My tiny pups were playing with a MASSIVE 4 year old boxer today xD She seemed to know she had to be a bit more gentlre towards them with them being so small!
Not at all, its not as if I'm calling for a mass Boxer cull. I'm just more cautious with them. The dog in question did not seem to be aggressive, just excited/bouncy, but clearly it was excited/aggressive/nervous and reacted. I simply think they are difficult to read, more so than the average dog. I think this about overly exhuberant anything (labs and weims come to mind) because they can turn from exciteexcitedexcited to I'm biting you in nothing flat. This can be seen in dogs playing as well. How often does super rough exhuberant play end up in a shouting match between dogs. I've also had a boxer come at me aggressively over an exam table completely unprovoked but that dog was very clear in its body language and posture so I knew what to expect from him. I've not done anything criminal here in becoming weary of them. How many of the dogs in this thread have developed an aversion to boxers having been bounced once too many times?
I have only seen two Boxers in this area. The first lived in a local hair dressers shop. One day the door was open and this big old Boxer shot out and attacked my dog. Fortunately the owner was not far behind and dragged the Boxer away. Even though this Boxer died three years ago, I still cannot get my dog past the shop without him going on high alert. The second Boxer lived by the beach. She was always allowed to roam free on the beach and the streets. She was a great, big clown who loved playing with my dog and my dog loved her. She has sadly moved away. Both of these Boxers were off lead but their behaviour was so different.
There are quite a few round here, including a neigbour who has always had boxers. Their current one is a smashing dog with the only dangerous thing about him being his tail. I have never had a problem with a black brindle one. Red ones however have been a different matter. Out of the 5 I've known locally, only one was trustworthy and not dog aggressive to the point of launching an attack on my dogs. And I mean a dog aggressive attack, not rough or exuberant play.
Hasn't it got something to do with the fact these dogs have pushed in muzzles. It might have been a lot of twaddle, but when I went to training at one of the other places they had a mastiff there and one of the organisers/trainers said that the other dogs might have a problem with her because of the pushed in nose... Again it might have been a load of twaddle - dogs don't know what they look like surely? I mean Louie still catches himself off guard when he passes my mirror in the bedroom I have never met an aggressive boxer yet - with humans, rarely see them here though..
Jake was attacked by two boxers, while he was on lead He sees them in the park sometimes, and he gets very nervous. Thankfully, the owner understands and keeps them on a lead, and takes them away up the back away from us. One is male and one is female. The female started it, and the male just seemed to join in... he stopped as soon as I shouted, whereas the female had to be pulled away by the owner. I know another boxer girl though, who is soft as butter! She was attacked by Rocky, who often attacks other dogs and she didn't fight back, she ran away when she got the chance and hid behind her owner Even after being attacked by the two boxers, Jake doesn't seem to react differently to new boxers than how he does to other dogs... They have a play style that he loves too
Well Eddie met a young bouncy Boxer last week, and he was fine with it, I expected Eddie to go into attack dog mode (he's dog agressive) but he was fine with it, having a dog agressive myself I have learnt not to pre-judge any breed as you just cant tell what the other dog's personality, upbringing, training, circumstances are.
when bouncy and forward dogs like boxers meet my dogs they each react differently. The small dog will offer himself to be sniffed and then initiate play. The BK however does not like other dogs much and certainly not forward ones so I do not think the boxers I have met are aggressive but sometimes they get in to fights due to their lack of manners. A bit like a rugby player getting slapped after pinching a girl's bum! Interested to read about dogs disliking black labs as our Gordon setter did not like them either . I do not know about England but in Scotland a lot of the people that have black labs are not that well liked either and maybe their brashness affects the dogs. Then even decent people with/and decent black labs get tarred with the same brush?
I've lost count of the amount of times i've heard someone say this about their dog "oh he/she just doesn't like Boxers" when their dog has snapped at Monty. One woman once tried to tell me that it's because of their short muzzle but i'm not sure i buy that.
In training classes I've met a good few Boxers and not yet an agressive one. They certainly tend to be "bouncy" and forward with other dogs and people so I could well understand how they could get themselves into trouble.
