White Boxers - The Facts
If we could have £1.00 for every person that has said to us "oh no, I don't want a white boxer, they are (a) runts (b) unhealthy (c) mean (d) deaf (e) albinos (f) not proper boxers" then we would never need to fundraise again!
So why the general idea that there is something wrong with white boxers? Well it has a lot to do with the fact that white boxers are not recognised by the Kennel Club. KC breed standard for the boxer colour is: Fawn or brindle. White markings acceptable not exceeding one-third of ground colour. Fawn: Various shades from dark deer red to light fawn. Brindle: Black stripes on previously described fawn shades, running parallel to ribs all over body. Stripes contrast distinctly to ground colour, neither too close not too thinly dispersed. Ground colour clear, not intermingling with stripes.
No mention of white boxers, other than to say white markings are acceptable, as long as they are no more than 1/3 of the main colour.
The Scottish Boxer Club Code of Conduct states: White puppies should be sold without Registration or Pedigree document.
Whilst looking through the internet for some information on white boxers, I came across this article from Dog Today in Feb 2007. The first paragraph brought tears to my eyes and, sadly, sums up the plight of white boxers, even to this day.
"Viewing of newborn Boxer
pups just a couple of months ago, a
potential owner noticed that one pup
was away from the rest of the litter.
She asked why the pup was separate
and if it was okay. The breeder replied,
“It’ll live or die - it depends whether it
can get over there,” nodding to where
the dam was, with the rest of her
pups. Why had the breeder been so
uncaring towards the defenceless
puppy? Because it was white. Full article
Now let's take a step back in time and try and understand what happened to make white boxers so persecuted. In 1896 with the German Boxer Klub was formally organized and a breed standard was described to help define what the Boxer should look like. In the majority of pictures from this eras of the breed the Boxer is shown white in color.
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Boxer lovers at the first Deutscher Boxer Club show March 1896 |
Boxers at the first Boxer exhibition, Munich 1895 |
Here are some of the first boxers
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| Alt's Schecken No.50 Nov 1893 | Flock St Salvator No.14 1894 |
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| Ch. Blanka Von Angertor No.4 1895 | Piccolo Von Angertor No.17 1897 |
In 1925 the white Boxer was no longer accepted as a proper colour for the breed. Most believe the reasoning for this change is that, if the Boxer was to be used for police work, it would need to be of a darker color as to not be seen at night and hence the white boxer was bred out and the death warrant of white boxers was signed.
By the early 1930's boxers were being introduced to the UK and by and by 1938 a breed standard, compiled jointly by American Boxer expert Jack Wagner and the German Philipp Stockmann (von Dom), was available, prior to its acceptance by the Kennel Club. This, of course, referred to white boxers as not being breed standard.
So are all white boxers rare, blind, deaf, albino or mean? The answer is an empthatic no!
- Are they rare: It is estimated that around 20 - 25% of all boxers are born white, so that rules out rare.
- Are they deaf: Yes, some white boxers are born deaf, but this is said to be less than 18% of all white boxers, so not all white boxers are deaf.
- Are they blind: Well there is no proof that white boxers are more likely to be blind than any other colour.
- Are they albino: Albino dogs do not have any pigment and white boxers just have more white hair, so no.
- Are they mean: Why would a boxer's temperment have anything to do with the colour of it's hair?
There is plenty of information on the internet if you want to find out more about white boxers, but it all boils down to one point - white boxers are no different to all the other coloured boxers and should be treated the same and loved just as much. Therefore, no white boxer should be turned down for adoption based soley on its colour.
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