BoxerB

That's what we say about you boxer people :p :) On a serious note, some of the things that swayed me to Boxers are 1) Size - i wanted a bigish dog without the 50kg + weight (was concerned with smaller kids) 2) Energy - i wanted something that's going to tire out my boys as much as they would tire out him, a dog that would spend all day exploring with us or running himself stupid at the beach :) 3) Temperament - Like Mastiffs, i honestly cannot fault a Boxer in any way shape or form when it comes to being around smaller kids, babies or even smaller dogs. (one of his best friends at puppy pre-school was a 12 wk old Chihuahua :) ) i think all of the above aside, try and get a view of the temperament some of your chosen breeders are producing and go from there. My Boxer is anything but the hyper crazy dog most Boxers are. Energy galore, but only when you want there to be :) If I'm in a chilled out mood, he's usually more chilled then me. But tell him it's crazy time, and you get crazy time!

You Mastiff loving people are all on drugs :) Boxer 100%

Whats funny though is that no matter how much crap and general hatred you spew from the safety of your own home, behind your keyboard, if you ever needed them, they still would put their life on the line to help you. You're an absolute joke. You weren't there, know nothing about what happened other than a short vid, and a news story, yet you feel all high and mighty enough to condemn all police officers based on your jaded view of life. Do me a favor, next time you need the police, don't call them, would prefer their time is not wasted with people like you, so they can help the rest of us. Oh, and there are many parts of the world where you don't have to put up with a police force that constantly abuses your "right" to be a moron. Go and live there, I'm sure you would love it. That Rotti would have scared the crap out of 99.9% of people on earth.

The owner should be banned, cause that owner who let that happen, can tomorrow go out and buy a mastiff and allow that same behavior from a much larger dog than that little fluffy mongrel. Any time a dog attack is mentioned we read 50 pages on here how its the owners fault, 100%, and only the owners fault. Off of that logic, i don't see the issue here? Regardless of the size of your dog, if it attacks/bites someone you pay the price. It's pretty simple and i agree with it. It's my job to 100% ensure my dog cannot in any circumstances bite someone, and if i can't do that, then it's on me. Right? I completely support the ban on owners ANY time a dog bites. No issue with it. The only part that concerns me is what happens to the dog in these situations

A pink pig cuddle toy with squeaky bits when he bites down. Had the exact same toy but a green croc. Loves it and plays with it everyday and has not destroyed it. He killed the piggy in 3 hours Note to self - puppy doesn't like pink pigs. Maybe he was offended cause i got "him" a pink toy?

Nor is it wrong. If old mate were such a great husband and father he may have thought about how the consequences of his injustices might effect them. One can't just go around 'poking the bear', the bear in this case being the public, as they please with no repercussion. People are angry and want justice, they know from a long list of insults that have resulted time after time after police bullying and brutality allegations that they're not likely to get it unless they take it for themselves. What a load of crap.

Sorry don't see the point.

Boxer one seems identical to other sources around the web, but i still love reading it. Just puts a smile on my face and reminds me why i chose the Boxer :)

Actually, i think you'll find you're quite wrong on that one. Below is a view of a NSW govt report which ranks both pure and cross breed dogs based on the rate of attack per 100 dogs. What you'll find is that "staffy" type dogs actually do feature quite high on the report. Yes i know this is going to cause a 1 billion page argument about who identifies cross breeds etc etc, but for now its what we have as official statistics, and if you have a better source, point me to it - not being a smart ar$e actually interested. Oh and I'm not anti bull breed, i love them to death, family has staffy's i have a boxer, i love them. BUT, I'm not goign to kid myself that everything about these dogs is hype with no truth to it. Anyway Link http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/documents/Information/Council%20Reports%20of%20Dog%20Attacks%20in%20NSW%202010-11.pdf Summary The five pure breeds that were responsible for the highest number of attacks in 2010/11 were the Bull Terrier (Staffordshire), Australian Cattle Dog, German Shepherd Dog, American Staffordshire Terrier and Rottweiler. These breeds were involved in 1,770 attacks, which represents half of all pure breed dogs involved in attacks. The same breeds were the most heavily represented in dog attacks in 2009/10 and with the same ranking. The five cross breeds that were responsible for the highest number of attacks in 2010/11 were the Bull Terrier (Staffordshire), Australian Cattle Dog, Bullmastiff, Mastiff and Australian Kelpie breeds. These breeds were involved in 973 attacks, which represents 46% of all cross breed dogs involved in attacks.

