JulieM
Boxer Insane
There were so many threads I couldn't decide which to post to, so I'm starting my own!
As LisaM noted, there were black Boxers early in the breed history, the result of a cross with a Schnauzer. Black is a coat color, and it is of dominant inheritance - which means that it was very easy for breeders to eliminate the black coat color gene from the breed. (Dominant means if a dog has even one gene for black coat color, it would be black - so a dog that was not black did not have a gene for black coat color, and so could not produce offspring with a gene for black coat color. Easy to get rid of in a single generation!) Any truly black Boxers today have somewhere another breed in the pedigree, much like the Estonian blue Boxers most likely have another breed somewhere in their lines.
Sidney's Mama, I'd be interested in seeing pics of your boy, now *and* when he's full-grown. Brindling does tend to shrink as the pups grow (or, you could say the space between the striping increases). I'm also curious how he is going to be AKC registered, since black is not an option for color. How are the parents registered?
And yes, I fully agree that color is not indicative of poor genetic health....however a breeder that promotes as "rare" puppies that are either not black, or not purebred, and/or one that lets puppies go to their new homes at ridiculously early ages, might be. Caveat emptor.
As LisaM noted, there were black Boxers early in the breed history, the result of a cross with a Schnauzer. Black is a coat color, and it is of dominant inheritance - which means that it was very easy for breeders to eliminate the black coat color gene from the breed. (Dominant means if a dog has even one gene for black coat color, it would be black - so a dog that was not black did not have a gene for black coat color, and so could not produce offspring with a gene for black coat color. Easy to get rid of in a single generation!) Any truly black Boxers today have somewhere another breed in the pedigree, much like the Estonian blue Boxers most likely have another breed somewhere in their lines.
Sidney's Mama, I'd be interested in seeing pics of your boy, now *and* when he's full-grown. Brindling does tend to shrink as the pups grow (or, you could say the space between the striping increases). I'm also curious how he is going to be AKC registered, since black is not an option for color. How are the parents registered?
And yes, I fully agree that color is not indicative of poor genetic health....however a breeder that promotes as "rare" puppies that are either not black, or not purebred, and/or one that lets puppies go to their new homes at ridiculously early ages, might be. Caveat emptor.