Dog Aggressiveness Question

[Matthewob]

Hello everyone,
I posted a similar question in the "intriductions" forum but I being new to the forum I thought I should list the question here as well:

I've heard that Boxers can be "dog aggressive".- Is this true? If so is there a differences between a male or a female?

My wife and I are researching breeds for our family and we love everything we hear about boxers - except this one trait.

I would really appreciate your help on clarifying this issue.

Thanks
Matthew

 

[leenasmom]

As with any breed, I'm sure there are dog aggressive dogs in them all. I personally think it's how well trained and socialized the dog is. I go to local boxer bashes, where there is up to 15 dogs, and we only have a few scuffles. My Mason is very dog aggressive, but Leena loves them all. Mason is a rescue, and had many other issues too, so he obviously wasn't socialized the right way. Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide.

 

[Krikkit]

As Jessica said, some are, some are not dog aggressive. Extensive socialisation will help minimise this, but you can never really tell. Sometimes a dog will have a couple of bad experiences and can have some aggression issues as a result, while with others bad experiences do not bother them overly.

If you would like to minimise your chances of your dog (any breed) having dog aggression issues then adopting an older rescue dog is an excellent option. With these babies, what you see is basically what you get

Sharon

 

[Mom3]

I agree with the previous two members that there are always some dogs who show aggression to other dogs ~ in every breed. Neither of the two Boxers I have owned showed any aggression to other dogs; in fact, if anything, they were way too trusting of other dogs and would bounce up with little tails wiggling to a sometimes unpleasant greeting. :o And we only just yesterday saw the first signs of "protective aggression" in our 11 month old Boxer when a neighbor was energetically lifting our young children over his head and they were squealing. Our Boxer was not amused by this at all and let our neighbor know. As soon as we said it was all right, though, he was fine and happy to let the play commence! They're smart and wonderful dogs.

 

[CoppersMom]

Copper is 14 months, and is just starting to become dominant with other dogs. We go to an off leash park everyday and have since he was 8 weeks old (although he wasn't put on the ground because he didn't have all his shots yet). I really find this behaviour annoying, and have yet to learn how to stop it. He's also getting very protective of me which I can live without, and I'm finding myself not wanting to take him with us on our outings, as it is getting stressful.
Although all of Coppers other characteristics make him a charmer, and I laugh daily at his antics, this behaviour alone has detered me from getting another boxer.

 

[Sam S]

Matthew

Boxers are wonderful dogs with sooooo many wonderful attributes. As fas as being agressive well it really depends on the dog........ any dog, any breed can be aggressive given the right circumstances.

Boxers in general are less aggressive than Labs and have fewer instances of attacks. Most boxers i have been around are extremely tolerant of things especially children, pain etc., even other dogs.

Our 2 boxers are both protective & give a "warning bark" (which I actually think is a "hello....do you want to play with me? bark") when people & dogs walk past our home and will both stand in between me and a new dog we come across one at the park etc (which I think is so they can be the 1st in to play).

As far as being "dog aggressive" ours love every dog we come across. The only problem we have is that most dogs look really put out when ours want to play.....(boxers tend to punch when they play). Other dogs look at ours like "Hey, what are you doing?" & ours just look like they are laughing their heads off!

So as far as difference between male & female...well both ours are exactly the same in this area.... both just big ratbags!

If you don't decide to adopt an older dog & decide to buy from a breeder you could always check out both parents first.

I couldn't recommend a boxer highly enough.........good luck with your research, i hope this helps!

 

[Nedra's_momma]

Agreed with what has been said above.

Nedra loves lovicon everybody.... and every dog, and every cat, and every rock... LOL

It just depends on the dog and the amount of work in socializing the dog that you, the owner, want to put into him/her. I do have to say this though, I have met ten times more dog aggressive rat dogs, ahem, sorry, toy breed dogs, than I have large breed dogs. There is a cocker spaniel that lives in our apt complex that has always wanted to tear Nedra's head off. The little satan-spawn has now figured out that I am the one that usually walks her and will try to attack me even when I am not walking her (Why people bring their dog aggressive dogs into places that have high dog populations I will never understand...)

There are many ways you can socialize your puppy even as early as from the time when they recieve their last set of puppy shots! Just by getting your pup out there and exposing it to anything and everything and eveyone, you are doing it a world of good. Arrange puppy play groups with dogs in the neighborhood that are up to date on their shots. Invite new guests over all the time. Encourage strangers to pet the puppy when you are out on walks. Attend obedience classes regularly.

If you do all these things you will have a wonderful dog that your whole family will love.

Good luck!

 

[Rushing]

Gibson loves all dogs to a fault. Its been my experience that alot of the dogs he has come in contact with don't want anything to do with him. He just wants to play. I have heard that having a cropped tail and ears has something to do with the way other dog percieve his mood???

 

[fourmaddox]

I agree with the others

I have a fawn male boxer "Nanuk Sir Rockefeller". We also had a Blue male doberman "Tylor Haze" and my boxer would loet this huge male dog nurse on him often. They thought of each other as father and son. They got along wonderful. At certain time my doberman would take charge and would have to break up just a couple of fights in almost 4 years. I agree i think it depends on the age of the dogs and if they have been around other dogs. I make it point for my dogs to be around all kinds of any kind of animal. lovicon appicon

 

[Aimee]

I have 2 boxers. One that I've had since she was a pup and one I adopted from rescue. I have to agree with Krikkit on this one and say that a rescue is your best option. My female I've had since she was a pup. She was very well socialized and went everywhere with us. There was no such thing as acclamations, I would take her to my parents, to my sisters and never imagined she wouldn't get along with their dogs, it never crossed my mind. She was wonderful until she was about 3 years old and then she turned like night and day. Now introducting her to other dogs is a nightmare. My male on the other hand came to me from rescue. He has earned his Canine Good Citizen certificate and his TDI certificate and is a registered therapy dog that has been accepted into our local hospital program. He is a dream. Each dog is different and with a pup, you just never know what you might end up with. With Baxter, there were no surprises! Best of luck with your decision.