Revised June 1988
Origin and Purpose
The Boxer was developed in Germany
as a medium size security dog. The breed is valued as a spirited pet and
guardian of home and family. Developed to serve the multiple purposes
of guard, working and escort-dog, he must combine elegance with substance
and amble power, not alone for beauty, but to ensure the speed, dexterity
and jumping ability essential to arduous hike, riding expedition, police
or military duty.
General Appearance
The Boxer is a medium-sized, sturdy dog, of square build, with short back,
strong limbs, and short tight-fitting coat. His musculation, well developed,
should be clean, hard and appear smooth (not bulging) under taut skin.
His movement should denote energy. The gait is firm yet elastic (springy),
the stride free and ground covering, the carriage proud and noble. Only
a body whose individual parts are built to harmonious whole, can respond
to these combined demands. Therefore, to be at his highest efficiency
he must never be plump or heavy and, while equipped for great speed, he
must never be racy. The head imparts to the Boxer a unique individual
stamp peculiar to him alone. It must be in perfect proportion to his body,
never small in comparison to the over-all picture. His muzzle is his most
distinctive feature and the greatest value to be place on its being of
correct form and in absolute proper proportion to the skull.
Faults: Head
not typical, plump bull-doggy appearance, light bond, lack of balance,
bad condition, lack of noble bearing.
Character and Temperment
These are of paramount importance in the Boxer.
Instinctively a "hearing" guard dog, his bearing is alert, dignified and
self-assured even at rest. His behaviour should exhibit constrained animation.
His temperament is fundamentally playfull, yet patient and stoical with
children. Deliberate and wary with strangers, he will exhibit curiosity
but, most importantly, fearless courage and tenacity if threatened. However,
he responds promptly to friendly overtures when honestly rendered. His
intelligence, loyal affection and tractability to discipline make him
a highly desirable companion.
Faults: Lack
of dignity and alertness, syness, cowardice, treachery and viciousness
(belligerancy toward other dogs should not be considered viciousness).
Size
Adult males - 22 1/2 - 25 in. (57 to 64 cm).
Females - 21 to 23 1/2in. (53-60 cm) at the withers. Males should not
go under the minimum nor females over the maximum.
Coat and Colour
Coat - short, shiny, lying smooth and
tight to the body.
Colour
- the colours are fawn and brindle. Fawn in various shades from light
tan to stag red or mahogany, the deeper colours preferred. The brindle
coat in the Boxer is of two opposite types. The first of these includes
those dogs having clearly defined dark stripes on a fawn background. The
second type has what is best termed reverse brindling. Here the effect
is is of a very dark background with lighter coloured fawn stripes or
streaks showing through. White markings in fawn or brindle dogs are not
to be rejected: in fact, they are often very attractive but must be limited
to one-third of the ground colour and are not desirable on the back of
the torso proper. On the face, white may replace a part or all of the
otherwise essential black mask. However, these white markings should be
of such distribution as to enhance and not detract from the true Boxer
expression.
Head
The beauty of the head depends
upon the harmonious proportion between the muzzle to the skull. The muzzle
should always appear powerful, never small in its relationship to the
skull. The head should be clean, not showing deep wrinkles. Folds will
normally appear upon the forehead when the ears are erect, and they are
always indicated from the lower edge of the stop running downward on both
sides of the muzzle. The dark mask is confined to the muzzle and is in
distinct contrast to the colour of the head. Any extension of the mask
to the skull, other than dark shading around the eyes, creates a somber
undesirable expression. When white replaces any of the black mask, the
path or any upward extension should be between the eyes. The muzzle is
powerfully developed in length, width and depth. It is not pointed, narrow,
short or shallow. Its shape is influenced first through the formation
of both jawbones, second through the placement of teeth, and third through
the texture of the lips. The Boxer is normally undershot. Therefore, the
lower jaw protrudes beyond the upper and curves slightly upward. The upper
jaw is broad where attached to the skull and maintains this breadth except
for a very slight tapering to the front. The incisor teeth of the lower
jaw are in a straight line, the canines preferably up front in the same
line to give the jaw the greatest possible width. The line of the incisors
in the upper jaw is slightly convex toward the front. The upper corner
incisors should fit snugly back of the lower canine teeth on each side
reflecting the symmetry essential to the creation of a sound non-slip
bite. The lips complete the formation of the muzzle, should meet evenly.
The upper lip is thick and padded, filling out the frontal space formed
by the projection of the lower jaw. It rests on the edge of the lower
lip and, laterally, is supported by the fangs (canines) of thelower jaw.
Therefore, these fangs must stand far apart and be of good length so that
the front surface of the muzzle shall become broad and squarish and, when
viewed from the side, form an obtuse angle with the topline of the muzzle.
Over-protrusion of the overlip or underlip is undesirable. The chin should
be perceptible when viewed from the side as well as from the front without
being over-rependous (rising above the bite line) as in the Bulldog. The
boxer must not show his teeth or his tongue when his mouth is closed.
Excessive flews are not desirable. The top of the skull is slightly arched,
not rotund of flat nor noticeably broad, and the occiput must not be too
pronounced. The forehead forms a distinct sop with the top line of the
muzzle, which must not be forced back into the forehead like that of a
Bulldog. It should not slant down (down-faced), nor should it be dished,
although the tip of the nose should lie somewhat higher than the foot
of the muzzle. The forehead shows just a slight furrow between the eyes.
