Introducing Sadie

[jdogg]

Greetings,

I'd like to introduce Sadie (profile picture). She is currently 9 weeks and 1 day old(main question is below introduction) I am a proud Boxer owner and am enjoying every moment (even if she is biting my feet right now Which I'm not too worried about at this point in time as telling her "Ouch!" and ignoring her seems to be working 50-60% of the time. I'm hoping she will continue to improve. Anyways, she is obviously a fawn without the cropped ears (will not have done) and a little bit of flashing going on. Her Dad is a solid fawn and her mom is all white.

I am a little concerned with her hindquarter area. However, I don't know the actual term for the part of her body that I am talking about. It's the part that is past her ribs but before her butt? Loin? I don't know and I would like answers. Is there a chart that shows the different sections of the bodies and their names? My concern is that she has the thin loins which is a defect (according to AKC)?? I could be totally wrong but I think that's what I read. I apologize for the wordy post but hopefully my profile picture will explain what I'm talking about. I know it doesn't show it in very good detail.

Also, Sadie seems to walk sideways sometimes? She tries to bit her tail but this is different from that? She like wobbles her butt? I have heard that when they walk sideways like that it means they have good genes(may have not been the word that was used) but I'm not so sure I believe that because of the source who told me.

If these questions are answered somewhere else in this forum please forgive me and lead me in the right direction to those posts.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

JD

[Caney Creek]

Originally Posted by jdogg

I am a little concerned with her hindquarter area. However, I don't know the actual term for the part of her body that I am talking about. It's the part that is past her ribs but before her butt? Loin? I don't know and I would like answers. Is there a chart that shows the different sections of the bodies and their names? My concern is that she has the thin loins which is a defect (according to AKC)??

Boxer dog anatomy:
Anatomy of a Boxer
Loin sounds right to me. I see that the American standard for boxers does denote "long or narrow loin" to be a fault, but I wouldn't be the least bit concerned about this if I were you. Firstly, a fault is not a "defect" but more like an imperfection, yet not a serious enough imperfection to be a disqualification. Even dogs that you see prancing around the show ring on TV have some faults; if they didn't they would have to be perfect, and that kind of perfection simply doesn't exist. Secondly, your dog is still a puppy, and boxer puppies tend to be very skinny anyways. Furthermore, even if she were to stay skinny and keep these conformational faults into adulthood, it shouldn't make a difference if you are not going to breed her. She will still make a wonderful pet no matter how physically "imperfect" she is. And BTW, I think she is stinkin cute!
Australian Boxer Standard

Originally Posted by jdogg

Also, Sadie seems to walk sideways sometimes? She tries to bit her tail but this is different from that? She like wobbles her butt? I have heard that when they walk sideways like that it means they have good genes(may have not been the word that was used) but I'm not so sure I believe that because of the source who told me.

Sounds like the boxer kidney bean to me! Boxers tend to bend like that and wiggle when they're happy. As for it being an indication of "good genes," that makes no sense to me at all, but the "wobbly butt" is definitely a boxer thing!

Originally Posted by jdogg

Her Dad is a solid fawn and her mom is all white.

This is the only part that concerns me, not that anything can be done about it now though. White boxers are not accepted in the showring because they have a higher tendency for deafness, which is hereditary, and because of that white boxers should never be bred. It's an issue of ethics. If your pup has no hearing issues now then you don't have to worry about her going deaf (that's something that would be apparent from birth), BUT if the breeder was careless enough to breed a white boxer then I would imagine he/she wouldn't have paid any other attention to the dogs' genetic health prior to breeding them. There is a long list of genetic health screening that breeders should put their dogs through prior to breeding them, to ensure that they will not produce puppies with hereditary health problems (boxers are prone to two very serious heart conditions, cardiomyopathy and aortic/sub-aortic stenosis, as well as hypothyroidism, hip dysplasia, and several other issues that you can read about in the health section of the forum). Acquiring a puppy from untested parents does not necessarily mean that it will have health issues, but the risk is much greater than if the pup's parents had been health tested and declared free of genetic disease.

[jdogg]

Thank you for the reply Caney Creek. The anatomy chart was just what I was looking for. I wasn't overly concerned as I know boxer pups are skinny but I saw a few pictures of pups on here and they didn't have them so I just wanted to make sure.

Yes! I'd agree with the kidney beaning! I read about this 'strange phenomenon" after I had made this post.

Yeah, the breeders (if you want to call them that) didn't appear to have any clue on what they were doing. I wish I would have did more thorough research on the Boxer breed because I would have definitely asked a lot more questions and in the end not purchased my boxer from them. Anyways, Sadie does not appear to be deaf and as soon as I read about the white Boxers being prone to deafness I did my own test to make sure she would respond to noises, etc. I know about the official examine given by vets but at this point in time I don't think I need to worry about that.

Regardless she is still a sweet pup and has already learned the "sit" command and likes to play fetch. I will be posting more pictures soon and making another post for info.