I use the Freedom no pull harness. Can't say a bad word about it to be honest. Both as a training tool, and now when he doesn't pull nearly as much. I think he finds it extra comfortable as well, as runs to put it on whenever i pick it up, and he has no problem doing sprints in it before i take it off when we get back home. http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=3470&ParentCat=277&string=Freedom No-Pull Dog Harness

huge thankyou all!! You've put my mind at ease a little and will spend a lot more time doing some reasearch specific to the breed and as BlackJaq has mentioned, will speak to my breeder for some more info. At this stage though i do think i'm on the right track by letting him mature before desexing, if ever :)

thanks BlackJaq, have spoken with my breeder but only around appropriate age, not issues, and like a lot of breeders, her view is let him mature. I'm due to send her some updated pics so will ask her when i do so. I'll also see if i can contact Steve, thanks for that. All the reasearch I've done so far, when looking from a breeders perspective, very clearly points towards letting Boxers, and most large breeds, mature before you desex. Just the list of issues associated with not desexing that the vet highlighted, and the fact that she actually said some of these can become more of a problem the later you leave desexing scared me. As mentioned i am only concerned with whats best for my pup. I have no issues i am trying to "fix" and don't have a moral personal perspective. He's also quite secure so getting out and finding a bitch is of no real concern currently. The only reason i would desex early at this stage is if there was a clear medical benefit to do so, so am tryign to find out if that is the case. thanks again!

I'm going through this decision right now and am confused as hell. My boy is 10mnths old, and on the limited register so i always assumed i was just going to have him desexed. And off of my first vets advice thought that had to happen at around 6-8months of age. I started doing some reading and very quickly decided to let him mature before desexing. In the meantime, for unrelated reasons, months ago i changed vets and went to a very prominent and highly recommended vet. Fast forward to a couple of weeks back, and my pup was in for an infection on his upper lip, when after the consultation the vet asked when i was desexing him. I said i wanted to let him mature a little more and she started listing off all of the cancers and issues associated with delaying desexing. This has scared the crap out of me. Not really sure who/what to believ. Yes i know its my choice as the owner, but to make a choice i need to be informed, and when you get two very different views, I'm anything but comfortable on making the call. He shows no signs of agressions, or humping, or trying to get out or anything like that ( i have the worlds most chilled out Boxer ;) ), so there's no urgency on my part and there is nothing that i'm thinkign about other than what is best for him. Still doesn't make it any easier!!!!

100% agree! I do exactly the same, and thats the key. I usually get a little whinge and know it's time to go. It's the first thing we do. up and straight out, but don't do it until i know he's ready. The good part is that from 10wks old, he's held it all night, every night, so come morning, there's no mucking around, he's ready pretty much as soon as he's up :)

Some people are a joke. Lucky for me i have a nice big dark Boxer pup who although wouldn't hurt a fly, generally is a very good d!ckhead repelant. And i have no doubt these people were d!ckheads who needed repelling excuse the language :)

What a stunning dog!! On the jeep topic, this caught my eye a while ago and the reason why i will never even entertain buying a jeep.

^ I 100% will say there seems no logical reason in the situation we have been told, for the dog to have been shot. However people are not making assumptions at all about the owners being irresponsible. It is fact that they let their dog off the leash and let it run off. If you need to take your kid(s) out, you do that first. I always do that. In fact whenever my dog is in my car, he doesn't come out, until I have nothing left to do, except get him out, and he is on his leash. FFS, surely in an unknown area you would scope it out before letting a pup run free? Anything could have happened - fallen into a whole, broken a leg/neck, bitten by snakes, run straight back onto the road and hit by the next car. I do not agree in anyway shape or form with the shooting, but it's pretty simple who's at fault and none of that fault lies with the shooter. EDIT - sorry weisnjac my arrow is pointing up but this was for the post before yours, actually kind fits with yours as well :) I will also say, that if the hunter has done anything illegal in terms of when/where he was hunting, then he definitely needs to be charged. My point of him doing nothing wrong, was in terms of not knowing the animal was a pet as it was on its own at the time he saw it.

My Boxer is pretty fearless and would put on his big boy bark. Anytime he's startled or something is not as expected he throws away the whinny high pitched, "please let me play with every dog in the world" bark, and brings out his very low, very slow "I'm a 200kg beast" bark. The first time I heard it he was outside by himself and something caught his attention. I thought some huge dog had gotten into our yard. Went outside and he's angled in a stacked pose staring at the back fence, and with a very very deep sound letting off one slow loud bark at a time. Had the biggest that's my boy smile on my face! As to how he would react, I can see him waiting and summing up the situation before doing anything. If I or anyone he knew was there, it would death by a thousand licks and nothing more. If we weren't around I have no doubt he would react differently. Have never seen him go all out aggressive straight off the bat with anything, so really can't imagine someone jumping the fence for example and him running straight in to attack. It's definitely not in his nature. Good luck to whoever wants to give it a go against a Boxer who's been fed raw and demolishing bones from very young. If he does decide to bite his jaw would be crushing.

