Boxer Traits or Quirks???

boxer balls

boxer ballsThe personality of boxers are unique.  If you have ever opened your heart and home to a boxer you already know this fact.  They are silly, funny, loveable, naughty, loyal, energetic dogs. Very few articles really portray the boxer personality the way we (as their family) can.  Typically, articles will say things such as “The boxer is a working dog that originated from Germany.  They crave human affection and are companion dogs.  They are protectors with energy, courage, and a high tolerance for pain…”, bla bla bla.  The adjectives go on and on.  They are good descriptive words and correct in terms of general personality traits.  But we are talking about our QUIRKY boxers.  The things other articles do not talk about.  They fall into 3 main categories: Energy, Family, and Intelligence.

The Quirks of BoxersENERGY:  I am also going to include excitable, animated, playful here too. They simple go and go until they crash or you make them stop (kind of like a toddler).  Boxers make toys out of everyday things (shoes, couches, pools, each other, you).  They zip around and around and around with inexhaustible energy.  They jump, bounce, chase, slide, wrestle, wiggle, dance, and entertain.  They pretty much do anything to get the attention of others.  Boxers are very comical and thrive when their people watch, play, and laugh at them.  Someone once told us that our boxer would calm down at 3 years old, hahaha. My response was “he’s 4”.  We laugh often about the look on the girls face when I told her his age.  Boxers are ALWAYS puppies no matter how old.  They somersault, do the kidney bean dance,  and hop like bunnies on a regular basis.

FAMILY: They are one of the family and they know it too.  They want to be as close as physically possible.  We joke all the time that if our boxers could, they would crawl under our skin.  Even though they are typically 50-85 pounds, they are lap dogs and sit on your lap, head, feet, etc. as if they were 5 pounds.  They definitely want to be near their family and do not like to be left alone or isolated for long lengths of time.  This is often when you hear the stories of boxers occupying themselves (eating couches, rugs, walls, shoes, etc.).  Sadly this is the reason they end up in rescue programs or shelters.  Boxers love their family and are very good with children making fantastic playmates.

 

 

INTELLEGENCE: Boxers are smart and have great problem solving skills.  I hear amazing stories about boxers all the time (opening doors, doing tricks, escaping cages, swimming, redecorating).  I contribute these skills to their intelligence.  Keeping them occupied appropriately helps to limit and redirect their undesirable behaviors.  If you’ve done any kind of training, you know it’s hard to fool your boxer.  They look at you as if they know what you are saying.  And honestly, I think they do.  One of my boxers learned how to open his crate as a puppy, ring a bell when he’s has to go outside, talk (woo woo) at me when he wants something (ball under the couch) and even show me where things are when I can’t find them.  Another funny example: when my white boxer wants something (let’s say the ball that the other boxers has), she’ll go get something else (a rope) she knows is more desirable to the other boxer  and play with it- he’ll drop the ball and grab the rope, and off she goes with the ball.  It’s funny but also very smart.  Their intelligence also makes boxers very curious and mischievous (counter surfing, digging through closets or lawns, etc).  During this time they often they tilt their head to the side, as if to say “wow I need to figure this out”.  This trait also makes them VERY headstrong and stubborn.  And stubborn they can be, for example- when they plant their feet and don’t want to go somewhere or run when they hear the word “bath”.

 

Silly Boxer

There is so much more we could add to this list.  So send us your stories, pictures, and videos of the quirkiest thing your boxer does!