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When
we see a Boxer and wish to ascertain whether
it is a good example of the Breed, we refer
to the Standard. The breed standard forms
the foundation for the existence and development
of the Boxer breed. Therefore it is the Alpha
and Omega for breeding.
The
fundamental characteristics (criteria) of
the Standard were established at the beginning
of the Boxer breed a century ago and to date
remain unchanged. Only the measurements were
increased from the initial 45-55 cm at the
withers to the present day valid measurements
of 57-63 cm for dogs and 53-59 cm for bitches.
The
breed standard is valid all over the world.
Wherever we may go, in all countries, the
Boxer is bred in accordance with the standard.
The extent to which the breeding goals are
achieved, depends on the skill of the breeder
and the substance of the breeding partners.
The
first two pictures depict Boxers, as we know
them today, with the conformation to be strived
for in good balance. The body combines substance
with elegance, hardness and well-coupled,
stability of the back, fore- and hindquarter
- the typical conformation characteristics
of the Boxer. When we speak of the typical
Boxer, it does not depend solely on the head
type. The overall appearance stamps the breed.
The head gives the finishing touch.
It
is reported that in the beginning the foundation
stock of the Boxer breed originated from the
crossing of lines, of which the origin is
unknown, of the small Bullbiter and the English
Bulldog. At this time the right Boxer type
had to be selected from among the many different
types. There were red, brindle, checks or
white, plump or slightly built, short legged
and long in body. Many had split noses. Friederun
Stockmann, the great breeder and promoter
of the breed, stressed that with the many
dogs of unknown heritage in the first breed
register, it was impossible to determine how
much Bulldog blood they carried. Of the 211
animals entered in the studbook, 46 were either
white or checks, a percentage of 21%. The
future of the Boxer should be what was envisaged
in accordance with the breed standard of 1905:
a beautiful, elegant family dog, free of all
repugnant or even fear inducing ugliness and
not what the Boxer was at that time.
Let
us compare the small Bear- or Bullbiter and
the English Bulldog. We recognize what one
required from the Bulldog to produce the Boxer
type; the well-defined stop and the slightly
turned up lower jaw, the repandous. At first
both these characteristics had to be fixed,
which resulted in tight inbreeding to a few
dogs only. With this method of breeding one
aimed to fix these characteristics quite distinctly
in the gene pool. Suddenly, however, some
peculiarities can appear which we do not desire.
As a result of the crossing of lines of unknown
origins at the beginning, we are never free
of bad surprises when inbreeding. The most
common negative appearances in the Boxer breed
are harelips, cleft palates and cryptorchidism.
From the outset to the present day these are
carried recessively in the breed.
Likewise
the steep hindquarter, present in the dog
Mühlbauers Flocki, is proving to be a
very tenacious problem of the Bulldog heritage.
Flocki has a firm place in the history of
the Boxer. Historically he is important as
he was the first Boxer in the German breed
register and in 1895 he was presented in a
trial class at a show in Munich. For the circumstances
at the time, Flocki showed very pleasing head
proportions and Boxer typical expression.
His dam was Alts Scheckin. Compared to his
sire, the white Bulldog Tönissens Tom,
Flocki had a straight front with good front
leg length. One cannot imagine the Boxer breed
at that time without Tom and even less without
Tom’s granddaughter Meta von der Passage.
It is difficult to imagine that this long
bitch with her soft back and loose forequarter
produced a number of dogs that influenced
the breed. Like her parents she was white.
Meta von der Passage is considered the foundation
bitch of all our Boxers. She became the milestone
for the future of the Boxer breed, with which
today she has only a very slight resemblance.
In
1901 Meta produced the brindle male Gigerl.
Gigerl was a relatively small dog, but he
already had a distinct head profile. As one
of the first champions in the breed he was
responsible for passing on good head type.
He also managed to reduce the number of whites
to a certain degree.
Meta’s
son Hugo v Pfalzgau produced through Curt
v Pfalzgau and a granddaughter of Ch. Gigerl,
Rolf v Vogelsberg who had a very good outline.
Rolf, was the first male who had a wither
height (shoulder height) of 58-59 cm. He was
also the first brindle Boxer who showed great
harmony between fore- and hindquarter. Rolf
from a breeding point of view was extremely
valuable. He laid the foundation for the subsequent
dominance and the world-wide renown of the
Von Dom kennel.
Arising
out of Mrs Stockmann’s report, there
were always two types. The fawn Boxer had
an iron hard body and substance, the brindle
Boxer had the typical head and greater nobility,
but also a roached back and a less angulated,
standing under hindquarter. Ch. Rolf v Vogelsberg
and his equally impressive son Ch. Rolf Walhall
were the exception in this instance. These
two males dominated the Boxer breed in Germany,
before Rolf together with his owner, Mr Philipp
Stockmann, were recruited in the First World
War. The war years were extremely difficult
for dog sport in Germany. At the end of the
war Rolf’s great opponent, the champion
of all champions, Ch. Milo v Eigelstein died.
Rolf returned at 11 years of age and shortly
before his death, he became a champion.
Moritz
v Goldrain, the son of Ch. Rolf Walhall, produced
the brindle male Cäsar v Deutenkofen
in 1921. Cäsar proved himself as a prepotent
sire. His positive influence on the breed
became apparent when at the beginning of the
1930’s one of the greatest sires of
all times, Ch Sigurd v Dom, made his appearance.
Sigurd was the grandson of a half brother/half
sister mating out of Cäsar von Deutenkofen.
Before
we get to the greatest breeding achievements,
which set the standards in the history of
the Boxer, some information from the 1920’s.
To close the great gaps arising from the First
World War, the German Studbook was opened
in 1921 for one year to Boxers of unknown
heritage. During the last three years of the
war a total of only 230 Boxers were registered.
Since 1925 white Boxers were no longer registered
as one feared deafness which at times is linked
to the colour white. In 1926 breeding from
check Boxers was banned.
In
1924 the Club reached a long desired goal.
Thanks to the work of a number of undeterred
pioneers involved in the service dog case,
the Boxer was recognized as a service dog.
As such his size was automatically adjusted
to that of the service dog breeds and was
increased to 60 cm for males. A few Boxer
friends, who attributed the Boxers popularity
and expansion firstly to the wonderful characteristics
as a family dog, were skeptical of the expansion
of the Boxer through his recognition as a
service dog. They were also concerned that
the forceful increase in the size could be
to the detriment of type. The size of the
Boxer at that time reached at most 55 cm at
the withers. The general opinion was that
the smaller and medium dogs were the better
type carriers. Mrs Stockmann also declared
that she had had very good experiences with
her smaller bitches, when these were mated
to larger males. Size should never be at the
cost of the breed type.
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