Male or Female Boxer best for Kids?

[mbow]

My family consists of myself, my wife, my two duaghters (5 y/o and 2y/o) and a soon to be born girl (July). We do not have a Boxer yet, and we have been researching dogs for about a year and a half. We have come to the conclusion that a Boxer is best for us and we are best for a Boxer. We are not going to get a pup for another year or so in order to allow our new baby to settle into life.

So my question is, should we get a female or a male Boxer? I am interested to hear if anyone has seen one gender of Boxer show different tendencies towards female children over another gender Boxer. e.g. a female Boxer is more patient with children or a male Boxer is more protective of female children. I realize I may get answers that say it is all about the temperment of the dog not the gender, but I was curious and had to ask. Thank you in advance for any comments.

 

[Kilby'sMum]

I don't know about male boxers although I have heard they are less hyper. Also we don't have kids in our house all the time but Kilby is great with kids (although she tries to give them A LOT of sloppy kisses as their faces are so tauntingly close!). We had our nephew staying here for a couple of days when he was about 4mths old and Kilby was about 2yo. Well, I'm partially deaf and didn't hear the baby crying, Kilby came and got me and took me to the open door of the room where the baby was in his cot crying, she wouldn't go in the room (even though I told her it was okay) but stood there until I picked him up and she could see he was okay. V Cute.

I'm sure there are heaps of people here that will offer a bit more insight than me though

 

[Caney Creek]

I don't know about male boxers although I have heard they are less hyper.

I have actually heard the opposite; females tend to be calmer than males, and females also tend to be more protective due to their maternal instinct. Of course, it always depends on the individual dog's personality more than anything. Some are calmer than others, and some are more protective than others.

 

[mbow]

Thanks for the reponses. From what i've seen on here (as I don't own a Boxer), females are generally more calm, but they also tend to be more stubborn. I would really like to get some more personal experiences of owners on here regarding the sex of their Boxer and his/her interaction with children. Thanks again Kilby'sMum and Caney Creek.

 

[Roundball]

I can only tell you from personal experience.....We have girls that a are 9, 4, and 2. We also have a boy that just turned 1. Our female Boxer is a couple months older then our youngest and she is very good with our kids. Initially when we brought her home as a young pup she jumped around a bit. It only took her a few days to realize the threshold of each child. She will mess around our 9 and 4 year old, (especially with the 4yr old because she is crazy!) and only lick the two younger ones. We are expecting our 5th soon and have no worries. Our boy is a bit "boyish" with everyone in the family including our dog. The worst she has ever done to him is lick him.

Our female boxer is very friendly. I think she goes off our demeanor with strangers. There have been a few times when she has actively protected the children. It's only happened when we have been in the backyard (she was sleeping on the sofa or something) and our kids have screamed bloody murder when we have tried to bring them in. She never tried to hurt us but we could tell that she came running out to make sure the kids we not in danger.

I feel safer for my kids when they play outside when I know that our boxer is looking out for them.

 

[x19er]

We have a wee boy and 2 boxers. When he was born our old boxer girl Sophie was still with us, she passed away last year and now we have another boxer girl Charlie along with our 4 year old boxer boy Dino. There really is no difference, all 3 dogs were very careful with him and very loving & patient lovicon

I know what you mean about wanting to wait to get your boxer, we thought the same after we lost Sophie that we would wait until our son was older but Charlie was a rescue at 13 weeks and needed a home. This was the best thing we could have done, now our son is 1 year old he's into everything and whizzes around at high speed all over the house. Charlie is now 6 months old and they are well used to each other, there's no way I could have done house training etc now, it was all much easier when our son was less mobile. So yes enjoy the first few months with baby but give some thought to adding a boxer to your home sooner so baby and boxer get to know each other before baby is at the grabbing very mobile stage.

Good luck!

 

[kayboxer]

Thanks for the reponses. From what i've seen on here (as I don't own a Boxer), females are generally more calm, but they also tend to be more stubborn. I would really like to get some more personal experiences of owners on here regarding the sex of their Boxer and his/her interaction with children. Thanks again Kilby'sMum and Caney Creek.

I've had two female and a male boxer. My first female was my angel, she did no wrong. She was playful but not wild, just a pretty mellow girl. We then got Buster about 7 years later. He was a wild man. He was totally oposite of her. I thought it was because he was male. He has been getting calmer with age though so he isn't too wild anymore. We now have Olive, who is 11 weeks. She is wilder than Buster was! She is just full of energy and mischief, but can be sweet and loving when she starts getting worn out. So, the theory about girls being calmer so far has no bearing in our house. Olive has them all licked for energy and wildness!

 

[DiverDiva]

I don't have kids, but both my Boxers LOVE kids, and try to wash all kids from head to toe if given a chance. As far as their temperament goes, with respect to gender, Oscar (male) is definitely much calmer than Mali (female).

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

We had a male Boxer when my son was born and until he was 4 years old and then adopted our female Boxer. Overall our male was better with our son I think but both were really good and we never had/have had any problems. Our male passed away a couple of years ago and we got another male and he's been awesome as well.

Personally, I prefer male dogs versus female dogs just as an all around issue, but I haven't noticed any difference in the way they treat kids to be honest, I've found it more depends on the dog rather than the gender in that aspect. But I personally much prefer male dogs over females and where I ADORE my girl once she is no longer with us I don't have any intentions on getting another female.

*Just my personal opinion here, no offense to anyone who owns a female (I do)or who prefers them over males*

 

[BoxerMoments]

I've never owned a female and I just got my male back in January and he'll be 6 months old in a week. I have two daughters ages 6 & 3 and he is soooo good with them. I was surprised. When we first brough him home at 9 weeks he would bite their pant legs but that stopped after about 2 weeks. With my oldest daughter he is a little more rough with but she is also quite the instagator and likes to get him going. But with my little one I can't even believe how good he is with her. He lets her have his toys and listens to everything she says and is just so easy with her. They play hide and seek games with his toys.

Also, like you we wanted to wait until our youngest daughter was a little bit older before we got our puppy and i'm glad we did. Good luck with your choice!