Teach Your Boxer Dog Tricks

Boxer Dogs are born clowns, with strong, agile builds.

Boxer Dogs love to please, and enjoy learning and performing tricks that stimulate their mental and physical capabilities. Consider your Boxer Dog a life long learner, and take advantage of trick training as a way to keep your dog from inventing its own tricks to play on you!

Like other types of training, trick training requires a great deal of patience, and frequent and lavish rewards for the right behaviors. Boxer Dogs sometimes lose focus or become bored with tasks they find uninteresting. It helps to chose tricks your Boxer Dog will find fun to perform. Teach the focus command prior to trick training, as well as basic obedience skills the tricks are based on. Train only one trick at a time, starting with easy ones, and pace your training to your Boxer Dogss learning pace.

Shake hands, dance, and fetch are easy beginner tricks particularly suited to Boxer Dogs. They will help build up your Boxer Dogs confidence and skill quickly. Once they are mastered, look for other ways to combine and modify these basic fundamentals into more complex tricks.

To teach your Boxer Dog to shake hands, begin in the sit position and get its attention with the focus command. Gently pick up your Boxer Dogs paw with one hand while giving a treat with the other. Praise lavishly whenever your Boxer Dog raises its paw on command and receives its treat. Repeat, and see how fast your Boxer Dog learns! Try teaching your Boxer Dog to wave and hide it's face with its paw once shake hands is mastered. You can even train your Boxer Dog to turn light switches on and off with the same basic technique.

Dance is a simple trick based on the sit position. Begin by holding a treat above your Boxer Dog's nose until it jumps up on its hind legs. Say dance, and give the toy to the dog while gently taking hold of its front legs. dance together with your Boxer Dog at first, guiding it by holding its front legs while it stands balanced on its rear ones. Do not pull or force your dog to stay in the standing position, simply reward the behavior as it occurs naturally. Eventually, see if your Boxer Dog can perform the trick on its own. Then, try teaching beg by encouraging your Boxer Dog to sit while you support its front legs.

Fetch is best trained initially on a long lead. Once focused, toss your Boxer Dogs favorite toy a few feet away. Say fetch while your dog runs or jumps to the toy. Praise it after the toy is picked up, then once again when your Boxer Dog brings it to you for further play. Wait for the toy to be dropped, and praise and reward once again. Once fetch is accomplished, you can move on to frisbee, as well as teaching your Boxer Dog to play Hide and Seek with specific toys it can learn to identify by name.

Using Commands Training For Your Boxer Dog

Even though Boxer Dogs are unique among dog breeds for a lot of reasons, obedience commands are still the smart place to start their training.

The main goal of obedience training is to teach your Boxer Dog to respond to simple commands like sit, down, stay, heel, and come. You should begin obedience training in a young dog or beginners training class, but practice and reinforce at home.

Its smart to start training at around 8 weeks old if you have a new puppy. Start with the simple commands and work up to the harder ones. Once your Boxer dog has sit and down mastered, add stay, then heel, and finally, come. Training periods should be short in length, but frequent. Two or three 5 to 10 minute sessions a day are better than one 30 minute session every two days. Boxers are easily bored and distracted, and you want to make training fun, not a chore. Have training sessions when your Boxer is somewhat tired and a little hungry, such as in between meals and after play sessions. Boxers that are wound up or have a full belly are much less likely to pay attention.

No matter what command you are training, the basic steps are the same. Get your Boxer to focus on you, say its name, and then speak the command. Next, entice or gently guide it into the position of whatever command you are training. Reward the position with praise and treats immediately, and repeat the process. Look for opportunities throughout the day for your Boxer to practice and show off the learned behavior, and reward it every time.

When speaking your Boxer Dogs name and commands, be sure to use a friendly, calm tone of voice, and be very gentle when you are guiding your Boxer into position. If you become impatient, or your Boxer begins to struggle with you, end the training session. You should never use obedience commands in conjunction with or as a means of punishment, even if you are using them stop undesirable behavior.

Some Boxer dog owners train Off and on in conjunction with the five basic obedience commands, but use them sparingly. Boxer Dogs love to jump on everything, and a Boxer wouldn't be a Boxer Dog if it wasn't somewhat mischievous! Be wary of focusing too much attention on what your Boxer dog does wrong. Boxer dogs are independent thinkers, and they tend to block out reprimands given too often, or do what they want regardless of them. Reprimanding is a form of positive reinforcement, just as giving praise is. Your Boxer Dog will learn that it gets what it craves your attention - for the wrong behavior. A much better approach is to end the undesirable behavior by replacing it with a desirable one, and rewarding the replacement behavior.

Once they are learned, be sure to practice obedience commands with your Boxer Dog in a many places, with increasing levels of distraction. Use them to help socialize your Boxer Dog, and as a tool that lets it to enjoy more freedom.

