The Boxer has its origins from Germany. Its history can be traced back to the 1880’s. Before that, the history becomes deductive, and then speculative. A gentleman from Munich, named George Alt, had purchased a small (Brabanter) Bullenbeisser female in France. He brought her home to Munich, and mated her to a local dog, which produced a parti-coloured female - who was named Schenken. Schenken was later mated to an English Bulldog. The point to note here is that these were not random mating’s. Each breeding was to capture a certain look, personality or trait. Then a consistency was looked for to establish a breed type, that was produced at each whelping. Until recently, breeders would cull any "all-white" puppies from a litter, due to the fear that deafness would be passed from one generation to another. The "all-white" coloration’s goes back to the Bulldogs that were used initially to establish the Boxer type appearance.
The German Boxer Club was formed in 1896, and this group published the first Boxer Standard in 1902. What is remarkable is that the standard of 1902 has changed very little over time.
Some pictures of the Boxer show the dog with cropped ears and docked tails. This is very common in the United States. However, this practice is being discontinued in several countries, as it is considered cruel. Cropping of the ears is prohibited in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Scandinavia. Tail docking is banned in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
His ancestors, the "Brabant Bullenbeisser", a Mastiff type dog, were originally bred in Germany. As the breeders of that time wanted dogs suitable for hunting and holding prey, these dogs were then outcrossed with a smaller Mastiff type dog, These dogs possessed a wide undershot lower jaw, a nose that was set further back, and was a smaller and more active dog than the Bullenbeisser.
* This dog's strong and wide undershot jaw and strong teeth were needed in order to have him lock onto his prey and to continue holding it until his master arrived. * His nose with its large, open nostrils, was set back in order that he could breath while holding on to his quarry. * The wrinkles on each side of his muzzle were also there for a purpose which was to keep the blood of the animal away from his eyes. The Boxer was later used as a guard dog, and can acquit himself quite readily to the job if trained to do so, but he is more temperamentally suited for Obedience work and Agility and a protector of the family home. He should be able to cover great distances at good speed and be a splendid jumper. Any faults that would hamper this ability should be penalised far greater than any other.
A Carved powder flask, depicting a Bullenbeisser From central Europe Second half of the 1600’s
