Boxer Temperment/Energy in the House

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Barney(In- memory of)

993764

Barked: Sat May 30, '09 9:01pm PST


	Hi everybody, First off thank you for trying to provide me with some good info. Now down to business, basically, I have admired Boxers from afar for a while and now I am looking to get a new dog so I was hoping you guys could help with some of the things I don't know about Boxers. Mainly, my concern is if they are inside for a while with our 4 cats, they will get too playful and want to chase. But also, they would need to be able to settle easily in our house and be outside too, as most of its exercise will come later in the day when I am home from school. Thanks for the help.

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Chewbacca

Play?! Let's- PLAY!!!

Barked: Mon Jun 1, '09 3:31pm PST


	Oh how exciting, a Boxer for the very first time! Well it depends. Are you planning on adopting a rescue, or going for a puppy? Personally, I wouldn't give ANY dog freedom with 4 cats untill you know for sure that the cats would be safe. I crate Chewie for other reasons, but I also start the day with a good 30+ minute brisk walk and he does fine for 8 hours crated. When we get home he spends his evening with us and usually gets another walk. As for being outside, if you plan on leaving your new dog unattended make sure you have a good high fence because they can JUMP. Sometimes I think they are part rabbit. Boxers are a LOT of fun, but they require work (like any dog). Make sure to do your research and if you still feel one of these clowns are for you, go for it!

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♥- Apollo- ♥

Mine! Mine!- Mine!

Barked: Tue Jun 2, '09 6:22am PST


	Same questions here. Are you looking to adopt an adult or purchase a puppy? Boxer's are very adaptible animals. They however do not do well in extreme heat or cold. They are definately inside dogs. On average days my dogs stay outside while I am away from the house. They all do very well in the yard. I have had a couple of fosters we had to crate when we left because they did jump the fence. This is something you would have to watch a gauge for yourself. If the day is suppose to be extremely hot 100+ or cold I crate my dogs while I am away. I normally dont want them going more than 6 hours in the crate. If I know they are going to be in the crate I feed, water, exercise, potty and then put them in the crate with a stuffed Kong. They do just fine. Boxers are extremly high energy dogs, especially between the ages of 4 months to 3 years old. If you spay or neuter they will calm down by around 3 into the Boxer everyone sees and loves. Like many high energy breeds they play hard and sleep hard so while they run around like crazy and are great stamina dogs for long walks or jogs when you let them in the house afterward they calm right down and will sleep (in your lap) while you watch TV etc. You must exercise them to get the calmess in the house. People expect to crate the dog all day or leave it in a small 10 x 15 yard and when they let it in the house to be calm - not going to happen! Well not until they are about 7 or 8! Boxers are great let me know if you want any other information about them!

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Barney(In- memory of)

993764

Barked: Tue Jun 2, '09 3:00pm PST


	Well, I am not sure whether I will get a shelter dog of from a breeder, do you guys have any suggestions on that? This sounds like great advice, but do you ever encounter any trouble with keeping the dog crated during the day? Thanks a lot.

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♥- Apollo- ♥

Mine! Mine!- Mine!

Barked: Wed Jun 3, '09 6:21am PST


	Well as a rescue volunteer my first advice is always to adopt! There are so many dogs waiting for forever homes. I personally like the older dogs 1+ years because by then most of them are housebroken, have a little training, over the chewing stage. Now adopting from a shelter or rescue group. Dogs in shelters are definately in more immediate need and I would never discourage adopting from one however because of the nature of the shelter environment and that there are so many dogs and so little staff a lot of times the behavior of a dog is misunderstood or not even tested. Dogs in the stressful environment of a shelter will often act completely different then their true personalities. Aggressive dogs will seem submissive, submissive dogs might appear aggressive or be very high stress and therefore not give their best showing. When you adopt from a rescue group, the dogs are normally in some type of foster care. Many have already seen a vet and had their spaying, neutering and shots taken care of. If they have had them for any amount of time they may have worked with housebreaking, training etc. They may know if the dog is good with cats, kids, other dogs etc. You will know a little more about the dog you are getting and how it truly reacts in a home environment. Crating. If you start with a young dog, puppy or newly crate trained dog you will not be able to just stick the dog in the crate for 6 to 10 hours. You have to judge the age of the dog and how well and long it can hold its bowl movements. Then work on extending that period. Most of my dogs hate the airplane crates but really like the wire crate. Some dogs have separation anxiety and have a harder time in crates but its better to leave them in this safe environment then lose in the house with the separation anxiety where they can eat the carpet, the walls, the garbage......

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Barney(In- memory of)

993764

Barked: Wed Jun 3, '09 7:27am PST


	That sounds great. I also noticed from your profile, Apollo, that you are in California and got your dog from NCBR. That happens to be where I am looking for my Boxer if I do choose to adopt. I also saw that you said you volunteer, and I know this is a long shot, but do you happen to foster any Boxers for NCBR or another group? The main reason I ask is I also noticed you have a cat, and that is one of my main concerns in getting the right dog. Thank you so much for your help.

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♥- Apollo- ♥

Mine! Mine!- Mine!

Barked: Wed Jun 3, '09 10:21am PST


	I actually dont have a cat - Apollo thinks he is a cat! He sleeps on our counter tops and the back of the sofa and leaps from piece of furniture to furniture (Big 90lbs cat lol) Yes, I do foster dogs for NCBR. I am currently fostering Rodney. Some of our foster homes do have cats in them living with the dogs. Boxer's are pretty high prey drive dogs and while many do fine with cats others (like mine) would not do well at all. I have placed a couple of fosters in homes with cats and they are doing well. It all depends on the dog. Once you apply the rescue will put you in touch with the foster home and they can tell you about cats or not (if they have them) Where in CA are you located? Edited by author Wed Jun 3, '09 10:22am PST

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Barney(In- memory of)

993764

Barked: Wed Jun 3, '09 2:05pm PST


	I am located in the East Bay, San Ramon to be exact, it is by Danville and Pleasanton if that helps. I was also thinking about fostering a Boxer kind of as a test run over the summer, just to see if it may work out for us. The only problem I have seen with that is since you guys have not been with the dog much, you don't have all the info I need, especially how they react to cats. Also, I saw you mentioned how you have placed dogs in homes with cats and they've been doing fine, but I noticed on the website that there were only 3 dogs that are good with cats, but all of them have been adopted. I don't know if there are any dogs you know of that are cat-compatible, but if you do know any, I would love to take a look at them. I know this is a long shot, but if you know of any dogs that like cats, rather than just get along with them, that would be perfect! Thank you for your help.