Animal And Company: Re: [boxer lovers] Former Mayor Injured, Husband Killed By Family Dog

Much as we love our breed, 100% trust of any dog is asking too much.
I've always maintained I expect my dogs to stand and let me do anything
-- including cutting a leg off if I want <not that I ever would!> but I
know that's expecting too much.

I found more details in the Arizona paper. They had 2 dogs fighting. ONE
of their boxers and the cocker. The husband and wife went to break it up
WHEN THE REST(4) OF THEIR DOGS JOINED IN. That's a large pack to be
worrying about. And, according to the story, the boxer fighting with the
cocker was only 40 pounds. That's one small boxer. In that situation,
any normal adult should have been able to reach down and grab that dog
by the scruff and pick him up. So, I have to question either the
veracity behind the story or if that particular boxer was the one that
attacked. I'd seen the earlier writings of that story -- and in that
early rendition, it was a Pit type that attacked. No mention in the
later story the breeds of the other dogs. Interesting to note, all four
remaining dogs were to be euthanized per the owner request. So, was it
just one boxer? The whole pack? When there are multiple dogs, the owners
absolutely positively HAVE to be the biggest, baddest Alpha in the world
-- to maintain control at all times.

I will say, back when I was showing and had a kennel full, I had two
bitches, littermates, who were kenneled together. One night, for no
explainable reason, after 5 years together, Imp decided Jaime HAD rto
die. I heard the commotion and went to break it up -- and did manage to
pull Imp off the first time but not keep her off. I popped the run to my
Alpha Male and VENNIE explained in detail to Imp why she couldn't
continue. Jaime had to be kept away from Imp until they died. I couldn't
even walk them, with a friend, on lead near each other. I think I did
not have as much control immediately with the dogs because they were
more kennel than close up companion.

And my first two boxers were a mother/daughter combo. The Duchess (mom
and my first boxer) started attacking GiGi (the daughter). One day when
I was about 10 they got together and started fighting. I reached in to
stop it -- and one of them barely scratched me with a tooth. BOTH of
them hit the ground, belly down and cowering. Neither had ever had more
than a newspaper swat. However, the idea they had laid tooth to an Alpha
was enough to put the fear into them. There were words and scuff ups
after that -- but no more down and dirty fighting.

A boxer with an injury or a tumor can be unpredictable. Neighbors had 2
boxers at one time (father and son), only 1 when I moved in across the
street. Their dogs were allowed to roam and also disappeared a couple of
times for extended periods. Appearance was someone had possibly chained
them up and perhaps abused them to make "mean" watch dogs. The last time
this happened, the son came home, alone, badly beaten. Had he been mine,
with what happened with him, I would have had him put down. You could
literally watch his eyes and see him "go blank" at which time he became
a powder keg.

Different versions of the story had different pictures. None were stated
as being "The Dog" -- all were file photos and the two main ones were
NOT good examples of boxers. Who knows where they found those pictures.

LisaW

Jeanne wrote:
> Although this story is extremely tragic and very unsettling,
> I am still a firm believer that there are no bad dogs - just people
> who are not responsible in the way they treat and train their dogs.
> Dogs of certain/most large breeds require firm but loving and
> responsible training and proper discipline - just as our children
> require proper discipline to grow up to be responsible adults.
> Too many people appear to go beyond loving their dogs , to
> 'destroying' them by not teaching them properly */for the specific
> breed./*
> I love our Dogs with a passion equal to a parent's love for a child
> (and yes, I am a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother) -- but
> along with that love, I also love them enough to teach them in a
> responsible manner, what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.
> And if that 'shadowy figure' in the email is "the dog" - then it is
> NOT a Boxer - possibly a Boxer cross? or perhaps NOT the dog that the
> article refers to???
> Jeanne
> WildThyme Boxers
>