Advice on puppy buying please :)

Me and the OH have agreed on getting a Boxer puppy once we have moved into our new house (in an apartment at the moment but it's going up for sale in the next few weeks).

We were originally getting a SBT but due to both our families disagreement on the breed and the fact we would have to take the puppy to my family members house's quite a lot we wouldn't be able to take a SBT with us and we don't think that's fair.

I wanted to ask though when looking at boxer puppies for sale i don't see health tests mentioned anywhere. I was wondering what health tests does a boxer need and what should i be looking out for when buying a boxer?

We have had three boxers before in the family but we didn't really have knowledge on the breed when we bought them (regarding health tests ect) so on getting my own i want to make sure i get the right puppy and i am willing to wait until the right one comes along.

We also would like to get a second puppy once the boxer puppy is fully house trained and we were thinking a Rottweiler, could i ask about what health tests would be needed for a Rottweiler as well please?

And what would people suggest would be a good age before introducing a second puppy? I've always wanted more than one and i would like my boxer to have company as soon as possible but i want to make sure my boxer is fully trained before bringing in another puppy to train

Any information you have for me would be really appreciated!
Thank you

I would suggest contacting one of these boxer clubs and also the KC site for breeders in the area.

Below is a link to all the Boxer clubs in the UK. They are best to advise on good breeders and will let you know who has pups now or expected.

http://www.ukboxerdogs.co.uk/clubs.html

Have a look at the boxer breed council site they have a list of dogs and bitches that have been tested for Aortic Stenosis.. They had a list of known cardiomyopathy lines too ... Their are a few boxer breeders on here i am sure they will be able to advice on other things to look for better than I. .. Good luck with your search.. Murf..

Firstly, have you considered a rescue? There are loads of Boxers in rescue around the NW.

http://nrboxerrescue.co.uk/
http://www.boxerrescueliverpool.webs.com/

Anyway, all Boxers being bred from should be heart-tested:
Boxer Health as a matter of course. You want to see the certificates of the parents - don't take anyones word for it. Of course, a puppy from clear-tested parents can have a heart problem, but that's just par for the course.

You'll get loads of information from:
Boxer Breed Council
The British Boxer Club
The Northern Boxer Club

Boxers are a slow-maturing breed, and even at 3 or 4 are just large puppies. We got our second Boxer pup when our eldest was 2. Max just regressed to being a baby again! I'd say, providing your training and everything was working well, around 3 years old would be fine to introduce another dog. They play fairly rough, so you'd probably need a fairly roughty-toughty breed anyway!

Love Boxers, wouldn't own one, but my granddad had them for many years. Going through the breed clubs is the best idea & also be prepared to wait for the right one.

As for getting another puppy as soon as the other one is house trained no no no no no please do not do that, you really need around 18 months to 2 years between puppies, this allows for your first dog to be fully mature & trained up before you get another puppy. Puppies need masses of socialisation & patience to ensure that they grown up to be a"well rounded"dog & having two dogs close in age doesn't allow for this even if you are very experienced.

Whilst you are looking & waiting for your puppy, make sure you find a good dog training club that uses motivational training methods before your puppy arrives, pop in to local clubs to see what they are like before committing yourselves.

I notice in your profile you say that you are plnanning to breed from your dog, please make sure that you tell the breeder of your puppy this, you will need to buy the very best bitch you can afford to buy if you are planning on breeding & ideally she will have a whole pedigree of fully health tested dogs, anything less is not acceptable. Breeding isn't for the fainthearted nor is is something that everyone who owns an entire bitch or dog has to do. Dog breeding should be viewed as a privilege & done only to improve the breed & not just because owners think they should be able to do by right.

Thank you i'm going to look at them and hopefully get all the information i need

Thank you, i'll have a look!

Thank you i'll have a look at those sites and we have considered a rescue for the future but for our first dog we would prefer to go to a breeder and get a puppy as we know where it's come from that it's health tested and can meet the parents ect... But when i have a bit more experience with dogs i will rescue!

Yeah we had two boxer puppies at one point (brothers) what an exciting time that was! We probably will wait a while in between knowing how much hard work puppies are my OH having no experience with dogs himself he may want to wait a very long time before getting another puppy haha.
And yes i'd definatly want a Rottweiler as my second dog so i'm sure he could put up with a playful 2/3 year old boxer

I've always loved Boxers, we've had 3 in the family... two at once (brothers) so i also know raising two puppies can be tough but i also liked the fact they were like best friends and did everything together and when we left them alone they always had compnay and someone to play with I think we would end up with the first and only when we thought we could take on another puppy and when the boxer is as you said turning into a well rounded dog would we get a rottweiler.

And yes once we've been to see a litter of puppies and have put our name down we will start looking for a good training class we can take him too! We would probably go and see if we can sit in on a few lessons from different places to make sure we picked the right place before taking him!

And regards to breeding i meant in the future i know i am nowhere near ready to breed but it is something i would like to have the privilege (as you so rightly put it) to do at some point in my life. When the time came i would make sure i found a breeder who i knew would produce outstanding puppies and would obviously obtain the breeders consent before buying a bitch with the intention of maybe breeding in the future.
I would then only breed from her no matter how much i paid for her if she was a fantastic example of the breed, did well in the show ring/agility (which i would love to do with my dogs) had 10/10 for temperment, passed all health tests, i had a lot of interest in a puppy from her and already had a waiting list if i did breed from her (all potential homes would be vetted before the bitch was even mated), make sure i found a stud dog that had all health tests done, complimented the bitch perfectly and had a brilliant temperment. I would make sure i had enough money saved up so i could give the puppies the best start in life and also pay for any emergancy vet bills such as if the bitch needed a c-section. I would also make sure i was in a position to take back any puppies that an owner couldn't keep, i would also put restrictions on the pedigree so they could only be bred from (well registered puppies) if the puppy has past all health tests themselves and was also a great example of the breed.

Considering all this i am a very long way from breeding but being only 19 i have plently of time to learn and make sure i had all this in place before i decided to breed.

We're wanting to get a male boxer for our first puppy I'm thinking the name 'Vinnie' personally! OH wants to call him 'Royal'

The West Lancs Boxer Training Club have training classes every Monday night in Haydock. When you are ready I can let you have all the details as I don't think it would be too far away from you

The links have already been posted so wont go over them.

Regards getting a Boxer, and then a new pup, as you have had them before you will know they dotn mature till around 3 yrs old (never really) but thats a good age to go by, so personally I would not bring another pup in till Boxer boy has got to around this age.

Price wise, depending on where you buy from, you will pay around £700 for a well bred pup from health tested parents... maybe a bit less or a bit more depending on who you go to.

Good luck

Aww thank you i would appreciate that

Yeah we will probably go by that age before we get our second. OH has already said i'm bound to end up with other animals before our second pup so i'll always be busy!

And yeah we were looking at around that price, should a good breeder generally mention health tests when advertising a puppy or do they leave you to ask them? As my uncles buying a Mini Schnauzer and it wasn't advertised with health tests but they went to go and see and the breeder showed them some certificates i think showing they had been health tested? I always thought a breeder would advertise this fact? The boxers i've seen in my area usually range from £450 to £700.

One advertisement at the moment i've seen is;

The puppies with a full tail are £550. I take it this is the newest thing to charge more for in a litter? Bobtail boxers.