Play Time For Your Boxer Dog

Play time should be a fun opportunity to train your Boxer appropriate behavior, and an opportunity to increase your dog's level of trust and respect for you as a leader.

Boxers are extremely playful, strong willed, independent thinkers, and unchecked dominance allowed during inappropriate play can make control and socialization difficult.

Play helps puppies develop important skills (such as hunting and fighting techniques) through practice, and it also affects their social development. Play between puppies is often rough and uncontrolled, and at times escalates to competitive aggression. Litter mates pull on each others tails and paws, bite ears, chase and pounce on one another, wrestle, bark and growl. All the while, they are learning how powerful they are, and where they rank in comparison to other members of their pack. By eight weeks old, when puppies are commonly separated from their siblings and introduced to their new homes, they already have an understanding of pack dynamics and ideas about how to elevate their social standing.

Your main goal in training appropriate play should be control of aggressive behavior and proper channeling of your Boxer's energy and intelligence. Never use play to reinforce your authority through hard-handed domination in competitive games! Instead, strive to keep your Boxer's attention focused on you as a leader and instigator of fun games, and a source of rewards for appropriate play behavior.

Avoid games that resemble boxing. Never encourage or allow your Boxer to play with hands, feet, or clothing, no matter how young your puppy might be or how harmless this may seem. Do not encourage your Boxer to jump on or at you, and avoid chasing and wrestling games. All of these arouse your Boxer's natural, aggressive instincts, and invite it to threaten your authority.

Boxers are comedians, and with their owners encouragement, they learn to discover and invent games themselves. Rules established during appropriate play training encourage your Boxer to use its intelligence and natural curiosity to invent fun, safe, stimulating games you both can enjoy. Controlled play should be goal oriented and allow your Boxer plenty of opportunities to earn your praise. Teaching your Boxer to fetch, playing hide and seek with toys, and practicing tricks are all examples of constructive, appropriate play. Avoid teasing your Boxer, as it will likely become frustrated very quickly and turn its attention away from you. Remember to offer treats and praise whenever your Boxer plays appropriately, even if this involves nothing more than bouncing a ball by itself or running after a toy you have thrown.

4 Things Frustrated Boxer Dog Owners Should Know

You've probably had a day or two when you felt like your dog just wasn't paying any attention to you at all, right? You talked, you yelled, you shouted, maybe you jumped up and down and waved your arms, but she just wasn't interested in anything you had to say to her in any tone of voice. You're not alone. Most boxer owners know that boxer dog communication can become very challenging at times.

1. Your boxer dog isn't human. Unless you believe in pet psychics, there's really no way for you to read your pooch's mind and figure out exactly what she's thinking. The good news is that, like many dog owners, the problems you're having can probably be traced to one simple thing: you're trying to communicate with your dog from a human standpoint, and your dog isn't a human. Sure, you know that, but lots of humans try to relate with their dogs in the ways that they think are rational as humans. The problem is that dogs are driven in every act and every moment by very strong instincts. Deciphering those instincts and leveraging them to build a productive relationship is like finding the keys to the city.



2. Your boxer dog communication doesn't include the ability to speak English. Take the word "no," for example. Does your dog speak English? Not understand English. Does she speak it? What's meaningful to her is your tone of voice, not the word itself. Now let's think about that - we're taking up excess time trying to teach our dog a word she'll never speak and that probably doesn't mean much to her anyway. Sure, it's meaningful to us, but that's only one side of the equation. What about something that's meaningful to both human and dog?



3. You know what a growl means, and your dog knows what a growl means. If you think that mutually meaningful language doesn't exist, you're not thinking creatively enough. What does it say to you when a dog growls at you? Anything from "get away from my food" to "back off, dude," right? Yet in every case, a dog's growl typically means that she is not happy with whatever you've done. And you've seen dogs react to other dogs' growls, right? So you know what a growl means, and your dog knows what a growl means. Where's the disconnect? Growl at your dog!
   
   No, seriously. The next time your boxer starts stepping outside her bounds or doing something you don't like, growl at her. A nice, strong, guttural growl that would put the alpha wolf in a pack to shame. While you're growling, look directly into her eyes. You're almost guaranteed that she'll back off.



4. Instincts save time and communicate effectively. See that? You worked with her instinct and the information hardwired into her brain, and the result was instantaneous: person-boxer dog communication extraordinaire! Why spend tons of time trying to work against that instinct and end up frustrated, angry, and still miscommunications? This approach works in everything from basic discipline to full-on obedience training. You just need to figure out how to apply it in each of those situations.

