People think Boxers are dumb??!

[Claudia807]

A list of breeds ranked by intelligence came out a few years ago and Boxers were ranked fairly low. My suspicion was that what they were measuring was trainability and not intelligence. My Boxer is very smart - I know this is true!

My mixed breed dog, Karl, can learn a new command in one session. Lucy is five and we are still plugging away at obedience stuff. We are hoping to compete in Open soon. Most of the dogs in class are younger than Lucy and seem to make progress much faster. It's not that my girl isn't smart - I just think she learns differently. And I suspect that our failure to make more progress is probably a result of my ineptitude as a trainer.

The difference I see with Boxer is that some breeds will fetch something for you all day long. (For example, Lucy has to learn to retrieve a dumbbell in order for us to compete in the next level of obedience.) Lucy (and other Boxers I've worked with) will retrieve it once or twice and then tell you to go get it yourself if you think it's so great.

Claudia
Green Acres Boxer Rescue of WI

 

[Hemingway]

Honestly, everyone on here will be biased. From what I can tell Boxers are pretty damn smart, although very stubborn. I have been told by some of my vet friends and trainers that German Sheps are the smartest dogs overall. Boxers can learn almost as much but they take a bit longer to train.

There is a saying that in the time it takes to train 1 boxer, you can train 2 German Sheps.

 

[myrocky]

I agree with everyone else. Boxers are the smartest dogs ever and they learn so fast as long as you make it fun and exciting for them. The trainer also has to liven up the sessions to keep the boxers attention. Everytime I have had a baby come stay with me for a bit or when I have fosters they learn the rules of the house very fast! Usually by the end of the night they are already doing what is expected of them :D

Claudia if you wanna play fetch you can borrow Rocks, he'll play fetch all day long if you let him :p

 

[matilda8255]

I believe boxers are actually too smart for their own good

Gosh yes!!!:D They are just very stubborn and need to be given a reason to do something like mentioned above.

I would consider Molly boxer, my evil Caesar Am Staff and Cleo - shepherd/Am Staff to be VERY similar in intelligence and stubborness. I can tell you sometimes they can really fool mommy when they work as a collective.

Claudia - Up until Molly was about 1 1/2 yrs she really couldn't pay attention long enough for proper training. We would also try to get her to catch tennis balls and such and she would watch them come at her and they would smack her in the head:p Finally a couple of months ago she just got it! Suddenly something snapped and she became a genius!!! Now all she wants to do is play with her tennis balls. No matter where I am she will deposit a tennis ball on my lap. She has learned sit, stay, lay down & leave it. Sometimes it just take a little while for them to figure it out.

 

[vasha]

boxers aren't unintelligent - they are just as intelligent than any other dog, but require that you stimulate them to learn - i know that when kaiser or a are bored they're just going to lay down and do jack for me when i ask them too.

vasha

 

[bjandboxxy]

No way Boxers aren't stupid, no way! I think it's been summed up by everyone else, they are very stubborn, and they only do stuff if there's a good reason to so, but I've seen Boxxy outsmart people before, once he was chasing a friend of mine and the friend goes around a play structure at the park, weel Boxxy went by the opposit side, crossed under the slide and takled my buddy, the friend was in shock, he couldn't beleive the dog outsmarted him, another time, I had a treat in my hand and was teasing Boxxy with it so he looks at me, at the cookie, looks around, walks over to the cat looks at her, barks, sends her flying away, into my arms, as I dropped the cookie, guess who was tehre to catch it, like he knew, I scare the cat, she runs to him for protection, he might drop the cookie and it worked, I was amased

 

[CrazyDaisy'sMom]

Daisy is too smart for her own good sometimes!!!

I would have to agree with everyone else. Boxers are VERY smart but VERY stubborn. There always has to be something in it for them when responding to a command. This, to me, is just a sign that they are smarter than they seem!:p

 

[newark]

When we researched breeds, we wanted a smart, loyal, good with kids, short haired, medium sized dog. Well, the boxer fit that perfectly.

When we took Jersey to puppy training, the trainer immediately pulled us aside and warned us not to get frustrated with her training. She said 'very smart dogs, TOO smart and they have a mind of their own that you need to convince'.

I took her words to heart and did my best to always remain patient and ensure I took training seriously. In the courses we are taking now, the same trainer is always amazed at how well behaved Jersey is 'for a boxer'. I think she's done well because I took the time to understand her, and worked with the tools and methods that she liked.

Just like the highly intelligent kids that misbehave out of boredom at school, so too does the super smart boxer need intellectual stimulation - contstantly.

BTW - I get a lot of people saying 'stupid' or 'dangerous' when they see her. I'm more than happy to correct them, and have done so at length with strangers on the street!

 

[Linda/NJ]

Betsy: I would be fuming over that comment too. I think boxers are very smart, some things Ginger does really amazes me. I had the vet tech at my vet's office ask me if my boxer was smart. I said Ginger is very smart. This girl, has a boxer and said she is dumb as can be!:rolleyes: That really annoyed me and I refused to believe it.:o As far as I am concerned we have very smart dogs.

Linda
Ginger * June 4, 1997 / Flashy Fawn * Natural Ears

 

[Boxer_21]

The only breeds that I've actually had the oppurtunity to train are of course a boxer, a mini schnauzer, a mini poodle, and a cocker/retreiver mix. Of all of these breeds, the boxer has been by far the smartest and quickest to learn. Most of the tricks that Riley knows, he literally learned and mastered in one training session (sit, paw, both paws, lay down, speak). Other tricks that he knows took a little longer, but he did learn them and now he knows and can do them perfectly. As long as you're willing to teach them what they should know, then they will be smart and very well mannered.