Rescuing is great. I am all for rescuing. It’s just not the path we chose for ourselves. We love doing sports with the dogs wither its obedience, agility, tracking, IPO, or Rally we love to do it. Because we love doing it we go to reputable breeders that breed to better the breed but also show and trial their boxers. I will admit in the beginning we got caught up with the wrong kind of breeder for us. Her kennel is Boxnen Boxers. Her name is Minna Nousiainen Becher. She trials all of her boxers in IPO, agility, obedience, dock diving and more. She’s a great example of breeder. Now back to subject at hand there are tons of boxer rescues out there. All you have to do is do a google search I guarantee there is one close to where you live. Looking for reputable breeders is a tough task nowadays. There are so many backyard breeders. Now what gets my blood boiling about this subject is that these people do not perform health tests on the parents. And by health tests I don’t mean going to the vet. I mean having their hip x-rays evaluated by OFA or the BK-in Germany for hip dysplasia, having their spine x-rays evaluated by the BK-in Germany for Spondylosis, DM testing by OFA, Echocardiagram of the heart for cardiomyopathy, and holter test @ 2years old for Cardiomyopathy. All these tests are so important to have when breeding boxers. There are also breed-specific genetic diseases for almost every breed especially from the working group. People that do these tests are serious about improving their breed. Also these tests are super expensive, they aren’t cheap. I just spent $700 to send spine x-rays to Germany to be evaluated. I think it was around $200 to send the hip x-rays. I had alredy had Capone’s x-rays sent to OFA so all I had to do was get a CD of them to send. But I had to get Tia’s actual x-rays done and I paid half of shipping because I shipped them with a friend but it was still $200. Echocardiagram done by Kate Meers was $150 per dog both Capone and Tia have one done so thats $300. I still have to perform a holter test on both Tia and Capone and theres no telling how much that is gonna be, i think its $150 to rent the holter and I don’t know how much it costs to get the results evaluated. So when you see prices of boxers that are $1200-$2500 that money goes back into the breeders program for shows and more health testing that they have to do on their dogs. They are not trying to scam you or overcharge you, I promise. If you see these prices though and no health tests have been done on the parents I would just move right on along to another breeder because that person is definitely trying to scam you. This is the choice that we choose, support a breeder that’s trying to better the breed not one that’s trying to destroy it by breeding unhealth tested parents. They are ruining our breed and have no idea and most have no idea they are doing it. They are passing down the genetic faults of dogs that causes them to die at 3-5 years old. DM, AVRC, Cardiomyopathy, Spondylosis, Hip Dysplasia, are all critical diseases that need to be tested for. You should be able to enjoy your healthy boxer for 9-14 years. Now I’m not saying issues don’t come it. There will always be issues that happen like Cancer, no one can stop that from happening but I would like to start my puppy off on the right foot and have the healthiest dog I can. Breeders also are not the reason that shelters and rescues are overcrowded. Because reputable breeders use a contract and in that contact it states that if you cannot take of the dog for whatever reason you are to return said dog back to the breeder. A reputable breeder will take back their own stock. They don’t let them end up in pounds. The reason for overcrowding in rescues and shelters is because lazy people are not ready to take care of a boxer. They don’t understand the characteristics of the breed. They’re cute and cuddly when they are small but when they become the big playful dogs that they are, and with no training they can be very destructive to a house with chewing and tearing up couches, so some peoples answer to this is to send them to the pound or give them to a rescue. That is your reason. Not reputabe breeders. I suggest getting your boxer puppy in training and learning manners by the time they are 12 weeks old. If you get a puppy at 8 weeks old you give 4 weeks to adjust to it’s new surroundings then get it into a puppy training course. Enclosing, if you buy from a reputable , that does these health screenings, it still not a 100% guarantee that your dog will have no health issues. But the odds are definitely in your favor getting a health-tested puppy. If you get from a Rescue or shelter there is a greater chance that you will spend more than you paid for the dog in health services. Also, in my opinion if you call a breeder and they say their price for a Boxer is $550. They more than likely have not done the proper health testing. With that said if they are charging you more that $3500.00 they are overcharging you. Some breeders go above and beyond but being realistic. Most breeders go above and beyond for their puppies with testing, etc,, I get it, they want a ROI (return on investment) but overcharging a ridiculous amount is certainly not the answer. OK I’m going to get off my soap box but please be educated on your breed and your breeder before you choose a puppy. This is in any case! Catch ya’ll on the next post!
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