|
Dedicated to Boxer Dogs and All Who Love, Live and Work With Them
Boxer Dog Snippets - Read More
Articles about Boxer Dogs by Clicking On the Link Top Left of this Page.
* Legend says when God was fashioning the various
breeds of dog out of clay, he came to his final task and decided to create the
most Perfect Dog and call it a Boxer.
But the new breed of dog was vain and, before the clay was set, the Boxer Dog
rushed to see himself in the mirror and dashed headlong into his own reflection.
That accounts for the upturned nose so characteristic of the Boxer Dog and
proves too that God really did accomplish his task in creating the most Perfect
Dog … the Boxer Dog.
* In 1985, a white Boxer dog called
Bomber was snatched from a vet’s surgery by an animal nurse and later appeared
in the UK television series, Oliver Twist. It appears the Boxer’s previous
owners, Tony and Elaine Chapell, decided to put the dog to sleep when they
learned he didn’t quite fit new Kennel Club standards for his breed! In filming
he was made to look flea bitten, dirty and covered in sores. Bomber even had a
dressing room all to himself and was congratulated on giving a superb
performance. Well done Bomber, and shame on those who gave up on him!
* A Boxer dog
called George was used in media advertisements in the early 1990s and became so
well known that he eventually had a fan club all to himself. George’s strange
expressions appeared in ads. for Coleman’s Mustard and eventually the oxer dog
became a household name and even made guest appearances at public functions and
schools.
* A Boxer dog
called Brandy featured on Ripley’s Believe It Or Not due to her
incredible 17 inch long tongue! Brandy, from Michigan, USA, was bought from a
local breeder in 1995 and her new owner was assured the dog would eventually
grow into her l-o-n-g t-o-n-g-u-e! She didn’t and on television she was shown
performing antics such as eating from a bowl 13 inches away. Her owner, John
Scheid, says brandy likes sunbathing and even gets tan lines on her tongue, but
says the beautiful boxer is fit, happy and healthy, so her unique feature isn’t
a problem at all. She even has her own web site at: www.tungdog.com
* Boxer dog Zoe’s
owner, Cathy Walker, from Manuden, near Bishop’s Stortford in the UK, has been
told by a medium that she is surrounded by all the pets she has lost. That
certainly seems true of Zoe, a tan and white Boxer bitch who died several years
ago, aged eleven. The Daily Mail (November 6th 2001) printed an amazing
photograph of the bark of a tree under which Zoe spent her last day, showing
what can only be described as the image of a Boxer dog in the bark. Cathy tells
how she is a great believer in life after death and claims the image of Zoe has
strengthened that belief.
* To anyone who
loves dogs in general, and Boxer dogs in particular, Solo was as beautiful as
any other of her breed. To her owner, Joyce Lang, she was more than just
beautiful, she was a constant friend, a much loved family member. But not
everyone thought the same way and, surprisingly, in 1982, in Burgess Hill in the
UK, an anonymous letter arrived addressed to Solo, saying: “I think you are the
ugliest dog I have ever seen.” What sort of human could write such nonsense is
beyond most people’s comprehension, and probably the letter was intended mainly
to upset Joyce, an objective the hateful writer most definitely achieved.
Letters continued to come saying: “Why don’t you get your master or mistress to
take you for a face lift?”. One even contained a paper bag which the sender
said should be placed over Solo’s head! When local newspapers heard the story
the headlines proclaimed that beauty is always in the eye of the beholder and in
Joyce’s and other dog lover’s eyes, Solo was beautiful.
* This story
appeared in The Faithful Friend (Writings About Owning and Loving Pets)
and concerned dog owners in the United States who often loaned their pets to the
military in World War Two. Lance, a Boxer, worked with Dogs for Defence which
eventually became the noted K09 Corps, and belonged to a family with young
children, one a boy who wrote this letter to Dogs for Defence: ‘My Boxer,
Lance, was in the army since last June. I have not heard anything about him
since I received a certificate from the Quartermaster General. The number on it
was 11281. I love Lance very much and want to know if he is doing anything
brave. Can you please tell me where he is and what kind of a job he does?
Please answer soon because I can’t wait much longer to know what has become of
him’.
*
What we know about the origins of most
breeds, including the Boxer, is largely owed to early sculptures, painting and
drawings. In the Boxer’s case, a carving of a dog looking much like a boxer
can be seen on a tomb in Arnstadt where lies Elizabeth of Hohenstein who died in
1368. Flemish tapestries from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries show dogs
resembling the Boxer engaged in stag- and boar-hunting.
* Boxer dogs
became very popular in Munich where the breed is thought to have originated.
But the history of the breed has not been without controversy. In fact the
first Boxer Club in the UK was closed because of disagreements over almost
everything pertaining to Boxers. By 1905, however, the most enthusiastic
followers of the German Boxer met to develop a standard for the Boxer which
would be accepted by all. The Munich Boxer Club drew up the standard which
exists largely unchanged even today.
* The first
Boxer dog in America was imported in 1903 from Switzerland. The new owner of
the dog was New York Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals, Irving Lehman who
imported many other Boxer dogs. The first Boxer dog registered with the
American Kennel Club was in 1904. The dog was Arnulf Grandenz, bred in America
by James Welch of Illinois.
* The Boxer dog
gained rapid popularity soon after the Second World War ended, ironically more
prominently in countries formerly opposed in war with the Boxer’s most likely
native home, Germany. Listen to what Rowland Johns says in Our Friend The
Boxer: ‘The re-emergence of the Boxer breed has added proof that warring
nations do not carry their antagonisms for long into the relations between them
and other nations’ dogs. Both with the Alsatian and the Boxer their popularity
derives directly from the contacts made during a state of war. In those two
wars the adoption of both breeds by members of the British forces provided some
personal satisfaction and uplift of the spirit in long periods of exile from
home, family, and friends.’
|
|
