One of the first dog breeds I was ever introduced to were Boxers. When I was a young kid my parents bought a pair of Boxers. I really liked their look and personality. They reminded me of big Bulldogs. Although they were very different than the modern day English Bulldog, I learned shortly after that they were very closely related to the Old English Bulldogs through shared ancestry. You can clearly see the relationship in old paintings of the original Bulldogs of England.
They were such great dogs. Our male was named Bo and our female was Cassie. Bo was a large Boxer weighing in at lean 93lbs. He came from European lines that were known to be a little larger than the American lines back then. He was easily one of the most impressive Boxers I have ever seen. He had a massive neck and chest for his breed and very pronounced jaw and head muscles. He was big, but very athletic as well. Cassie was large for a female weighing in around 75lbs. She was also very athletic and made an ideal protection dog.
Our Boxers were great guard dogs. They would not let strangers in the yard or inside the house; unless my parents invited them in. Somehow they knew the difference between who was welcome and who was not. One time my Dad came home from work and heard someone yelling for help. When he went out back he found a guy cornered by the dogs in the yard. The man claimed that he thought he had forgotten some tools at our house from a drywall job he did. Lucky for him all the dogs did was hold him there. He said he had been trapped there for a while, because any time he would try to get up the dogs would start showing their teeth again. Needless to say he never came back.
Bo and Cassie were both fawn and white with black masks, but they produced puppies of a variety of colors; fawn, brindle, and white. Our dogs were considered “flashy.” Flash is term used to describe certain white markings on a fawn or brindle Boxer. Most of our fawns and brindles had bright white chests with white paws that looked like they were wearing boots. As a kid I really enjoyed having all the puppies around. Even though it was always tough to see them go though. We wanted to keep them all. My siblings and I used to love to give the puppies names.
Cassie used to have relatively large litters. So there were a lot of puppies to play with around the house. Even better than that, was watching all the puppies wrestling around in the yard. They were always very playful. Our puppies had a lot of personality and energy. There was one little white puppy I remember well, that we named Rex. He was definitely my favorite puppy. White Boxers were not very popular among breeders at that time, but we really liked their unique look. Rex had a patch over his eye and looked like something out of a cartoon. We really wanted to keep him, but had to let him go like all the others. Having the puppies around was always fun while it lasted. It was a great experience to have growing up.
Boxers are an amazing breed. Ours were great family companions and guard dogs. They were very patient with us as kids, but also protective. Bo used to let us dress him up for pictures with t-shirts and sunglasses. He would actually pose for the pictures and play along. Cassie was also very good-natured. Even though they were playful with us, they did not play when it came to guarding the house. If you are looking for a new addition to your family, then I would definitely recommend Boxers to anyone seeking this kind of breed.
