Pure German Lines

[Weissennord]

I have noticed that many German boxers are not from pure German lines. I find this very unusual because you do not see this with other breeds such as the rottweiler. There is a large amount of Italian blood in the German boxers. Does anyone know why this is and when it started to occur? Did it have something to do with tail docking or heart certification?

[gmacleod]

LOL - I'd say it started to occur a few hundred years before the boxer breed became recognised as a breed The boxer is considered to be a German breed largely because it was developed by German breeders. But it was developed from Belgian and French dogs. For example, the primary recognised ancestor of the boxer is the Brabant bullenbeiser. But Brabant isn't actually in Germany It is an area of Belgium.

Italy is not so far away either, and they have some very nice dogs there. It's no great surprise to see mixing of bloodlines - it has always been the case to some degree. Personally, I doubt it has a thing to do with tail docking or heart certification. The requirements in Germany are high, and they're not changed by place of birth (meaning if a dog doesn't pass the breed inspectors, it doesn't pass and won't be bred in Germany - doesn't matter where it came from).

[Weissennord]

I realize heart certification has to be done for a breeding takes place but thought that maybe dogs in Italy had less of a population with heart problems.

Back in the 80's when I did a bit of research on the breed there were a lot of pure German lines. They seem more mixed now days. Perhaps it is just the dogs I checked out.

[JulieM]

I would hope this is a testament to the breeders, who realize that bringing in bloodlines from other countries will help expand the gene pool and help keep the regional 'styles' from becoming extremes and set in the breed in that country.

[Weissennord]

Yes I agree that genetic diversity is good for pure breeds. For example, the German rottweiler club had an opportunity to open up their gene pool to more lines when the wall came down. They did not allow many of the former DDR dogs into their registry mostly due to eye shade/colour.

Germans are proud of their breeds and do not normally go to other countries to pups use studs. If you go to many German boxer sites you will see dogs that were born in the late 90's and early part of this decade with cropped ears and docked tails. These dogs were born after the docking ban came into place in Germany. I think some German breeders imported dogs from countries where docking and cropping were still allowed after this ban came into place in Germany. These dogs have since been used in various breeding programs. This is the reason I believe you see many Italian, along with some other countries such as France and The Netherlands, lines in the pedigrees of many German dogs.