are people scared of your boxer?

[bigboychief]

Everyone who knows my Chief, loves him. The neighbors, friends, family, coworkers, etc. But when we go to the park or to Petco, or anywhere public, people are SCARED of him! I have had a mom yank her children out of the park because she was so scared of my dog. He has never been aggressive, and will lick you crazy if you let him. He loves everybody, especially kids.

It's just a little sad that people have a false impression of boxers because of the way they look. I was just wondering if anyone has experienced this as well..

 

[SaskiaTas]

It had never occurred to me that our goofy boy Logan could be intimidating to anyone - he never barks or growls, is full of wiggles, and sniffs everything! But this last weekend at PetSmart we were going through the aisles doing our training exercises and I noticed some families, especially the young kids, shrinking away from him! It took me a minute to realize that they saw him as threatening (we were in the fish aisle). I thought kids naturally loved dogs (I sure did) and just needed to be taught how to approach them properly (and vice versa, which was part of our training exercise). Even some of the parents looked concerned.

I plan on training him to sit whenever meeting people, and hopefully eventually I'll have a chance to change some people's minds about thinking boxers/big dogs are scary.

 

[GDOGS1]

yes GDOGS has the same problem when we go out in public,I think its because of his size as hes almost 27 inches at the withers and weighs 100lbs but like your chief he would not hurt anyone that was not trying to hurt him or his family.you did not say how big chief is??MoM & DaD of GDOGS 8/18/05 Brindle,Docked,Floppy and full of Zest

 

[K8IE]

I personally can't imagine being afraid of ANY dog, but I am a dog freak...
With Killian I did have a few people who said he "looked scary", but that was about it. The only time I have had someone act afraid of Cooper was when we were in downtown Nashville one day..... A homeless man practically ran away from us, he said he hated ALL dogs. :( (And this was when Coop was only about 5 months old). Otherwise, Cooper has only made people smile so far... But I am sure we will at some point come across someone who is fearful. Even if it does happen I don't take it personally. Not everyone is well educated about dogs. Hopefully there will be opportunities to educate people and show them how sweet our pups really are if one just gives them a chance.

 

[cantfindlog]

Yes, I still run into the big bad dog situation now and again. Many people thought Molly was a pit when she was a puppy. Boxers can look so massive in the face and mouth when they are excited, and all they want to do is lick you up and play.

 

[GDOGS1]

I think boxers look more scary when the ears are cropped but as i looked at your pic of chief he is like GDOGS floppy.and yes people do need to be better educated on dogs in general MoM & DaD of GDOGS 8/18/05 Brindle,Docked,Floppy and full of ZEST

 

[Chiefsmom]

My Chief intimidates the neighbors... they keep calling him a pit-bull. And as much as I advise them otherwise... they are set in their belief that he remains a pit-bull! It's quite frustrating! But I just tell myself... they don't know what they're missing by being stubborn!

 

[mrstevens]

People who don't know Koda are intimidated by him. He's a big dog, with a big bark. However, like yours, once they get to know him/come anywhere near him they learn he's just a big baby and wants to love on you. It gets even more interesting when I've got my sisters boxer with me too. The two of them love to vocalize with each other while they play so I know others think they're fighting. It'll get REALLY interesting when our newest is big as well. Oh well, at least those that know him (or take the time to try to) know how sweet our babies are.

 

[bigboychief]

Chief is about 75 pounds. I just posted some pictures of him in the gallery, but I don't believe they have been approved yet. He has a really big head! haha!

 

[Scrappysmom]

I guess we are lucky we live in a state where boxers are a very popular breed. Scrappy has floppy ears and an undocked tail, and maybe looks less "threatening" to people who are not familiar with the breed. The main concern is that he does not injure a small child with his crazy tail! We warn ahead of time and are very careful!