Boxer Dog Facts

Pronunciation
Boxer

Description
The Boxer's body is compact and powerful and the shiny, close-fitting coat comes in fawn, brindle, white and various shades of red, with white markings. White Boxers cannot be registered with some Kennel Clubs. The tail is usually docked. Ear cropping is optional. (Docking and cropping is illegal in some countries.) Its head should be in proportion to its body, lean and unwrinkled. Its lower jaw extends beyond its upper one, curving upward. Neither teeth nor tongue are to show when the mouth is closed. The nose is large and black with very open nostrils. Eyes dark. The neck should be round, strong, and muscular, without dewlap. The body should be square. The tail is carried high. Its front legs should be straight and parallel.

Temperament
The Boxer is happy, high-spirited, playful, curious and energetic. Highly intelligent, eager and quick to learn, but can be stubborn and sneaky. The Boxer is a good dog for competitive obedience. Constantly on the move, bonding very closely with the family. Loyal and affectionate, Boxers are known for the way they get along so well with children. A well brought-up and properly socialized Boxer will also get along with his own kind and other household pets. However one Boxer owner reported; their Boxer is best friends with their many barn cats and second dog, but will chase and eat their ducks and other farm birds. The female boxer will often get into fights with other female dogs, trying to display her dominance. If one owns a female boxer and another female dog, they will get along and even play most of the time, however they will most likely fight from time to time. It has been said that the name Boxer came from the way the Boxer likes to use is front paws for just about everything. If you have ever watched a Boxer go about his business you may have noticed the way he paws at his toys, food bowl and you for that matter, in a very playful cat-like way. Some Boxers have been known to paw at their food or water bowl if they are empty. Playfully barking, pawing and playing with the bowl, flipping it upside-down and putting their front paws on the top of the bowl, sliding it around the house barking and whining until someone fills it for them. It looks like a silly game, but the Boxer knows what he is trying to tell you, he's hungry! While participating the sport of schutzhund, Boxers are known to jump up and use their front paws as if they are boxing. They are very clownish and playful and have been known to grab and carry ANYTHING around including your knickknacks if he thinks he can get away with it. The Boxer's nature is to protect you, your family, and your home. Known visitors will be welcomed boisterously. They are always keen to work and play. Boxers need lots of human companionship. They can be rather boisterous and even in old age are still extremely athletic. Teach the Boxer not to be boisterous and especially not to jump up at people. Boxers LOVE to jump. This breed is noted for courage and makes great guard dogs. Boxers have a wide use in military and police work. Training should start young and be firm and consistent. This breed requires a dominant owner. An excellent watchdog, the Boxer will restrain an intruder in the same way a Bulldog does.

Height, Weight
Height: Dogs 22-25 inches (56-63 cm.) Bitches 21-24 inches (53-61 cm)
Weight: Dog 60-70 pounds (27-32 kg.) Bitches 53-65 pounds (24-29 kg.)

Health Problems
Some major concerns are cardiomyopathy and other heart problems, sub-aortic stenosis, and thyroid. Can be prone to skin allergies. Sometimes prone to epilepsy and hip dysplasia. From age eight on they are more likely to get tumors than other breeds. Tendency for allergies. These dogs may drool and snore. May have excessive flatulence. Some white Boxers are prone to deafness.

Living Conditions
Boxers will do okay in an apartment if sufficiently exercised. They are fairly active indoors and do best with at least an average-sized yard. Boxers do best in temperate climates as the breed can chill easily in cold weather and have trouble cooling off in very hot weather.

Exercise
An active, athletic breed, Boxers need daily work or exercise, as well as a long brisk, daily walk. They also enjoy fetching a ball or other sessions of play.

Life Expectancy
About 11-14 years

Litter Size
2 - 10 puppies - Average 6
Grooming
The Boxer's smooth, short-haired coat is easy to groom. Brush with a firm bristle brush, and bathe only when necessary, for it removes the natural oils from the skin. Boxers are very clean and groom themselves like cats. This breed is an average shedder.
Origin
The Boxer's ancestors were two German mastiff type dogs, the Bullenbeiszer and the Barenbeiszer. They were later crossed with the powerful ancestors of the Mastiff and Bulldog. Early on, these dogs were prized for hunting, bull baiting, and for pulling carts. A bit farther down the family tree, Boxer ancestors became cattle dogs, and were used to round up livestock. They were also popular circus and theater dogs because they learned tricks so easily. Breeding was rather indiscriminate until the first Boxer studbook was started in 1904, stabilizing the breed standard. In spite of its German origins, "Boxer" is an English name that suitably describes the dog's punchy fighting style. Though early Boxers may have been quite ferocious, the breed today is a very gentle, loving family companion. Some of the Boxer's talents are watchdogging, guarding, police work, military work, search & rescue, competitive obedience, schutzhund and performing tricks. Breeders are breeding two types of Boxers, the German Boxer and the American Boxer. The German Boxers have bigger heads and are generally more muscular than American Boxers.

Group
Mastiff, AKC Working