Advice - Boxer puppies

Boxers are great with kids of all ages, our 3 yr old male absolutely loves our grandson (18mths) who can do whatever he likes to the dog and he doesnt even bat an eyelid (poor dog). I can honestly say Boxers are absolutely the best breed to have when you have young children around.

Oh, and he is as mental as anything, more bounce than Tigger on speed.
 
We had a boxer 10 years ago, soft as mud but boy was he stupid, couldn't let him off the lead because it took an hour to catch him, gave him to a local rescue centre when my son was born as I wasn't prepared to have a dog around with a baby in the house.

We now have a cavalier king charles spaniel, she is the perfect family dog, will walk for miles when you want to, is happy with a run in the garden when you don't, will play for hours and sleep for days if you let her.

I wouldn't have another boxer if it came with a 10k a year dowry :D if you've never had a dog before i'm not sure it's the right choice, they're a bit manic
 
ShawWellPete said:
Thanks for the advice everybody, I was thinking of picking up the puppy a week or so before Christmas but getting my father in law to look after him/her until Christmas day when he would surprise the family by bringing the puppy.
Click to expand...


I really don't want to rain on your parade or spoil what is a fantastic surprise gut it is a huge wrench for a puppy to leave its mother and go to a new home but to make it have to get used to a another new place after a week or 10 days is quite a lot for the poor pup to have to deal with.

Like others have suggested why not wait til after Christmas when things are a little more normal in the house and take your wife along to choose her own pup?
 
I've only had one dog, a black and white Cocker. The rest have been bitches. I find that they are so much easier to train. Dogs seem to be more headstrong.
The only trouble I've had was with a springer bitch. I tried everything for 6 months but could not get her house trained. Obedience training was a breeze but she was a one man dog. She was brilliant with me and really good with my 2 year old daughter but she kept snapping at the now ex-wife who was pregnant at the time so I couldn't take the risk and the dog had to go. Looking back I got rid of the wrong bitch.
The last dog was a golden retreiver bitch and she was really thick until she went through her first season then it was as though everything I taught her sunk in and she was incredible after that. She lived to the ripe old age of just over 16 years of age.
I now have another black/white Cocker but a bitch this time and she has been quite easy to train which is no mean feat. Those who have owned Cockers will know what I mean.

What I am trying to say in a long winded kinda way is go for a bitch.

Whatever you decide, enjoy your new addition to your family.
 
ShawWellPete said:
Thanks for all the advice guys. I decided to tell my wife yesterday so we can choose the puppy together. It also means we can choose the right dog as opposed to the puppy who is 8 weeks old 1 week before Christmas.

As for rescue dogs, we may get a puppy first and once she is 1 or 2 and well trained we could get another rescue one. Apparently it was always her plan!
Click to expand...

RaglanSurf said:
I really don't want to rain on your parade or spoil what is a fantastic surprise gut it is a huge wrench for a puppy to leave its mother and go to a new home but to make it have to get used to a another new place after a week or 10 days is quite a lot for the poor pup to have to deal with.

Like others have suggested why not wait til after Christmas when things are a little more normal in the house and take your wife along to choose her own pup?
Click to expand...

That's kind of what we have decided, either get one right away or wait until after Christmas.
 
I am an Accredited Breeder as defined by the kennel Club, I bred a litter of Chocolate labs back in Feb so I hope I can offer you some sound advice. Dean who sells the Bean Bags was a regular visitor to my house and he can vouch for me.

I actually "interviewed" potential owners of our puppies and was very rigorous, I turned many people away who thought they would be the perfect owner.

My first bit of advice is not to buy the puppy as a Christmas present, try to take that out of your mind buy the pup as a family pet as and when its ready to be picked up.

Have you enquired about medical certificates to your breeder? Make sure you get to see Hip scores and eye tests results (eyes must be tested every year) Just because a breeder says a puppy is KC registered, doesn't mean it really is so physically ring the Kennel Club to verify. Ask questions about the parents, ask about their history, ask about the breeding lines of the sire and if you can, get over and see him.

The last thing you want is to take a puppy home and a few weeks down the line something goes wrong, all it takes is a few hours for you all to fall head over heels in love with him/her and to loose a pup at an early age can be devastating.

You should absolutely, 100%, definitely, take the kids to see the pup before you take him/her home, as a breeder I would have turned you away had you not done that. Sounds harsh but why I insisted on it was I wanted to see how the kids behave and how the parents react to the kids. If I thought parents couldn't control their kids, it was a good pointer that they wouldn't be able to control a 6 stone Labrador wanting to pull them across the park on a rainy day.

