BOXERS AROUND THE WORLD

THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
NORTH AMERICAN, BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BOXERS

Introduction

The following pages are from a seminar I did at the Boxer and Bulldog Convention for Royal Canin in the beautiful Montpellier in France, at the launch of their Boxer specific dog food.

The topic of my talk was the differences between the North American, British and European Boxer as they are the major areas of influence in the world.

I presumed I had been selected to talk about these differences, not because I live in one of these areas but because I don’t, and I can look at the subject from an OUTSIDER'S POINT OF VIEW! ... Plus I am an All Breeds judge that has been in the breed for over 40 years and fortunate enough to travel and view Boxers worldwide!

What is it that make the North American, British and European Boxers Boxers look DIFFERENT from each other?

Firstly lets go back 30 years......

EUROPE
30 years ago

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U.K.
30 years ago

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NORTH AMERICA/CANADA
30 years ago

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• Boxer in all three areas had relatively good heads of a similar type
• The ratio of substance to elegance was much the same
• Breeders brought dogs in from other countries regularly, to improve their lines and correct problems

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DRAWING FROM BOXER BLARNEY
By Marion Fairbrother

Thirty odd years ago Marion Fairbrother drew her idea of the perfect Boxer in her book Boxer Blarney.

• He was the essence of TYPE!
• He was square, well balanced, with correct substance and elegance.
• He was well angulated, front and rear, with a correctly balanced head.
• His neck was elegantly arched, clean and dry, sloping down into well-marked withers and short back.
• His tailset was correct at 1 O'clock and his croup has a slight slope.
• His forechest was evident because of his correct depth of chest, and the length ribcage allows his underline to slope gracefully to the rear.
• His flanks were deep and his loin short. To balance his front his hindquarters were powerful with good first and second thighs, and his feet and pasterns were correct.

Remember this was 30 odd years ago ..... And this Boxer could still win today!

What has happened to this ideal Boxer?

The above drawing was widely thought of around the world as the IDEAL Boxer and used as a visualisation of the standard. Many Boxer clubs still use this drawing on their stationary and their websites.

Nowadays…

• Boxer in all three areas have different style heads
• The ratio of substance to elegance varies from area to area
• Many breeders only breed to dogs within their own area!
• We are no longer breeding with one goal in mind..

Why has this happened? Is it....

1. Because our own standard is so "wordy" has breeders and judges interpretation of type or style over the past 30 years become the type or style of the Boxer in their country?

2. Or did the small changes in some standards alter the concept of what the perfect Boxer looks like in the minds of the newer judges and newcomers to the breed?

Lets try to work out why on the following pages....