Why the breed exists
The Boxer was put together in Germany in the late nineteenth century from older holding dogs crossed with imported Bulldog stock, and it was meant to be a strong, agile, biddable working dog rather than a specialist. It took to that brief well: Boxers went into police and military service early, were among the first breeds trained as guide dogs, and still turn up in service and therapy work today. The build is square, athletic and front-loaded, with a shortened muzzle and an undershot jaw — originally so a dog could hold on and still breathe. The famous clowning temperament is a working dog's energy with nowhere to put it. On the ears, the American standard says they "are customarily cropped" and in the same breath describes the uncropped ear — "of moderate size, thin, lying flat and close to the cheeks in repose" — so both are written into it; the same standard calls for a docked tail.
Honesty matters more than usual with this breed. The short muzzle means a Boxer struggles in heat and should never be exercised hard in it. The breed carries a real cardiac burden, and the American Boxer Club's health programme asks breeders to screen for it, including by Holter monitoring; cancer incidence is high enough that no responsible breeder will pretend otherwise. None of that is an argument against the Boxer. It is the reason to buy one only from a breeder who tests to the parent club's published recommendations, publishes the results whatever they say, and will talk about lifespan before you ask.
The official written standard belongs to the breed's parent club.Read the official Boxer standard →
Choosing a Boxer on purpose
Every breed has its own list of required health screenings, kept by its parent club and published through OFA. A preservation breeder working in this breed tests to that list and shows you the results — including the ones that didn't go their way.
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