Yes I heard about the eye/ facial expression thing with black dogs as eyes blend in and also with poodles and dogs with a lot of hair around the eyes as they are harder to see and read for other dogs,thinking about it the poodle thing could also be as they have a customarily docked tail to varied lengths and also have a lot of hair on the tail (pom pom usually, must be very strange for another dog trying to read tail signals)

No, my dog doesn't discriminate against colour - he just discriminates against species and hates all other dogs regardless of their colour . He does seem to have a particular dislike of boxers though and a trainer told us this might be due to docked tails and other dogs not being able to read them. I don't think having had doggie disagreements with two local boxers (brothers?) helped though.

A lot of dogs seem to have a dislike of boxers. Star seems to get a lot of abuse. Rather that the lack of tail with her, it seems to do with her stance and her facial expressions which like black dogs are hard to read. Strange thing is dogs which hate Star get on with Finn and he is docked too

Boxers often have trouble from other dogs (it isnt usually them that start trouble, as I am sure boxer owners will confirm!), and I would suggest it has little or nothing to do with the length of their tail!

The construction of the Boxer is such that it has an upright stance, and apears 'up on its toes', which can be misread as threatening/aggressive. Similarly a Boxers eyes are situated more to the front of its face than many breeds, whcih confuses some dogs and is misread as aggressive because the Boxer appears to be 'staring'.

The tail is only a very small part of a dogs body language, and I would suggest that a Boxer with a tail is as likely to attract trouble from other dogs who misread their body language, than one whose tail happens to be docked.

JMHO

thandi

I had two labs, one black and one yellow, and the black (Fred) never experienced any aggressive behaviour from other dogs. However, as in the case of Willow, Fred was a complete goofball and would eagerly bound over to ANY dog he saw and push himself onto them. The yellow (Barney) never did anything like that!

It does seem to be a widely-held belief that docked breeds 'invite' aggressive responses simply because they lack tail signals. The body language of dogs is subtle and full of nuances and, as said by thandi, the tail would play but a small part in overall communication.

While respecting the opinions of others I think that it is unlikely that a docked tail will contribute to any negative reactions from others dogs. Boxers have a naturally assertive stance; they give the impression that they own the ground they walk on; their facial appearance is different; they lack the ability to 'grin' submissively; as a guarding breed they are naturally alert and watchful for trouble; sometimes their breathing may sound disconcerting; sometimes their direct look may be intimidating/challenging. Despite all this my own dogs, and most Boxers that I know, manage to get along well with all other dogs.

I can confirm the suggestion that very few Boxers will start a scrap, but very few will back down from a challenge.

When Keena was a pup, maybe 5 months old she was playing with a boxer and they were ok then the boxer really went for Keena, rolled her and pined her, growled and barked at her and wouldn't let up and it took two people to drag her off...the boxer couldn't stand the site of Keena for some reason..when you think about it they have very different appearance / expression to one another. The boxers owner couldn't understand it as she wasn't like this with other dogs...It got to where the owner and I couldn't chat when she had her with her as she couldn't get anywhere near us. Though this was probably more down to individuality rather than breed.

Takoda met with a boxer a couple weeks ago though and she was very dignified. She was alot older. She stood very straight, head up, didn't wag her tail and didn't give anything away...Takoda walked slowly to her and echoed her stance, standing equally as proud and they touched noses then he caved in a slightly and wagged his tail just a little before we left...lol I really liked how calm she was which is perfect for my dogs, the calmer the situation the calmer they are! she almost seemed to influence how he approached her, it was like they had alot of respect for one another...It was nice watching

It always sounds like a cop out when I say this but - it is hard to know exactly what is going on unless one is actually there and can take into account all aspects of the situation.

With Keena and the Boxer - young, coming up to adolecence bitch and older, 'wanna-be' confident bitch who will tolerate no cheekiness?

Takoda and experienced mature bitch, not seeking trouble & feeling she has nothing to prove?

No matter how much we think we know about our dogs they always have something more to teach us

Your right SB...and sometimes we can only try and interpret what they are thinking and why...I also think people try to humanise our dogs actions sometimes and we always have to put a reason to it but sometimes things 'just happen'.

hi there,

my boy benson was always getting attacked when he was young. he had a very dark chocolate body, and white underneath. my boy sam doesn't seem to like dark coloured dogs either. the ones he has gone for have all been dark brown!! funny eh??