Thanks Sheena, and haha yes, have already had the "talk" with him about chewing things that we need to take him for walks and play. If he goes anywhere near the lead/collar/harness with his mouth, off it comes, back inside it goes and so do I :) He's a pretty quick learner when the end result is no walk/play

Just thought i would give a little update on this. I went ahead and bought the Freedom and it arrived a couple of weeks back, and all i can say is wow!! I have no idea how it does what it does but it in a word it's amazing. (in my case anyway :) ) I have no connection with the company at all, want to get that out of the way, and purchased it cause of this thread. My boy is a 7mnth old Boxer pup and on a normal collar and leash, he would pull like crazy. I was working with him pretty hard to change the behaviour and we were progressing, but no doubt, he was stall pulling like a train whenever he decided it's time to pull. As soon as the harness came, i threw it on him and there was an instant change. I really mean instant. He still does every now and then pull, but as soon as there's any pressure, he stops and looks at me and waits. It's not that continued, I'm going this way i don't give a crap what you're doing, kinda pulling :) I'm only using the connection on the back not both. I tried the back first it works and so have never needed to add the front connection at the neck. End result is that i am absolutely rapped at the difference. Again no idea why but it's working. It's so good that where before i actually dreaded taking him out for a walk, i now look for excuses to take him out and we now do multiple walks each day. Right now at work thinking how many hours left till i get home and can walk him :) - pretty sad! I can see he's more confident on his walks cause he's no longer choking himself, and I'm more confident cause he is. Like i said, he still does get ahead of me a little every now and then but as soon as he's at the end and there's tension it's an instant stop. Love this thing!!!

Thanks guys, really appreciate all the advice. The beach is huge, and doesn't usually have a huge dog presence. eg might see 4-5 dogs at any one time. I'm definitey going to take him down but will suss out the beach before i take him with me. Actually pay attention to number of dogs and the way they interact instead of just payign attention to the tan :) I might even try him during on leash times as a starter before letting him off. He does have recall and does play really well with all dogs. eg will play bow to my inlwas Shitzu's begging them to play with him, but happy to rough it up with similar and bigger sized dogs. Has never showed any signs of agression. BUT i'm very aware that he is a boxer, a 7 month old Boxer and an entire Male 7 month old Boxer :) Add a massive long sandy beach and water (his second favoutite thing after food) and as mentioned earlier, have no doubt that he could all together forget who i am. So until i see how he is, i'm in no way counting on his recall in that environment.

Thanks guys, and long leash was what i was thinking as well when saying keep him on a leash. Tara8430, thats a very valid point. He's great and does come when called, but again, beeing a 7month old Boxer he does get distracted, and being his first time there have no doubt he may choose to ignore me.

I know this has been discussed many times but was hoping to get some advice and what would you do in my situation. We have a place down the coast and heading there this weekend. There is a huge off leash dog beach there which is off leash 4pm to 8am. I wanted to take my pup down and let hime have a run, but here's what I'm worried about. I have a 7 month old Boxer who is nothing but playful. Not my opinion, but actually observing him with other dogs he is in no way shape or form aggressive to dogs or people. BUT he is a Boxer and they have a unique style of playing. If i take him to the beach during the offleash periods, I'm concerned about how other dogs will react to his play style rather than how he will react. We've had this place for 20years and have been going to this beach regularly and from what I've noticed all the local dogs seem very well socialised and are all great at the beach with other dogs and people. But as I've never taken a dog there before I haven't payed extra attention to how they interact. He loves the water so i really want to take him. Should I? and if yes in my situation would you keep him on a leash even during off leash times? As a final point he has not been desexed yet. Am i worried about nothing?

spot on, which is why it's just ridiculous when some people say cannot be done under ANY circumstance. Use your brain people. Do we really need to have this discussion twice in a month :)

Show it to me? Show me evidence that shows that anyone who is not an ANKC registered breeder that is breeding dogs is doing it in a completely random manner. I find that one in particular very hard to believe. They are at least picking the breeds they want to use most of the time. Show me the evidence that none of them health test. Maybe they have had different experiences, different upbringing, and different beliefs and education. How many random bred dogs does someone have to buy before they run out of luck? How many pedigree dogs? Rhetorical questions. Of all the byb's I've asked , NONE have health tested their "breeding dogs" None have seen the "need" for it. as to selecting conformation- SOME had no clue what that even meant, while others didn't care. If a person wanted to breed, but couldn't give a hoot about formal registration (ANKC ect) but still health tested and assessed temperament and Conformation- then they are not byb's in my book- but the kind of breeder who cares about what they produce (though I doubt you'll find many of these) as doing "right" by the dog is going to cut into their profit margin- and they may as well become a registered breeder. There's a couple of facebook pages that I ask every BYBer the relevant health questions pertaining to their breed and ask if the parents have been tested. I've asked countless BYBers and not one has said yes, the majority say there's no need to and that they are $500 puppies not show dogs. YES!! No need to health test they are not show dogs, and most don't have a clue what health problems there are or that many of them can be greatly reduced or prevented through proper testing and selection of breeding stock. The one that cranks me off the most is the response " my vet health checked them, so they are fine" ... Which is the exact response i got from a "well respected" and highly known breeder!! And a i quote " we have never been asked to provide health test results, you can speak to our vet of 14 yrs"