The cheeks, though covering powerful masseter muscles, compatible with
the strong set of teeth, should be relatively flat and not bulge, maintaining
the clean lines of the skull. They taper into the muzzle in a slight,
graceful curve. The ears are set at the highest points of the sides of
the skull, cut rather long without too broad a shell, and are carried
erect. The Boxer's natural ears are defined as: moderate in size (small
rather than large), think to the touch, set wide apart at the highest
points of the side of the skull and lying flat and close to the cheek
when in repose. When the dog is alert the ears should fall forward with
a definate crease. The dark brown eyes, not too small, protruding or deep-set
and encircled by dark hair, should impart an alert, intelligent expression.
Their mood-mirroring quality combined with the mobile skin furrowing of
the forehead gives the Boxer head its unique degree of expressiveness.
The nose is broad and black, very slightly turned up; the nostrils broad
with the naso-labial line running between them down through the upper
lip which, however, must not be split.
Faults: Lack
of nobility and expression, somber face, unserviceable bite, Pinscher
or Bulldog head, sloping top line of muzzle, muzzle too light for skull,
too pointed a bite (snipey). Teeth or tongue showing with mouth closed,
drivelling, split upper lip. Poor ear carriage, light ("bird of pre")
eyes. Wry mouth, that is when the upper and lower jaws are not in parallel
straight lines.
Neck
Round, of ample length, not too short; strong
and muscular and clean throughout, without dewlap, with a distinctly marked
nape and an elegant arch running down to the back.
Fault: Dewlap.
Chest and Forquarters
The brisket is deep, reaching down to the
elbows; the depth of the body at the lowest point of the brisket equals
half the height of the dog at the withers. The ribs - extending far to
the rear, are well arched but not barrel-shaped. Chest of fair width and
forechest well defined, being easily visable from the side. The loins
are short and muscular; the lower stomach line, lightly tucked up, blends
into a graceful curve to the rear. The shoulders are long and sloping,
close-lying, and not excessively covered with muscle. The upper arm is
long, closely approaching a right angle to the shoulder blade. The forelegs,
viewed from the front, are straight, stand parallel to each other, and
have strong, firmly-joined bones. The elbows should not press too closely
to the chest wall or stand off visibly from it. The forearm is straight,
long, and firmly muscled. The pastern joint is clearly defined but not
distended. The pastern is strong and distinct; slightly slating, but standing
almost perpendicular to the ground. The dew claws may be removed as a
safety precaution. Feet should be compact, turning neither in nor out,
with tightly arched toes (cat feet) and tough pads.
Faults: Chest
too broad, too shallow or too deep in front, loose or over muscled shoulders,
chest hanging between shoulders, tied-in or bowed-out elbows, turned feet,
hare feet, hollow flanks, hanging stomach.
Body
In profile the build is in square proportions
in that a horizontal line from the front of the forechest to the rear
projection of the upper thigh shoud equal a verticle line dropped from
the top of the withers to the ground.
Back
The withers should be clearly defined as the
highest point of the back; the whole back short, straight and muscular
with a firm topline.
Faults: Roach
back, sway back, thin lean back, long narrow loins, wesk union with croup.
Hindquarters
Strongly muscled with angulation in balance
with that of forequarters. The thighs broad and curved, the breech musculature
hard and strongly developed. Croup slightly sloped, flat and broad. Tail
attachment high, rather than low. Tail clipped, carried upward. Pelvis
long and, in females especially, broad. Upper and lower thigh long, leg
well angulated with a clearly defined, well let-down hock joint. In standing
position, the leg below the hock joint (metatarsus) should be practically
perpendicular to the ground with a slight rearward slope permissible.
Viewed from behind, the hind legs should be straight with the hock joints
leaing neither in nor out. The metatarsus should be short, clear and strong
suppored by powerful rear pads. The rear toes just a little longer than
the front toes, but similar in all other respects. Dew claws, if any,
may be removed.
Faults: Too
rounded, too narrow or falling off croup, low-set tail, higher in back
than in front; steep, stiff or too slightly angulated hindquarters, light
thighs, cow hocks, bowed and crooked legs, over-angulated hock joint (sickle
hocks), long metatarsus (high hocks), hare feet, hindquarters too far
under or too far behind.
Tail
Tail attachment high, rather than low. Tail
docked, carried upwards.
Gait
Viewed from the side, proper front and rear
angulation is manifested in a smoothly-eefficient, level-backed, ground-covering
stride with powerful drive emanating from a freely operating rear. Although
the front legs do not contribute impelling power, adequate "reach" should
be evident to prevent interference, overlap or "side-winding" (crabbing).
Viewed from the front, the shoulders should remain trim and the elbows
not flare out. The legs are parallel until gaiting narrows the track in
proportion to increasing speed, then the legs come in under the body but
should remain straight, although not necessarily perpendicular to the
ground. Viewed from the rear a Boxer's breech should not roll. The hind
feet should "dig-in" and track relatively true with the front. Again,
as speed increases, the normally broad rear track will become narrower.
Faults: Stilted
or inefficient gait, pounding, padding or flailing out of front legs,
rolling or waddling gait, tottering hock joints, crossing over or intereference-front
or rear, lack of smoothness.
Disqualifications:
Boxers with white ground colour or entirely
white or any colour other than fawn or two types of brindle. White markings
that exceed one-third of the ground colour.
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