The Boxer Dog And His Forbears

It was in the far distant past,almost 3.000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ...

In those days packs of dogs were used in battles by the Assyrians. Those dogs were the forebears of the Boxer Dog as we know him today.

They were taller but otherwise they had the characteristics of todays Boxer Dog.

They were a hunting dog, they hunted the bison, the bear and the other wild animals that were around in those days, such as the boars.

Those dogs were called Beisser Dogs(biters) and it was the time before breeds as we now know them.

They were in abundance all over Eastern Europe and it is probable that they were used in medieval Europe for hunting the wild oxen.

The forests of Europe were full of wild boar,bison and bears. The need for tough dogs began then.

The Bulldog was the original Boxer, he was affectionally called daddy,

he wandered around old England in places like the Black Country where he was used for bear and boar hunting, and mainly bull-baiting for centuries.

English Bulldog Named Tom

The Bulldog was an old English breed . It was in the 1890's when an English Bulldog named Tom lived with his master Dr. Toenniesson in Munich. Tom was an English Bulldog with tall legs as were the bulldogs from England of that century.

Tom was bred (mated) with a tall elegant dog , She was named "Alt's Shenkin."

In Germany there were dogs who were used as escorts for horse carts, carriages and bicycles. It was from one of those tall elegant dogs who's Tom's mother "Alt's Flora," was mated with .

"Alt's Flora" was brought from France to Munich in 1887.

In 1995 at the Munich Dog Show a dog was entered, as a result of the above mating, a dog named "Flocki," the first Boxer ever to be shown. Flocki was No. 1 in the stud book.

"The English Bulldog was described as 'another foreign breed' by the Germans (John Woodward 1937) But not so foreign when you know him")

So now we have the Boxer dog ,original name Bulldog. The dog that we know as the Bulldog today has undoubtedly been 'bred over' too much and is unrecognisable whereas the Boxer has retained his strong characteristics.

Anyone who searches out very old paintings/pictures of the Bulldog will agree with me because

they will be looking at a Boxer dog,usually a white one.

Just now I have found a painting of a Boar hunt it features dogs attacking a Boar these are pretty much like Boxer dogs to me. This painting was done in the period 1726-1805 by Joseph Roos Vienna-

Most of the information is from "The Boxer Handbook" by Joan Dunkels &"The Boxer" by Elizabeth Somerfield.

Books I would recommend to all Boxer owners.(above)