White Boxer Dogs: Returning from the Shadows

While searching for a Boxer dog, you may have been warned not to get a white one. If so, it’s because white boxer dogs have long been considered second-class members of the boxer breed. Why?

Until 1925, European breeders considered white boxer dogs to be equal to their colored relatives. Boxer dogs, due to their intelligence, strength, and bravery, were used during World War I as guard dogs on the German front.

They performed so well that after the war the German Boxer Club started an effort to have boxers recognized as police dogs by the German government. They were successful, and in 1925, Boxers became official working police dogs for the Bavarian police force.

But there was a catch, and it doomed the white boxer dogs. Any boxer whose coat had significant white markings was too conspicuous at night and therefore not suitable for police work. Therefore, the Bavarian police refused to register white boxers (those more than one-third white) as official police dogs, and from then until 2004, white boxers were excluded from registration under any of the breed standards. boxer of the world

The decision of the Bavarian police to exclude white Boxer dogs from police work was justifiable and forced many breeders who supplied Boxers as police animals to euthanize the white puppies from their litters, so that the others would get a larger share of the animals. . breast milk and care But the reason for the sacrifice seems to have been lost to history.

Since then, kennel clubs have attributed their decision to exclude white boxers to a predisposition to health defects associated with the white boxer dog. But the only health defect associated with excessive white pigmentation, in both dogs and cats, is deafness.

And among dogs, white color-associated deafness has been scientifically linked only to Dalmatians who carry an extreme piebald gene; other breeds, including boxers, have been treated with the same brush. Deafness occurs when insufficient pigmentation of the inner ear causes auditory nerve cells to die. But the American Boxer Club never conducted its own studies on White Boxer dogs, which carry a double dose of the same gene, to determine if it affects them in the same way.

The ABC, on the other hand, prohibited in its Code of Ethics the registration, sale or placement of white boxers. Breeders could euthanize their white boxers or keep them. And the Code didn’t change until 1985, when the ABC relented and allowed White Boxer dogs to be placed, but still prohibited their registration or breeding.

And while there have been no official studies to support claims that white boxers are susceptible to more health problems than colored boxers, Hawkleigh Boxers of Australia conducted a private survey of breeders who indicated that their white boxers actually they had fewer health problems.

White Boxer dogs, according to surveyed breeders, experienced more deafness and sunburn, but were less likely to suffer from digestive problems, skin diseases and tumors, and spinal disorders. But the American Boxer club’s lack of interest in checking for any health problems with the white Boxer dog remains puzzling.

The ABC, in 2004, relented somewhat and changed its Code of Ethics to allow breeders to offer limited AKC registration and refundable spay/neuter deposits, and to collect medical expenses directly associated with their white boxer puppies.

But these beautiful, intelligent and affectionate white Boxers, who offer the best characteristics of their breed, are still a long way from overcoming the unfair stigma placed on them because their police dog ancestors were too easy to see in the dark.