I have to write an essay on two breeds behaviours, focusing on drives and motivations to train the breed, what is the most likely and predictable nuisence behaviour and what can be done to help deal with those behaviours. I have chosen the Boxer breed and have not as yet chosen another breed. I have done some research on the internet - whilst I can find the positive aspects of a breeds temperment, there is less information with respect to the negative aspects. The key thing I have found is that they are extremely energetic, love to jump on people and furniture and love to chew through everything, so they require good obediance training and can be very stubborn. If they don't take their owner seriously, they will be sneaky, demanding, boisterious and hard to control. I am sure on this site there are lots of boxer owners who have excellent knowledge on the breed. What boxer behaviour have you found annoying and have you managed to find a solutions to get it under control? Is there anything special that you have found that has helped you train your boxer?
Err can I ask where you drew your conclusions from? Energetic - yes, some are. I have one who would never walk if she could run, she would spend all day every day outside running about. I have two who are very laid back, want nothing more than to lay around beside you and be with you. Boxers are VERY people orientated, if they could get in under your skin to be close to you they would = even the energetic one! Jumping on furniture and people, the latter perhaps to some extent as any young dog will but furniture, first time I have come across that and we have had Boxers for nearly 30 years! I have never know a Boxer to chew, Labs yes, but not a Boxer. They can however suffer from separation anxiety and as such can cause havoc if left while their owners go out as they will do naughty things like pull cushions off furniture, rip up dog beds, pull things down etc but then so will any dog that suffers from separation anxiety! Obedience training - I presumme you mean training classes - there are few trainers who understand Boxers and many a good dog has been traumatised because of it. You need to work with [no against] a Boxer - encourage and positive training and lots of tasty foodie treats, kind firm training as they are a sensitive breed. Sneaky - definitely NOT a Boxer :twisted: - you have them mixed up with some other breed. What you see is what you get in a Boxer Demanding - yes they like attention but only because they like being so much with people, I always say if a Boxer could get in under your skin to get closer to you, they would. If you are poking in a cupboard or clearing it out, your Boxer will be rght there with you supervising what you do. If you are cleaning the car, he/she will lie near to you, if you are cooking, he/she will be right there with you. I dont call that "demanding". Thats inquisitiveness and wanting to be there with and for you. Younger Boxers can be boisterous but as I said before, kind, firm positive training works wonders. They are a very intelligent breed and learn quickly. As for being hard to control, any dog if not trained right can be hard to control. Im concerned where you got your information from especially the aspect that the breed can be "sneaky". That is absolutely incorrect!
My two are are the opposite of energetic As long as they get out for a few hours during the day they are happy to laze about the house or follow me around just watching me. They don't do sneaky they just barge right in and don't attempt to hide what they are up to Jumping on furniture and people They only really jump on the furniture when they want to be beside me, nothing is better than snuggling up beside me and it is not unusual to have one at either side when sitting on the sofa. They don't really jump up at people as it was discouraged at a young age.
Hi Velvet Thanks for your reply and commenting on what I read. I apologise for giving any offence - it certainly wasn't my intention to do so. I am suspicious of internet information, which is why I thought it would be better ask boxer owners through a forum such as this to obtain their views. The particular behaviours I referred to was more in relation to if they do not obtain the appropriate training, rather than the well trained dogs that you have. I can certainly related to the point about seperation anxiety, as my Ridgeback suffers from that, unfortunately!