Its a very big commitment buying a pup, and too many pups are ending up in rescue centres and the number is unfortunately growing by the day.

This is a commitment that will change how you live your lives for the nex 14 years. Holidays have to be planned, even going out for the day has to either include the dog, have a dog sitter or you don't go out.

Hope I haven't gone on too much but I wanted to draw your attention to a couple of things that are really important.

If you need any advice I would be happy to answer any thing you may want to ask.

You can see Milly's puppies on her website below! I am pleased to report all puppies are doing well. One now lives in the USA and one lives in Germany. My daughter had one as a kind of wedding gift and I beg her all the time to let me have him back, he is just gorgeous and I love him to bits, He's the one called Monty!
 
Quaker said:
I am an Accredited Breeder as defined by the kennel Club, I bred a litter of Chocolate labs back in Feb so I hope I can offer you some sound advice. Dean who sells the Bean Bags was a regular visitor to my house and he can vouch for me.

I actually "interviewed" potential owners of our puppies and was very rigorous, I turned many people away who thought they would be the perfect owner.

My first bit of advice is not to buy the puppy as a Christmas present, try to take that out of your mind buy the pup as a family pet as and when its ready to be picked up.

Have you enquired about medical certificates to your breeder? Make sure you get to see Hip scores and eye tests results (eyes must be tested every year) Just because a breeder says a puppy is KC registered, doesn't mean it really is so physically ring the Kennel Club to verify. Ask questions about the parents, ask about their history, ask about the breeding lines of the sire and if you can, get over and see him.

The last thing you want is to take a puppy home and a few weeks down the line something goes wrong, all it takes is a few hours for you all to fall head over heels in love with him/her and to loose a pup at an early age can be devastating.

You should absolutely, 100%, definitely, take the kids to see the pup before you take him/her home, as a breeder I would have turned you away had you not done that. Sounds harsh but why I insisted on it was I wanted to see how the kids behave and how the parents react to the kids. If I thought parents couldn't control their kids, it was a good pointer that they wouldn't be able to control a 6 stone Labrador wanting to pull them across the park on a rainy day.

Its a very big commitment buying a pup, and too many pups are ending up in rescue centres and the number is unfortunately growing by the day.

This is a commitment that will change how you live your lives for the nex 14 years. Holidays have to be planned, even going out for the day has to either include the dog, have a dog sitter or you don't go out.

Hope I haven't gone on too much but I wanted to draw your attention to a couple of things that are really important.

If you need any advice I would be happy to answer any thing you may want to ask.

You can see Milly's puppies on her website below! I am pleased to report all puppies are doing well. One now lives in the USA and one lives in Germany. My daughter had one as a kind of wedding gift and I beg her all the time to let me have him back, he is just gorgeous and I love him to bits, He's the one called Monty!
Click to expand...


Thanks for the advice, all noted.

:thumbs:
 
PLEASE don't get a pup for xmas, just after - that's fine, but not for it. AND if anyone has pups available now STEER CLEAR, any reputable breeder will have a waiting list, anyone that still has[and esp just in time for xmas] puppies waiting to be bought are backyard breeders, and they're more than likely not health tested, as mentioned above Boxers NEEEEEEEEEED health tests, prone to a lot of issues.


Also, I don't thinka boxer is a fab first dog, they, as a breed, can't tend to be left alone for many hours are VERY energetic and high maintenance and I think just a little bit wrong, esp if you need to ask on a forum what they're about, IMo.

Why not rescue an older Boxer, if youre that desp - one that's been properly assessed and NEEDS a lovely home this xmas. Esp cos you'll know what you're getting then, behaviour wise etc.


I see I'm too late. *sigh*
 
Last edited:
Shorty said:
I see I'm too late. *sigh*
Click to expand...

No need to sigh. We got the puppy this week to avoid the madness of Christmas. The puppy we got was the last of a litter because the person who originally was going to have her dropped out. She came from a kennel club registered breeder and I went a met the mum before taking her home. My wife had two boxers as a child and one as an adult hence her obsession with the breed!

Twiggy went to the vets and got thoroughly checked over and has no problems. We have a large house with 5 acres of woodland for her to play in and two boys aged 6 and 9 who will be with her for her entire life. My wife doesn't work so Twiggy will rarely be left alone.

I'm sorry but I can't imagine a better life for her :shrug:

I appreciate it is a long thread but there's no need to judge without knowing all the facts or apparently reading what I have already posted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top