Here's some things we've noticed so far
Our 1-1/2 year old Boxer girl:
1) Tries to "save" your life if you pretend you are choking or dying by jumping on your chest, laying down on the full length of your body (oomph! she's quite a big girl now), putting a paw on either side of your head and then frantically licking your face until you "come back to life". When you are "revived"...she jumps around in celebration frantically wagging her stubby tail in a mad blur.
2) Wants to talk like a human. She imitates words she hears us say and can now say a few easy-to-understand words with two syllables. Her first word was "water" which she says as "wah-wer". I recently read that dogs with broad heads and short muzzles and a high activity level are the best prospects for "talking" because they can achieve "round tones" that sound more like human speech. Other long nosed dogs have a harder time imitating our speech.
3) Wants the same privileges as the "rest of the pack"...if we are lying down in front of the t.v. with pillows and blankets, she must have a pillow to lay her head on and a blanket to cover her up too. If she can't find one for herself, she will wave her head back and forth (like an elephant), while standing over one of us, until we say..."o.k. I get it, come under the blanket with me!"
4) Plays with small balls just like our cats do and in the exact same way...grabbing at the ball with cupped paws, getting it in her mouth and then tossing it up in the air and pawing it again. Rolling around and around with it as though it is alive and wants to escape.
5) Licks herself clean just like our cats. She is very intent on staying spotlessly clean and shiny.
6) Plays "soccer" with us, which makes people laugh and say they have never seen another dog "do that". She will wait her turn to push the ball with her paws, and if we get into a "squirmish" kicking the ball around between each others legs trying to gain control over the ball, she will join in and get just as silly and frantic as we do, trying to get the ball for her next kick.
7) Plays water polo. If two people are in the water, she will position herself between them forming a one-dog-two-people-triangle and wait for her chance to head-butt the ball to the next person. Her aim is dead-on. And she waits for her turn each time. Another beach crowd pleaser!
8) Jumps up very high to look over the top edge of high windows letting out a big "woof" each time she hits the ground prior to her next leap. Up and down, up and down....until you come back in the house. She doesn't touch the window ledge though. Funny!
9) Using her jumping ability as her best defense tactic at the dog parks, beaches and lakes. If another dog or dogs come after her, she waits until the very last minute and then jumps high over their snarling heads right when they reach her. It confuses the heck out of her "attackers". Sometimes they even bump heads while she is hanging in fake suspended animation right on top of them.
10) Is a very quiet dog! We had to teach her to bark on command. She never barks at dogs at the dog park or at other dogs while we are on our walks. Her natural inclination is to watch things, run over to us and let us know via a muffled garbled gibberish, that it just "isn't right" and then run silently back to the window or door to act as home-guardian. She began her "duties" promptly at six months. Funny thing is she barks in her dreams. We figure it's her primal dog genes taking over and allowing her to bark her lungs out. Something she thinks is un-Boxer-like in her waking watchful hours.
12) Loves everyone and everything (except flies who invade our home). Those she stalks, catches and swallows.
13) Regulates her food intake. First dog we have ever had that didn't eat like a pig. She adjusts her food intake to the amount of exercise she has had the previous day. She also likes her food served at the same time each day...if it is served "too late" or "too early", she walks away and lays down for a snooze. Maybe this is her "rigid German nature" coming through. I can say this...I'm part German myself ;-)
14) Wants to learn new things and new games each day. If you don't teach her a new variation, she makes one up herself and repeats it until you notice and praise her for her creativity.
15) Doesn't destroy her dog toys. Another first for us! She still has the fake "mommy dog" stuffed plush toy that we bought for her when she was only 8 weeks old! Then she could cuddle with it and it was twice her size. Now she pretend fights with it, mates with it and then uses it as her pillow. She never tries to fight or mate real dogs. If she has had a rare "bad day" at the local dog park...too many aggressive male dogs running after her to "mate" her (she is spayed)...she jams her muzzle into the toy dogs neck, hiding her face completely, almost suffocating herself in the process and sleeps that way the whole evening. She looks just like a little puppy then, cuddling with her mommy dog.
16) Loves to run to the point of exhaustion...dangerous! We have to make sure we cut the "all-out-running-up-and-down-hills-at-full-speed" sessions at the local dog park before she gets too over-extended. We look at her tongue...and depending on how big it is, we can now tell when it's time to call it guits and take her home and let her relax.
17) Values her own "pack" members (us) and our extended "pack" (our grown kids and grandkids). She shows us by thanking us with wet sloppy kisses individually, one at a time until she has thanked us all, for her dog food. She does this half way through her eating time and then goes back to eating after she has made sure we ALL know she loves and appreciates us for taking care of her needs.
18) Lays her ears flat against her head like a helmet if it is raining (to keep the raindrops out we suppose!?) Boy does she look funny....an earless Boxer with a huge panting mouth!
What a wonderful breed!
