Boxer breed guide

Boxers are upbeat and playful. Their patience and protective nature have earned them a reputation as great family dogs. They are highly intelligent but bored by repetition, with a mind of their own and an eye for solving problems.

Not always tolerant of other dogs, they need early socialization to channel their energy and exuberance.

Boxers live 10 to 12 years. The breed does not tolerate extreme heat or cold well, so it belongs inside the house as a member of the family.

Breeders screen for hip dysplasia, heart conditions such as aortic stenosis and cardiomyopathy, thyroid deficiency, degenerative myelopathy and certain cancers and the American Boxer Club's website has in-depth details.

The short shiny coat needs very little grooming: a good once-over with a rubber curry brush or hound glove once or twice a week. Boxers are clean dogs that need a bath only occasionally. Their nails should be trimmed at least once a month unless a hard surface wears them down.

Boxers are very playful, high-energy dogs that need ample daily exercise on a leash or in a securely fenced area. They must never run loose and young dogs jump and leap a great deal because of the breed's heritage as a chaser of wild game.

What we think of as a Boxer traces to Germany in the late 1800s and early 20th century. AKC says the breed is thought to have been bred down by German fanciers from a larger, heavier German breed called the Bullenbeisser, bull biter.

In medieval times the Bullenbeisser was Germany's premier big-game hunter, used by noblemen to run down, catch and hold bear, bison and wild boar on ducal estates.