Long noses

[alidansma]

Is it my imagination or do American boxer's have longer noses?
I was looking at my most recent picture of Ginger and the picture from the American Boxer Club sketches. I am wondering if she will ever develop the poochy muzzle that sticks out in front of the nose, or is her nose just too long or not turned up enough?

http://www.boxerworld.com/cgi-bin/photo/index.pl?photo=11580

Looking at the recent link to the European boxers I see that their muzzles seem much shorter than a lot of american boxers that I have seen, as I remember Angel's muzzle was shorter also.

I am trying to find Ginger's faults, I am wondering if this is one of them or if it something that she will develop later.

The other thing I have noticed is that her back end doesn't
slope downwards - is this something that will also change with time? Or is the picture just at a bad angle?

Thanks for any comments.

 

[Adelle]

I am sure you will get some much more knowledgable replies from some more experienced people in this area, but from what I have learned from this site, is that breeding in the USA is not as stricly controlled as it is in Germany, therefore a lot of poorly bred boxers exist due to people breeding for the wrong reasons. My own boxer in my gallery is a perfect example of bad breeding resulting in a longer muzzle. In germany breeding is more controled and therefore produce dogs more in line with the breed standard.

 

[Nedra's_momma]

Yes, some North American boxers do tend to have longer muzzles than do some European boxers, but I wouldn't say that one country(ies) is/are in the right or wrong. Either way, according to both standards, the muzzle should carry a specific proportion to the rest of the head, which is a 1:3 ratio (FCI), or 1/3rd (American Boxer Standard).

Just as I have seen a few North American boxers with longer snouts, I have seen a few European dogs with almost nonexistant snouts - I wouldn't say that this is in keeping with the standard either...

No matter where you look, there will be deviations, I don't think I would say that one country(ies) do(es) it any better than the other!

 

[JulieM]

What Jessica said

How old is Ginger? The head changes for quite some time - I've known some Boxers with Dane heads that turned out fine by the time they were done, and "high in the rear" phases are very common.

 

[alidansma]

Ginger is 8 months old right now. How much longer will she have to develop?

What got me interested was Tam's post about the european stacking, and how her homework was to describe the ideal boxer and compare her girl to it. I never noticed before how different champions could look from one another. Something new everyday I guess...

 

[myrocky]

Boxers are slow slow to mature. On average it takes the boxer about three years to reach their full maturity including the growing and filling out phase. Rocky has a longer muzzle for a boxer but looking at his baby pics I swear it looks like a Dane muzzle it was so long :p But his head and face filled out and it looks much better

 

[PawPrintBoxers]

The majority of Boxers bred in America are bred by what could be called "pet" breeders. They do not have a working knowledge of the breed standard and thusly tend to breed fault to fault. Since the Boxer is a man-made breed, it is easy to lose those breed type qualities we treasure.

Bad heads are usually one of the first things you see in a lesser breeding. Nature wants to produce that longer muzzle.

All of my Boxers are "American" Boxers and they have quality heads. My eldest Boxer has a longer muzzle, but she while she has a decent pedigree, she was sired by a dog that was sorely lacking in breed type. The breeder did not have a clue about breed standard and so my Crystal has a long muzzle. But when I bred her to a quality Champion male with a strong head and pedigree for strong heads, she produced 3 AKC Champions with very nice heads.

Breeding a quality Boxer goes beyond just making sure they are AKC registered. A long muzzle stays a long muzzle. That is structure and it will not change. I have one in my house to prove it

__________________
Christina Ghimenti
PawPrint Boxers

Sunny Northern California
Boxer Champions and Loving Pets

 

[Debbie Magon]

A top Dutch boxer breeder and judge of 43 years standing ,told me this as a novice.
I have never forgotten

A long head or muzzel combined with a narrow lower jaw goes no where.

A longish muzzel with a wide , straight lower jaw will usually end up exactly that.
A long muzzel with a good mouth.

The boxer is a head breed.
If you havnt got an excellent head you have a medoiocre head.
If you have a mediocre head , you have a mediocre boxer.
A mediocre boxer will never support the qualities that make the boxer what he is.

.

 

[Roxanna]

Elmo has the same head/muzzle type as Ginger. He, too, lacks the padding that protrudes past the nose. Because their muzzles are longer their underbites are too small to produce that gap the creates the underfill. Elmo is also eight months old and has some growing to do but I don't expect his muzzle to change too much. He is still a good looking dog just not the best looking boxer.

Wow! I just came back from your gallery and Elmo and Ginger have the exact same profile. I don't have profile shots of Elmo because he doesn't stay still for pictures but you can see him in my gallery.