Future show prospect/foundation bitch

[Kerry Jane]

Interesting topic as I ask myself these same questions. Something else that for me will play a big part in my decision is what sex/personality will fit best into my existing pack. Hopefully, this will correspond to the best puppy?????

I currently have a male (neutered) and a female, and it is very important to me that my dogs are part of the family and that everyone gets along.

My breeder has 1 male and 3 females and the male keeps everyone in check. They can have as many females over without any problems, but bring in another un-neutered male and there are serious problems - they pretty much have to keep them separated. Another lady I know who shows boxers has 2 un-neutered males and she keeps them separated always. I don't know whetehr everyone has this experience or not? I have heard a lot about 2 females potentially being a bad mix, but not a lot about males. I don't know how much of a difference it makes for a male to be un-neutered, and being used as a stud.

So, I think a lot about what the best sex/personality mix would fit best in with my current dogs. This is probably an issue regardless of whether one has a litter of puppies or just buys another show puppy.

Star is not yet 2 years, so I haven't even started any of her health tests yet, and I am not in a big rush to breed her - there is so much to learn in the meantime, and the little madam keeps me very busy....

I can't talk to how difficult it is to find a stud dog, since I haven't had to do that yet BUT in my mind it strikes me as a VERY difficult process to go through. Of course, I think that my girl is gorgeous (biased?) and she has a few faults that I would like to correct - so that means I would be looking for a male that I think is just as gorgeous, and without her faults .....hmmmm.....I suspect I am going to be looking for perfection (according to my standards) and not find it.
I look closely at all of the males, when I go to dog shows down here in Texas, and I find suprisingly few that I think are really good examples of the breed.

I could go on and on....but, I did want to make the point about determining what sex/personality would work best for you, along with picking out the best possible puppy.

 

[Alisha Mobley]

she has a few faults that I would like to correct - so that means I would be looking for a male that I think is just as gorgeous, and without her faults .....hmmmm.....I suspect I am going to be looking for perfection (according to my standards) and not find it.

Stud hunting...NOT easy and VERY frustrating (not to mention all the sleepless nights one suffers the closer your bitch gets to being ready and you still haven't made up your mind!)!!

I started looking as soon as I knew I was getting Ruby. Basing my early research on how we thought Ruby would turn out (going by what is behind her, how her line tends to go and how she looked at the time)...luckily we were very much right on target with how she'd turn out. The problem I was running into was I was looking for a stud dog that was strong where Ruby is weak but also strong where Ruby is strong (I just *knew* I'd lose Ruby's strong points if I went with anything less...:rolleyes: ). Basically, I was looking for my idea of a *perfect* Boxer...wasn't finding it!

After many, MANY months of searching for the perfect stud, I finally realized why I wasn't finding the right dog and decided I was going to HAVE to choose a dog that ::gasp::...has weaknesses! I narrowed it down to a few that were weak where Ruby is strong but were very strong where Ruby is weak. After a few months of going back and forth with the few on my list, I *finally* decided. My choice is very strong where Ruby is weak and not only does Ruby make up for his weaknesses, but he has dogs behind him that are stronger in these areas as well.

Finding that perfect stud is hard! You'll find something wrong with EVERY dog you look at! Start looking early because chances are, nothing you look at at first will be good enough...then you'll have to step back, re-think it all and look at everything again!

 

[abby's mum]

My breeder has 1 male and 3 females and the male keeps everyone in check. They can have as many females over without any problems, but bring in another un-neutered male and there are serious problems - they pretty much have to keep them separated. Another lady I know who shows boxers has 2 un-neutered males and she keeps them separated always. I don't know whetehr everyone has this experience or not? I have heard a lot about 2 females potentially being a bad mix, but not a lot about males. I don't know how much of a difference it makes for a male to be un-neutered, and being used as a stud.

I have been having conversations with my possible future mentor. It is interesting that many people here say over and over - never have 2 females. Every breeder I talk to doesn't agree. They have multiple girls (ussually 2) and they are fine. I basically have been looking for a future boy becuase of that. Interesting.

 

[JulieM]

what sex/personality will fit best into my existing pack.

Ideally you would choose the best puppy regardless of sex, but this is an important consideration. Same-sex pairs, especially intact, often spell trouble. As a breeder, you must be prepared for the possibility of either running separate packs or rehoming one of the dogs. In very general terms, I would say males are more likely to fight, but females are more likely to kill one another when they do fight.

For example, I currently have my dogs separated into two groups. If I were to add another Boxer at this point, I would without question opt for a female. While there is a strong chance that one of my current females would not tolerate another female once it reached maturity (and a small chance one of the other ones wouldn't), there is a stronger chance that neither of my males (one in each group) would tolerate another male.