The people are scared of boxers thing...

[Louie's Mom]

I understand if people ask you if your dog bites, because If someone was walking by me I wouldn't just assume the dog was nice or mean I would ask the owner if the dog likes to be petted, but I wouldn't actually say " Is he mean?" I would ask if its ok to pet him.

I too really dislike when people say " oh you are going to be sorry when he grows up " Its like " What the H*LL do you know " don't you dare try and preach something to me that you know nothing about!!

My grandpa used to say that about my old pitbull Onus. Because where my grandpa lived in Arizona there was a man who had 2 pitbulls a Rottwieler and a couple of other dogs that he kept in a big kennel and never paid attention to them except to kick them or to give them food, and one day he was being mean to one of the dogs and the rest of the dogs attacked and killed him, the police had to shoot most of the dogs just to get into the kennel. So my grandpa doesn't trust pitbulls. or didn't - he passed away about 5 years ago.
Apparantly he believed that you should be able to treat a dog any way you pleased no matter how crappy and the dog should stay loyal. - yeah right :(

But isn't that just a bunch of crap!!

 

[Emily_7538]

I know. It really gets annoying. If they spent two seconds around a boxer that is trained right, they would love the breed. They just spend all their time down-putting them.

 

[todell80]

one day he was being mean to one of the dogs and the rest of the dogs attacked and killed him, the police had to shoot most of the dogs just to get into the kennel.

Sounds like that guy deserved it.

 

[Louie's Mom]

A friend of mine's son bought a wolf hybrid (90% wolf, 10% malamute) and she ended up taking care of him. I love going on walks with her and watching people go out of their way to steer clear of him. They too don't understand that Grindle is just a big baby. We never had to worry about someone approaching us that we didn't want to.

The thing about Wolves and Wolf hybrids is they aren't dogs they are wild animals and wild animal crossed with a dog. So alot of the time they have the behavior of a wolf which conflicts with the behavior of a dog, so it's crucial that a person that owns one of these animals understands the behavior of dogs AND the behavior of wolves, or Really bad things could happen. (shyness in a wolf isn't the same thing as shyness in a dog)

I have seen Hybrids that are just like dogs and are great pets and I have seen hybrids that were very wolf-like. It all depends on what comes out.

 

[Gambit04]

This is going to be long...just to warn you!
I must say that it's all about the education...take me for example. I grew up with only small dogs in our family. I was never really "afraid" of larger dogs, just weary of them. I was chased at the age of 8 by 2 dobermans (not their fault by any means though). I had forgotten about this incident until right before we got Gambit. We were looking into getting an American Bulldog (BF loves Boxers and Bulldogs). He was 1 year old and BF went to meet him first. This turned out to be a big mistake. BF and this Am. Bulldog hit it off immediately. However, I was a different story. As we were approaching the owners yard one afternoon (so that I could meet the dog) I was lunged at with teeth and all. Thank goodness the owner was responsible and had the dog on his leash. It scared me to death! I guess, according to the owner, the dog saw me as a threat to my BF! I don't know how true this is, but it was enough for me to not want this dog. I'm not blaming the breed by any means...it could have been a lab or retreiver and I would have still said "no thanks". Anyway, to make a long story short, we decided to get a boxer puppy. When we went to meet the breeder and pick out our new fur kid the parent's were on site. Mind you I had just came from a very disturbing experience a few weeks earlier. Both the male and female were right there at the door to greet us (wiggle butts and all). I wouldn't go in because I was overwhelmed. Anyway, they restained the dogs and after explaining my situation to the breeder she brought the female over to me (she was the smaller of the two). She just sniffed me and went back to her pups. The male took a little longer. He had that gigantic tongue sticking out and was very broad. He turned out to be the biggest baby! I now know that just because I had one bad experience with a dog doesn't mean that all dogs are going to be the same. It's about how they are raised!
We've tried very hard to socialize Gambit and allow him to be the joyous lapdog that he is today. When people approach us and ask if they can pet him I always tell them to let Gambit approach them first and let him sniff their back side of their hand (which usually turns into a big lick!). Every dog should be approached with respect no matter how big or small. I now know this.
So, when people say things like "he'll bite, or he's mean because he's a boxer" don't take it to heart. They may have had a bad experience with a similar breed and need to be re-educated (as I did). Education is the key and that is why this website is such a valuable tool. We used it before we got Gambit (to do research on the breed) and we still continue to use it.
Good luck!

 

[spartans]

I guess we just gotta show the world how beautiful and loving they can be. Things are getting better for us, a lady said to me in the dog park a few days ago.."everybody knows Sasha you know" I was like no way. She thinks she is great and because I only take her at weekends and the BF takes her in the week she was pointing out who she plays with. It really does prove if you bring them up right then the decent people love them nearly as much as us.
I was thinking about being scared of dogs and was like well yeah if you have been attacked by one. Then I thought back and I was attcked by a couple - not severely, but probably in a smiliar way to most yet I seemed to erase it from my memory. I guess my parents are to thank for that - they have never changed the way we have treated them. Thank goodness.

Here's to all the nice people who like our dogs because they are the best

 

[Gingerlove]

Well, you know, people might think what they want to -- boxers are the best! You know it, I know it, every boxer's owner knows it so, I say, let's just ignore the ignorants!

By the way, I feel very secure with Ginger (even if she's scared of her own shadow ) when strangers come around the house. Thank goodness if her big smooshy face frightens them!

 

[Chaos's Mom]

I have to say that we must be very lucky where we live, in as much as everyone that we have come in contact with so far has had nothing but positive things to say about boxers. Sure a lot of people have ask if Chaos will bite and I can completely understand that question, but we have had so many compliments on him and it seems as if everyone either had a boxer growing up or has known a boxer in their life and understands how boxers are. But at this point I do have to admit that I love the expressions on a salesman face when they see Chaos jump up on the door...which I have given him permission to do when I see that it is a saleperson at the door....

 

[trucker1954]

This past summer, we had some work done on the house. There were a number of trades people who came and went. Mini had no problem with most of them, but there were two that she took a dislike to.

These two did not heed her warning growl. When they came too close, there was a flash of teeth and a bark that got their attention. They were not hurt in any way, but they did keep their distance.

In another instance, Mini was introduced to a friends boyfriend. She oked him over, and announced that she dod not like him. The friend has since broken up with this guy.

I trust her compeltely as a judge of the character of people