Not especially, no. I was at the beach one day with Loui and he was playing with his ball going in and out the water. Then these two women appeared and let a group of them run around the beach and starts screaming over, SHES AGGRESSIVE! So I just said 'ok' and carried on playing with Loui in our little spot at the very end (where we had been before the even came along). Then the woman starts going on I MEAN IT IF HE COMES NEAR SHE WILL KILL HIM! and all this none-sense. TBH I didnt waste my breath conversing with her, just ignored her and played with Loui. Was either that or I'd have to tell her to (perhaps not so politely) go away and don't take up the whole beach with your OFF LEAD aggressive dog (and your other 4 that are running around like looneys) when others are already there....so I thought the better of it and kept playing with my (not aggressive, not taking up the whole beach, listening to his owner, not going anywhere near them) dog. So I just ignored her. No idea if her dog was actually aggressive or not but it probably was. The owner was more rude than the dogs IMHO. Weird or what?!:? The only boxers I actually know that I wouldn't trust with my boy are under socialised (from day one) and under exercised. Apart from that there is one boxer (on-lead dog) that we see on walks and so they don't meet each other as I assume that the dog is kept on lead in safe areas for a reason. Any other boxers I have met with Loui have all been fine.
I've met a lot of boxers with poor doggy manners, but also a lot of lovely ones. Our local park is terrorized by a man with a huge boxer and many of the local dogs have been attacked by it, and several people injured in the process. Our dog warden is not interested sadly. My girls had a lovely play yesterday with two boxer pups though. I think they need a confident owner who can read when they are about to get OTT, but I could say the same for labs, dallies, staffs etc.
Well, like any breed I know some can be and others are fine - I think it depends on how people rear them and socialize them. That said, the peeps around here do the breed an injustice I'm afraid as three of the most aggressive dogs on the cycle path that get walked are Boxers!
To be honest I think the majority of problems are caused by incorrect training and socialisation. Plus some irresponsible owners who don't give a hoot what their dogs get up to. I have 5 Boxers (Don't worry never walk more than two out on my own - I know my limits) The oldest is brilliant unless challenged by another dog and if that happens yes she'd fly back at the other dog. She's 10 1/4 yrs now. Bred by me, socialised and trained from a wee pup. My second is soft as butter and would rather flight than fight. She's been used as a 'stooge' dog as normally she doesn't react to other dogs and gives off the right calming signals. Not bred by me, didn't have as much socialisation as the oldest girl due to my own illness when she was a pup. My last three are litter siblings all bred by me. Two sisters who have been here since birth trained and socialised as I normally do for my show girls. Both have different characters, and both are normally well behaved with other dogs. One does have a problem with being crowded in by other dogs and I watch her carefully to avoid conflict. If we are out in the park with lots of space she's normally fine. Again she's like my eldest dog where if challenged by an aggressive dog she would fly back. The other one loves to play very sweet etc not confrontational, until she spots a tennis ball and then she turns into jeckyll and hyde and will turn into a right mare. We normally try and avoid people (or pop her on lead) with tennis balls/launchers as she will fight to get the ball if she feels she has to. The trio is completed by their litter brother, he left home at 8 weeks old and although he had obedience training he wasn't socialised correctly :-( and wasn't shown what was acceptable behaviour & right leadership. He was returned to us at almost 4yo as a dog aggressive neutered male he can be hit and miss with people too :-( :-( He has been integrated back into my pack of 4 females but can try to dominate the girls so is carefully supervised and seperated if he gets too much. He is a real handful and I can imagine if people saw us out on walks would think horrid Boxer/crappy owners. Unfortunately they pre-judge you on his actions and don't realise the history behind him. I do feel angry that his good start as a small puppy has been ruined by mishandling of behaviours that they allowed him to get away with as he grew up into and through his teenage years. (vetted home were previous Boxer owners, gave all right answers etc - gutted). That said when we get correct introductions at home he can turn to love people as he absolutely adores my Dad. Not sure if most of the aggression is down to fear, he's still a work in progress. But it's me as breeder that now looks the bad owner even though his problems were caused by a previous owner. Plus puts the breed in a bad light as 'devil' dog. So that's why I think (living through the above example) in essence the breed isn't a bad one (I don't believe any puppy is born bad) but if they don't get the correct training and socialisation and the owners aren't prepared to put the work in to correct their errors (or have to correct damage done by bad encounters from other dogs/situations - yup a Boxer never forgets) then yes you can get dog aggressive/people aggressive dogs. But that holds true in any breed.
your dogs were stooges on '' its me or the dog '? the one with Zulu right??or have i got the wrong person ..lol
Anne-marie there's a guy round here with a lovely big rottie boy who is still pretty young. I keep Loui on the lead as I don't want him grumping at a youngster and all that....last night he says 'oh, he'd be fine!' I'm sure he thinks I'm avoiding his 'evil' rottie Hopefully one day I will get a chance to explain and maybe introduce them properly.