I think you need to throw away the info you already have on the Boxer, as most of it is as far from the breed as you can get. All the highlighted can be used to describe ANY dog that has had no structure put into its life. The jumping can be controlled with training a dog that jumps (not specific to Boxers) is one that has not had any training The chewing is a result of boredom, a bored dog will create his own entertainment. Boisterous, yes as a young dog, as they mature (it takes a while) they are as steady as any other well trained dog/ Hard to control, again, its down to training. Boxers are after all a working breed, they have been and are used as police dogs, pat dogs, and dogs for the blind..you could not do this if the dog was brain dead or impossible to train. Firstly the Boxer is as capable as any other dog to train, if you find a trainer who says differently, they are nto very good trainers....Boxers are quick to learn, they will pick up the bad as easily as the good... they are eager to please, they adore their owners, and will "watch " them constantly.... they are only hard to control when the owner has not put any structure or training it to its life. You get out of a Boxer what you put in, if you don't put it in, you will ge what you describe..an unruly do that has no manners or respect for his owner, and just sees life as an amusement for him They are a breed that to some respects need firm owners.. they need to be shown at an early age that beign overly boisterous is not except able. A well trained Boxer is a delight to own, one that is not is a nightmare They need no more exercise than any other energetic breed, they need their minds stimulated , just like any other breed. If you do all the above, they are a fabulous breed to own, they are a boisterous breed, but that does nto mean they are out of control nor able to be a self respecting memberof the canine world. My dogs are , as well trained as any other, they have their moments, they go berserk in play, the older one was a jumper, but we corrected that at a very young age, he was a very independent dog, took a lot longer to get what I needed from him., he still sticks his finger up at me at times, (at 10) but on the whole he is better behaved than many a dog...my girl is totally different she lives to please, she does everythign I ask of her, she has her moments but so does every other dog. they have their walk in the morning, then settle down on the sofa for the rest of the day, and that has been their routine since puppy hood, they do this, because I set down rules and routine at a very early stage... I think probably the people you have spoke to, are not the best owners of the breed. It may help your research if you seek out some Boxer training clubs, and see what a well trained Boxer is actually like.
I agree sneaky is not in a dogs vocabulary.. dogs of any breed or type don't do sneaky, so who ever told you that has really no idea on understanding of the canine
Energetic - Yes some can be very energetic... On the other hand you can also get some that are very laid back. Boxers can have boundless limits of energy. But you can get couch potato's. Exhuberance can be one of the causes of jumping up. They normally love people and it's one of the traits that is hard to 'retrain' them not to do...I must admit I haven't manage to crack it with 100% consistency - mine all jump up althou they aren't encouraged to do so. Sneaky - it's depends on the definition... They can try to outwit their owner... I have owned one that used to think when in the vets/out at a dogs show that if it crept forward/crawled along the floor slowly that you wouldn't notice it edging nearer to another within playing distance...it kept checking back to see if I was watching...so yes they can be very smart/savvy and try to outwit the unsuspecting. Little did they know after being an 'experienced' Boxer person you notice these little 'tricks'...and then outwit them So as a general rule I'd say that Boxers are very smart dogs, if left untrained or not exercised properly they can become over exhuberant/frustrated (as anny other breeds of dog can be). To find a trainer that understands how the Boxer mind ticks is very hard. They can be a challenge to train to try to find the right motivation buttons but are a breed that does well with reward based methods. To some they can be stubborn especially if they haven't worked with a Boxer before. But they learn quickly and are very smart. However it's also quite hard to make a trainer understand that if you over enthusiastically praise your Boxer dog it will mirror that back and become really exciteable/OTT...until you let them try it with the dog....and then suddenly they understand All of my dogs have had pretty high prey drives i.e. instinct to chase. Some have been higher than others. They are pretty easy to harness this drive to train them to go lure racing. This is exhibited at the British Boxer Clubs working day when they have Boxer Racing. Some are chewers and some aren't. I've had both those that have chewed throughout their lives and others that have been good as gold and not chewed. Plus ones that have chewed whilst they are young and grown out of it by about 18 months old. Boxers don't do well left in a kennel on their own, they are a dog that likes company and can be very devout companions to humans and canines alike. They are very personable. They like nothing better than a cuddle or to be close to their humans. They also cuddle up to each other so quite often my current four can be found all snuggled up on the sofa...in a Boxer squash. Sadly you do get owners (of any dog regardless of breed or type) that don't train their dogs to any standard and thus it can learn bad behaviour pretty quickly. Most Boxers (regardless of their breeding) that I have come across do well with consistent firm but fair handling. They can try just like any other dogs to push the boundaries. Thats why some breeders won't allow their pups go to homes without previous breed experience as some do not give the right training that the Boxer needs. You can see the result of this where many 'teenagers' Boxers reach the kevin age typically at 12-18 months. Come into rescue with little or no training. But I'd say this happens in all breeds/rescue's for any dogs when they become a 'problem' or hard to handle it's easier to pass the problem on rather than to solve it.... All of my dogs have had similar breed traits, but are each individuals and have their own characters too. Some are listeners and easy to train, others have been harder and some are dizzy and hard work... I wouldn't say my are perfectly trained and are allowed to get away with some behaviour that some might not. But it's my home and my rules.... However I always get compliments on mine being very well behaved at the vets at being handled and in the waiting rooms. But that's also been helped by being shown too.. Can't imgaine life without a Boxer or two or three or four
