with them.  We weren't offered a copy of the photo (I wish we had been).  Allie sat, layed down, and even twirled around for the models.  She's always been a ham and knows when the camera is out to pose.  

I really feel Allie has been a great ambassador for the Boxer breed during her travels.  She has been good with children of all ages (we have no skin kids so she doesn't spend a great amount of time with kids), she's good with people that have handicaps (wheel chairs, crutches, etc.), and has just been a friendly, lovable, generous dog.  I'm glad she is this way.  I think it's shown people that not all dogs are bad or mean.