BOXERS AROUND THE WORLD

THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
NORTH AMERICAN, BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BOXERS

NORTHERN AMERICA - BODY TYPE

North American breeders and judges put the emphasis on "ELEGANCE" and the Boxer
is "stacked" to look square for photos and the showring.


This Boxer conforms to the American standard, is well balanced and possesses very good breed type.

VIRTUES AND PROBLEMS

VIRTUES IN THE BEST BOXERS
Smooth short jackets:	The North American Boxers have very short jackets and tight close fitting skin - no saggy skin here.
Clean dry necks:	It goes with the tight jackets. There is no excess skin on the throat on these dogs
Long arched necks:	Adding to the look of elegance is the smoothly arched crest to the neck
Clean withers:	The withers are high tent shaped and the neck flows smoothly into the topline with a gently curve.
Long ribcages:	The ribcages on the best Boxers are well ribbed back, allowing good heart and lung coverage.
Long smooth musculation:	These Boxers are the athletes. Long smooth musculation without lumps and bumps.
Level temperaments:	You could put a pack of Northern American dogs together and you will rarely see any display of bad temper.

Summing Up:The American (and the Canadian dogs) are very smooth. They have no excess skin under their elegantly arched round necks and they have LONG smooth musculation over their shoulders. Their withers are clean and high and taper smoothly into the topline. Their ribcages are long and curve gradually to the rear. Temperament is usually very good.

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DEPARTURE FROM TYPE IN THE NORTHERN AMERICAN BOXER
Lack of forechest:	Many Boxers have lost the depth of chest between the front legs, and because of this the chest curves back too sharply and the prosternum is not evident. The Boxer needs depth of chest for HEART ROOM and the tendency for longer legs and shallower chests defeats this purpose.
Upright shoulder blades:	The shoulder blade angle should be approx. 45 degrees from the horizontal to allow for the front legs to fully extend. Many dogs these days have shoulder blades 60 degrees from the horizontal placing the withers more forward and causing their neck to lose the smooth transition from neck to back, making the angle too abrupt. Occasionally wrinkles appear over this area if the Boxer also has width between the blades.
Straight upper arms:	Again in the attempt to achieve "elegance" the breeders are breeding dogs that have more open angles and are straight in upper arm without the necessary angle of 90 - 110 degrees at the point of shoulder. This restricts the movement of the dog and creates a high stepping gait. Particularly if he is well angled in the rear.
Flat feet:	Feet are not a matter of environment but are a hereditary gene. No amount of roadwork can correct bad feet. They must be bred for! Roadwork will help if the dog has been debilitated and good feet have gone down.
Too long in loin:	Many dogs look square, but their loin is long. This usually is because the ribcage is too short and cuts up too sharply.
Too long in back:	Some dogs are long in loin and in back, and often you can hear owners saying "What a wonderful mover he is"! A long dog can always move better around the showring, but a long back is a weak back, and the standard calls for the Boxer to be square.
Narrow second thighs:	To balance the dog and to give him the ability to jump well, the second thigh muscles must be well-developed in width and thickness and of equal length to the first thigh.
Long rear pasterns:	A Boxer needs short rear pasterns to assist rear drive. Long rear pasterns usually go with shorter second thighs.
Shy/Nasty temperament:	It's not as common as good temperaments, but it seems to be creeping into the breed over the past few years.

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Next we will look at the HEADS.....