American or German?

rainbowkriss · #1 11th January 2011, 07:57 PM

My boxer is only 8 months old and weighs in at 50 lbs already. The vet said that she would be approximately between 90 and 110 lbs full grown, not to mention she is extremely tall. I've noticed that with other breeds, such as Rottweilers and German Shepards, when they come from German lines, are larger. Is it the same with Boxers? Is there any way that I could get a definitive answer on whether she comes form a German or American line?

LILYLARUE · #2 12th January 2011, 07:16 AM

All boxers come from German Lines.....both come in all shapes and sizes. But I have noticed that the boxer's bred in this country are bred for their size and stature, not necessarily by the standards of the breed. Plus, breeders here are much more apt to breed for profit and NOT for the betterment of the breed and keeping the lines pure.

I know here in Amish Country, boxers are often NOT standard, as they mix-breed and cross-breed between their families dogs. So, it may say AKC registered, but there is no quality control per se in the breed lines. They also lie on their AKC registration because they know those 3 little letters means more profit! Often, the sire or dam listed on their lineage is not correct. They will breed a non-standard with another non-standard and end up with a boxer that doesn't really look full-blooded, or boxerish at all. Americans seem to breed willy-nilly and often breed boxer's that NEVER should be bred at all. If we think they are cute, then "let's breed it"!

The best way to ensure you have a standard, full-blooded, traditional boxer is to deal with a reputible breeder with a long line of quality, if not, show dogs in the lineage. You probably won't find them advertising in local papers, on craigslist or any other advert publication other than breed mags or breeder literature. They don't have to advertise, their reputation upholds a long list of waiting suiters.

BxrMommieNAZ · #3 12th January 2011, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainbowkriss

My boxer is only 8 months old and weighs in at 50 lbs already. The vet said that she would be approximately between 90 and 110 lbs full grown, not to mention she is extremely tall. I've noticed that with other breeds, such as Rottweilers and German Shepards, when they come from German lines, are larger. Is it the same with Boxers? Is there any way that I could get a definitive answer on whether she comes form a German or American line?

If the only thing they're going off of is weight now that's a silly statement for a vet to make IMO. My boy was 50 pounds at 6 months old and now at 3 1/2 years is only 67 pounds...my vet had estimated he's be 80-ish and obviously that was WAY off. Quite honestly if your pup is 60 pounds at 8 months I highly doubt that she will be anywhere between 90 and 110 unless she's severely overweight. Yes they do fill out a bit after a year, but certainly not 40+ pounds worth. You may see 60-65 pounds full grown but personally I doubt too much more than 65. JMHO.

Caney Creek · #4 12th January 2011, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainbowkriss

Is there any way that I could get a definitive answer on whether she comes form a German or American line?

Easy -- if she's AKC registered then just look at her pedigree. If you weren't told anything by the breeder about her ancestors being imported, then odds are that she's from American lines... however as LilyLarue stated ALL boxers are originally from Germany if you trace it back that far.

And, I'll go out on a limb and say that your vet is not right

If she's 50 lbs at 8 months I HIGHLY doubt she will get to be 90-110 lbs. My female Caney weighed 55 lbs at 9 months old (when she was spayed) and she's now ~63 lbs and almost 4 years old.

Also NOT true that dogs from German lines are larger... in fact it's more likely to be the opposite. Read this post by gmacleod:
North American vs. European boxers
And if you care to read the entire thread containing that post, see it here:
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/can...all-boxer.html

Vets really are not trained on the ethics of breeding and breed standards. It's more likely that what your vet told you is simply based on what he's been told by his other clients who come in with particularly large dogs and claim them to be from "German lines." That's actually something that's pretty common here in the US with backyard breeders -- advertising dogs that are much larger than standard for their breed, and claiming that they are from European lines. I see a lot of boxer BYBs that advertise puppies from "German lines" and claim that some of their breeding dogs are European imports. What tips me off that they are BYBs is that they are breeding incredibly large dogs, boasting that their "boxers" from German lines grow to be 90-120 lbs, which is far from the breed standard... not what a boxer is supposed to be. Whether their dogs are truly imported or not (or if so, from where) I don't know, but if they are imported I would tend to think that they are imported from some other BYB in Europe. After all just because a dog is imported doesn't mean that it's well bred.

rainbowkriss · #5 12th January 2011, 11:54 AM

Both of bella's parents exceeded 70 lbs. I thought she was going to stay on the smaller side, because she was the runt, but she outweighs the one sibling that I still have contact with the owner.

BxrMommieNAZ · #6 12th January 2011, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainbowkriss

Both of bella's parents exceeded 70 lbs. I thought she was going to stay on the smaller side, because she was the runt, but she outweighs the one sibling that I still have contact with the owner.

My boy's dad was over 80 pounds and mom was in the 70's he was also the biggest pup out of 4...he still only weighs 67 at 3 1/2 years old. Parents can help but they're not the only deciding factor. Again I doubt she'll get much more than 65 (some people really want huge boxers and are disappointed when they don't reach that 80+ pound range so just being honest here), however that's on the larger end for breed standard for a female so she's still a bigger female Boxer.

rainbowkriss · #7 12th January 2011, 02:03 PM

I won't be disappointed. I didnt get bella because I wanted a big boxer, I got her because I wanted a companion.

AsiaGem · #8 22nd January 2011, 12:37 PM

I am a new Boxer mommy. Asia is an America Breed and from what I understand America breeds are smaller than German. My breeder gave me this link to inform myself on the different standards. It clearly distinguishes between the breeds.
I hope this helps.

BOXERS AROUND THE WORLD

Caney Creek · #9 22nd January 2011, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AsiaGem

I am a new Boxer mommy. Asia is an America Breed and from what I understand America breeds are smaller than German. My breeder gave me this link to inform myself on the different standards. It clearly distinguishes between the breeds.
I hope this helps.

BOXERS AROUND THE WORLD

Actually they are ALL the same breed

All are boxers. And, generally boxers in America are larger than those in Europe (which would include Germany).

Read through this post:
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/can...all-boxer.html