Please read.. i'm new and would appreciate friends, advice and/or tips!!

[Vicky Scott]

Hi everyone,

My name is Vicky and i am 24 years old. I live with my husband Luke, Mia my cat who is 7 years old and now Ellie our new addition to the family.. she is a brindle and white female boxer. We got her at 7 weeks and she is now 12 weeks and growing by the day.

We have had a few worries with her but i have been reassured that it is just normal puppy behaviour.. ya know barking, growling, biting and really biting and growling when over excited, i am trying some new suggestions which people have advised but i am always open to more help and advice. Ellie is my first boxer and i guess i worry a little to much about how to train her and correct bad behaviour.

I don't know whether anyone knows much about hand reared puppies but Ellie was hand reared from the age of 3 weeks due to her mum being unable to feed her. I was told that this can cause behaviour problems with the puppies as they haven't been taught some important lessons? Does anyone have any tips to make this easier for Ellie and me?

Ellie is generally very loving and she is just the cutest thing i have ever seen... check out some of the photos which have been taken over the past few weeks, she certainly is a character!!! :o)

Ellie has had her 2nd injection and we are able to take her out for a walk on Thursday.. i can't explain how excited we are i just want to show her off to the world.

Ellie and Mia (my cat) are not getting on as well as i would have hoped.. Mia seems more scared now Ellie is getting bigger and tends to run, which encourages Ellie to chase her.. so as you can imagine it is like a vicous circle. Ellie seems to like Mia cos her tail wags when she sees her but now Mia just hisses!! I really want them to get on like 'sisters' should :o) but don't really know the best way about it.. has anyone had any experience with this?

Anyway thanks for reading.. i hope i haven't sent you asleep :o) I hope to hear from anyone soon either to say 'hi' or to offer advice or tips.

Lots of love,

Vicky, Luke, Ellie and Mia xxx

 

[boxerloverja]

Hi Vicky, Welcome!

I'm sixteen and I'm a new member to. I just wanna welcome you to the best site concerning boxers. I have heard the same about hand pups and behavior problems. I don't have my little pup yet because she still on the road because i bought her on the net from the closest kennel in Illinios. I'm live in the Stl and am moving into a new house. But anyway because my pup should be here in a day or so, I cant give you tips but there are plenty of people on this site who can help.Anyway welcome and I hope u find plenty of more because u just made one already.

 

[ErikandSandy]

When we first got our puppy, we already had an older beagle. The beagle didn't want the puppy around, or anything to do with it. After about a month, the beagle all of a suddon realized our boxer wasn't going anywhere and I think she even decided she liked it. Now these two play all the time and get along fairly well. It just takes time. Alot of time, and alot of patience as well. We didn't force the puppy on the beagle and just gave her time to warm up to the boxer.
I read somewhere the best thing you can do for the other animal is give it lots of attention and praise. It seems to be working for us and our other dog has always had serious jealousy issues.

 

[Marc27]

Hi,

I'm also a new member. We just got our new Boxer, Max a few weeks ago so he is about a couple of weeks behind yours. He's been doing simular things to yours, play-biting, barking, growling, picking things up he shouldn't!

We used to have another boxer, Cally a few years ago and did also did simular things when she was a puppy, so I'm pretty sure its all just normal puppy behaviour. Cally was the friendliest dog I've ever known when she grew up, she was even friends with the postman!

Max seems to have a "mad hour" around 6 to 7pm, when he is particularly naughty, but we've found telling him no firmly when he plays up seems to work most times. When he play bites too hard we either make a "pain" noise (ouch or a yelp!) or give him somehting to bite. This seems to work well as his biting has calmed right down in the last week.

We have a couple of weeks yet before we can take him out for a walk, but our other dog was much calmer once she could go out so I definately think that helps.

Good luck with your puppy (She's very cute!)

Marc

 

[megan313]

Off subject---I'm just curious why you have to wait to walk your dogs or take them out til they have all of their shots? Is this just in Europe?

 

[adeinert]

Regarding cutie pie Ellie,
I have a hand raised pup (thrown out by the breeders in a box at four days with his sister and brother).... he was with his siblings until eight weeks for the social development they gain including bite inhibition, etc. Tulley was always the "ringleader" of the three and to this day he has a little 'tude with the others sometimes. He is very much at 2 years a big momma's boy! He never really received any corrections from a mom, and his big sister, Jillian let him get away with anything, so maybe that's part of why he's a bit of a terror once in awhile.
A friend has an only pup who was partially hand raised and hers is a real momma's baby too, she also is very particular in her ways.
I have heard it said that hand raised pups may miss out on some social skills. Do you have puppy classes? I enrolled Tulley in a puppy class so that he could continue his socializing there.
I've had a few foster puppies through here that really gave my toes and the legs of my boxers a true scare with all the nipping! Hee hee!!!

Regarding the off topic post: When I have a puppy in the home, I don't let it's feet hit the ground in public until 4-5 months when the shots are finished. That's the benefit of a puppy class, there you know all the pups are vaccinated or healthy. I also didn't let my other dogs out in public when Tulley (hand raised pup) was young because I didn't want the other boxers to bring something back in on the feet! I assumed that since Tulley may have never had access to his mother or very little, he may have an even weaker immune system.
I know first hand of pups who have picked up parvo while only being out to the pet stores, etc.

Ashlie
and the rescued boxertrio

 

[sashamom]

I have to tell you i have never wanted a brindle until now!! She is an absolute DOLL!! I am totally in love ...what an adorable little princess!! I have a fawn and a white...i am thinking #3 needs to be a brindle...hubby will kill me trying to add a third to the bunch! As far as her behaviour, i think she sounds quite normal...boxers mature very slowly and stay puppies for at least 2 years....while i complain about mine, i feel sure i will miss the mischief they get in as they get older...i always have a story to tell! We also we warned not to let Sasha have too much public contact as far as parks until after 6 months....just to make sure her immune system was good and her shots were up to date! I think its good advice...we have had more than one incident with her getting sick (esp. colitis) following visits to the dog park....
Good Luck and keep up the great pics!1
Sasha, Telmar and Lisa

 

[frankied]

Good luck with everything! Your baby is soooo cute! She reminds me of my Angel when she was a wee one!

Also I did not take Angel out for walks until she had all her shots

 

[Vicky Scott]

Your all lovely at Boxer World!!

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the information, and advice.. and Ellie says thank you for all the compliments :o)

Ellie is allowed out on public ground on Thursday evening (exactly one week after her injections)... we are so so so excited. It's tempting to want to take her out now but the vet has told us we must wait till Thursday!!!

I'm so impressed by how friendly you all are and i'd like to stay in touch with you all.. i'll try and keep adding photo's.. it seems like every moment with Ellie is a photo moment, she does the funniest things!!!

Thanks again.

Vicky & Ellie xxx

 

[saveaboxer]

Your baby certainly is a doll. I love the brindles to, my big boy is a dark brindle and l love it when the sun hits his coat and he just glistens. You can try Ella on soft toys to help teach bite inhibition. I found a wonderful toy called Big head. It is a soft rubber toy that easily squeaks just by touching it. I have a rescue that tears up everything, especially squeaky toys, thought she would totally destroy this one in 30 seconds flat. She still has it after a week and a half. She is also learning bite inhibition and this seems to work some. She is 2 years old now and had never learned it. She is really starting to learn how to control her teeth. When she starts wanting to chew on my hands I yell out OUCH and pull my hands away and hold the one she was chewing on. She has learned she would much rather have my hands rubbing her than being with held from her. She is learning and much improved in her mouthing.