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So,
you've chosen the Boxer as the breed for you and decided that Showing in
conformation would be fun. All you need to do now is find a puppy with
Show potential. I say potential because nobody can guarantee that a
certain puppy will grow to be a "Champion". An experienced breeder can
show you puppies that have the potential to grow into Show quality dogs,
but once again there isn't any guarantee.
What's the first step? Read, read,
read and then read some more. This is an excellent way for you to learn
about and understand the Boxer. Get yourself a Boxer standard and study
it. This is a document which explains the Boxer in detail including how it
should look, it's character, gait, accepted colours etc. It also details
faults. All breeders aim to breed dogs which conform closely to the
standard. There are also many Boxer books available written by
breeders/judges from all over the world. These too are an excellent
learning tool. Try to find books that not only have pictures but also
include diagrams which show the correct proportions/measurements of the
Boxer. Eventually, you will develop a picture in your mind of what a Boxer
is supposed to look like according to the Boxer standard.
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What else should you do? Go along
to as many dog Shows as possible. Approach breeders and ask them questions
about the Boxer. Breeders love to talk about their dogs and they have a
lot of knowledge. Most are more than happy to share their knowledge and
welcome questions from novices. Watch the judging of the dogs and
familiarize yourself with Show procedures. Purchase catalogues and take
note of dogs that you particularly like (fit the standard) or perhaps that
are consistently winning. After attending several Shows you will come to
know the names of dogs and their owners or breeders. It helps to have a
mentor, so hopefully, once you have decided on which breeder you'd like to
purchase a puppy from, he or she will be willing to take you under their
wing.
By doing all of the things I have mentioned above, you will
improve your understanding of the Boxer. This will help you immensely when
the time comes to chose your puppy. Of course, being a novice, you will
need the guidance of a trusted breeder to help you chose. Don't rush into
buying your puppy, as tempting as it may be to buy the first puppy you
see, take your time. It would be best to take somebody with you that has
experience in the breed. Make sure that the sire and dam have had all the
necessary health checks. Be sure to look at the parents to determine they
are sound, healthy and conform as close as possible to the standard. The
dam is usually with the puppies and seeing her is not a problem. However,
the sire can sometimes be in another State or even another country! In
this case, perhaps there are pictures you could look at. Studying
pedigrees is also important, but unless you have experience in the breed,
these probably won't make a lot of sense. Again, an experienced breeder
can help here.
Male or female? When becoming
involved with Dog Showing for the first time, it is best to purchase a
bitch (female). It's hard if you have your heart set on a dog (male) but
believe me, after becoming involved, you will wish you purchased a bitch.
The reason is this. If you buy a dog and for one reason or another he
doesn't prove to be a good Show dog, then that is the end of Showing until
you purchase another dog/bitch. Many beginners make the mistake of
thinking that they could breed their dog to someone else's bitch, but
unless your dog has been titled or is exceptional (in which case you would
still be Showing him), this is highly unlikely. However, if you have a
bitch and she doesn't prove to fair well in the conformation ring, you
could later mate her to a suitable stud dog and if you are lucky, start
again with a puppy from the litter.
Who will show your dog? Whilst at
the Shows, take particular notice of the way in which dogs are handled. In
the States, Boxers tend to be a handlers breed. This means that owners of
dogs pay professional handlers to handle their dogs in the conformation
ring. I live in Australia and here we don't have professional handlers as
such, but some of the better handlers do Show dogs for other people. If
you live in the States, you will have to decide whether or not you want to
Show your own dog or have a handler do it for you. If you decide to do the
handling yourself, you have a lot of hard work ahead of you. However, it's
not impossible to title a dog without a handler, there are quite a few
owner handlers out there that do extremely well. It's hard work, but as a
owner handler myself, I can tell you that the pleasure you get from
Showing and winning with your own dog is well and truly worth it!
This article has been written to help those of you that are new to
this wonderful breed and hoping to become involved in Showing in
conformation. I hope after reading this, you will have a better idea on
how to go about purchasing that special puppy. Of course, the tips I have
included here are very brief and there's a lot more you will need to know
and learn once you take your puppy home. Good luck and remember to have
fun and enjoy your Boxer!
Kay Williams
BOCSIRS Boxer Kennels, Sydney Australia
Recommended reading: The Boxer Blarney -
by Marian Fairbrother and Peggy Thomson, The Boxer Blueprint - by Daniel A
Buchwald, My Life with Boxers - by Friederun Stockmann, The Boxer - by
Elizabeth Somerfield. Boxers - by Iva Ward-Davies, The New Boxer - by
Billie McFadden to name just a few. There are also Boxer magazines you can
subscribe to in which you will find pictures, articles on current top
winning dogs, advertisements for kennels, breeders and handlers and
Veterinary issues etc. Ones that come to mind are Boxer Review (USA),
Boxer Quarterly (UK) and Boxer Blatter (Germany).
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Kay Williams showing Bailey
BOCSIRS is a new Australian Boxer Kennel which is a
combination of Marimat Boxer Kennels (Matthew Cowley) and JayKays Boxers
(Kay Williams). Together, our aim is to breed towards the Australian
National Kennel Club (ANKC) Boxer standard with the Boxer's working
ability in mind. Health is a priority and all breeding stock have
undergone heart, hip and thyroid testing.
A BOCSIRS web site is under construction, but in the
meanwhile you can visit our previous sites at http://www.fast.net.au/marimat/
and http://www.fast.net.au/marimat/jaykays/
For further information we can be contacted on the
following numbers
Matthew - ph: 61 2 9606 0309 mobile: 0417 044
961
Kay - ph: 61 2 9645 0167 mobile: 0414 298 350
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