Boxer colours

[Terry R]

Re: Boxer colour

Originally posted by boxerkids
I have read that 20% of all Boxers are born white. If this is true and white was written out of the standard due to war time Boxers being too visible wouldn't it be just as easy to write white back into the standard.
I can understand some colours being undesirable due to a higher prevalence of genetic disorders, but not due to the fact that they were too visible in wartime.

Actually the color of the Boxer goes back much farther than what was desireable during the wars. During the creation of the Boxer there were many bulldogs from England in Germany. These bulldogs much resembled the German "bulldog" the bullenbeisser of the time except for color. These dogs intermixed improving both breeds but also adding more colors. When the Germans began getting serious about the Boxer they further refined the breed. In order to get back to the German roots of the bullenbeisser and to create a greater difference between the German Boxer and the English bulldog (not todays version) they tried to eliminate the white in the Boxer. The Germans wanted a unique German dog not to be confused with their English cousin. While there may have been some health issues such as deafness that motovated them nationalism had at least as much to do with the Boxer standard. These goals and eventual standard far preceeded even WW1. German Boxers of today are much more "plain" (less white, less flash) than American Boxers. These "plain" (I hate that word because these Boxers are anything but plain) produce fewer white Boxers than Americans do.

 

[JulieM]

Terry, that's interesting, I hadn't heard that before (or I just didn't asborb it!) I've always heard that the split was more due to the head type, with the founders of the Munich Boxer Klub wanting to avoid any futher movement toward the Bulldog-type head. Do you have a reference for this - I'd love to read it It's kind of ironic, then, that the first Boxer registered in the stud book was the product of a check Boxer and a white Bulldog!

 

[Terry R]

Originally posted by JulieM
Terry, that's interesting, I hadn't heard that before (or I just didn't asborb it!) I've always heard that the split was more due to the head type, with the founders of the Munich Boxer Klub wanting to avoid any futher movement toward the Bulldog-type head. Do you have a reference for this - I'd love to read it It's kind of ironic, then, that the first Boxer registered in the stud book was the product of a check Boxer and a white Bulldog!

Actually the German bullenbeisser of the time was a more crude looking dog often with a split nose or lip as they were used as guard dogs and buther and cattle dogs. Little was cared for the refined looks and actually the more scary they looked the better to suit their purposes. England at the time was further ahead of Germany in breeding quality dogs. Many of these English dogs were actually used to refine what was to become the Boxer, including its head. Remember that the English Bulldog of the time looked nothing like todays version, it more closely resembled what is called the American Bulldog today. The information I have gathered is not only Boxer specific but confirmed in books of other breeds, and dog history in general. Many of the Boxer specific book make note of these facts usually in the chapters on history and lineage. Perhaps we have some of the same books and you could just refer to these areas? I will site author and page if it will help you.

 

[JulieM]

Since I'm not at home and don't have my breed books with me at work, I'd greatly appreciate if you could cite book and page number for me to peruse this evening. Only the parts dealing with the intention of the Germans to eliminate white from the breed, as this is what I hadn't heard before.

Thanks!

 

[Terry R]

Originally posted by JulieM
Since I'm not at home and don't have my breed books with me at work, I'd greatly appreciate if you could cite book and page number for me to peruse this evening. Only the parts dealing with the intention of the Germans to eliminate white from the breed, as this is what I hadn't heard before.

Thanks!

I don't have the luxury of having my books with me now either. I'll tell you what I'll show you mine if you show me yours If you can show me book,age and author to substantiate your claims I will do the same. It might be fun to look through the old books again. Again, the color of the Boxer has nothing to do with the world wars, have you read the Stockman book?

 

[boxerkids]

Terry what is the Stockman book that you are talking about? I am trying to find out as much inforamtion about Boxers as I can.
Thanks everyone for your positive comments about Jazzy's training. She has now progressed to Level 4 (Pre trial) in obedience as well as starting Agility training.

For those that live in Australia just a word of warning we now have Ehlichiodosis. This is a blood parasite which is potentially lethal to dogs. The strain that they have discovered in unique to Australia. How do I know? Jazzy contracted it possibly through a common brown dog tick and we didn't know until she collapsed twice after exercise on us. She is now on treatment (doxcyline) and is recovering quickly. The symptoms are loss of appetitie, lethargy and possible collapse. If you are worried about your dog ask your vet to do a blood test as Ehlichiodosis attacks the platelets and can cause your dog to bleed to death in the extreme cases!
:mad:

On a positive note as soon as Jazzy gets the all clear she will be back flying the Boxer colours and proving how well she is training me!!!:p