Today the boxer is ranked the 10th most popular dog in the U.S. Recognized in 1904 by the American Kennel Club, the boxer really began gaining popularity in the 1950s when a boxer named “Bang Away” won the Westminster Dog Show. This time around, the boxer was bred for guarding and search and rescue. The Bullenbeiser was bred with a smaller breed from England, possibly an English bulldog. It was during the late 1800s that the modern boxer came into being. His warring ancestors actually trace back to the Assyrian Empire as early as 2,500 BC.ĭuring medieval times this much larger dog was called a Bullenbeisser or “bull biter.”Ī big-game hunter used by German noblemen, the dog hunted bear, bison, and wild boar. One of his roles has been that of a war-dog, including during World Wars I and II. The Boxer is part of a group of dogs called working dogs. When choosing a puppy, then, the competence of the breeder should take priority over the merits of purebred versus hybrid. Such diligence would likely produce healthy dogs with long lives. Now that DNA testing is available for canines, a combination of breeding strategies and genetic testing can reduce the prevalence of inherited disorders in purebreds and cross breeds alike. If a breed is expanded via a small number of founder dogs carrying a diseased gene, the disease frequency will increase. However, hybrid breeders who don’t take care in the testing of the parent dogs could wind up with puppies carrying faulty genes too. The unintended consequence, however, is that disease-causing genes have also become fixed within a breed. This has preserved certain desirable attributes. Over the past several centuries, purebreds have been maintained by inbreeding within closed familial lines. Results showed that the longevity of hybrid dogs exceeded that of purebred dogs by 1.2 years. During the study, 102,609 deceased dogs were analyzed. Supporters of cross breeds often argue for hybrid vigor, a theory that refers to an increase in desirable qualities such as size and fertility in a hybrid over those of its parents.Ī study done in England on the longevity of dogs supports hybrid vigor. Of course, even pedigree dogs at one point were created by crossing breeds in order to select for specific physical and behavioral characteristics. Many support maintaining the purity and sustainability of these breeds. The Kennel Club UK recognizes 215 breeds, while the American Kennel Club recognizes 190. Some, like the Otterhound, may even be facing extinction. Some contend that while the American public is going gaga for designer dogs, other breeds are falling out of favor. Have you ever heard of the Otterhound? How about the Chinook? Lagotto Romagnolo? They are all dog breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club. In recent years cross breeds, including Doodle dogs like the Boxerdoodle, have become popular. Both breeds are known for their intelligence, athleticism and success as family dogs. It’s not hard to guess the reasons behind crossing a Poodle and a Boxer to get a Boxerdoodle. A Boxerdoodle is a cross between a Boxer and a Poodle.
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