Origin and Purpose
The Boxer was developed in Germany as a medium-sized security dog. The breed is valued as a spirited pet and guardian of home and family. Developed to serve the multiple purposes of guard, working and escort dog, he must combine elegance with substance and ample power, not alone for beauty, but to ensure the speed, dexterity and jumping ability essential to arduous hiking, riding expedition, police or military duty.

General Appearance
The Boxer is a medium-sized, sturdy dog, of square build with short back, strong limbs, and short, tight-fitting coat. His musculation, well developed, should be clean, hard and appear smooth (not bulging) under taut skin His movements should denote energy. The gait is firm yet elastic (springy), the stride free and ground covering, the carriage proud and nobel. Only a body whose individual parts are built to withstand the most strenuous efforts, assembled as a complete and harmonious whole, can respond to these combined demands. Therefore, to be at his highest efficiency he must never be plump or heavy, and, while equipped for great speed, he must never be racy.

The head imparts to the Boxer a unique individual stamp peculiar to him alone. It must be in perfect proportion to his body, never small in comparison to the over-all picture. His muzzle is his most distinctive feature and the greatest value to be placed on its being of correct form and in absolute proper proportion to the skull. Faults: Head not typical, plump bull-doggy appearance, light bone, lack of balance, bad condition, lack of noble bearing. 

Size
Adult males: 22-1/2 - 25 inches (57-64 cm); females: 21-23-1/2 inches (53-60 cm) at the withers. Males should not go under the minimum, nor females over the maximum.

Coat and Colour
Coat short, shiny, lying smooth and tight to the body. The colours are fawn and brindle. Fawn in various shades from light tan to stag red or mahogany, the deeper colours preferred. The brindle coat in the Boxer is of two opposite types. The first of these includes those dogs having clearly defined dark stripes on a fawn background. The second type has what is best termed reversed brindling. Here the effect is of a very dark background with lighter-coloured fawn stripes or streaks showing through. White markings in fawn and brindle dogs are not to be rejected; in fact, they are often very attractive, but must be limited to one-third of the ground colour, and are not desirable on the back of the torso, proper. On the face, white may replace a part or all of the otherwise essential black mask. However, these white markings should be of such distribution as to enhance and not detract from the true Boxer expression.

Character and Temperament
These are of paramount importance in the Boxer. Instinctively a ?hearing? guard dog, his bearing is alert, dignified and self-assured, even at rest. His behaviour should exhibit constrained animation. His temperament is fundamentally playful, yet patient and stoical with children. Deliberate and wary with strangers, he will exhibit curiosity, but most importantly, fearless courage and tenacity if threatened. However, he responds promptly to friendly overtures when honestly rendered. His intelligence, loyal affection, and tractability to discipline make him a highly desirable companion. Faults: Lack of dignity and alertness, shyness, cowardice, treachery and viciousness (belligerency toward other dogs should not be considered viciousness).

Today's boxer is still characterized by a need for intense interaction and activity, both mental and physical. Boxers require daily walks but should not be kept outside as they not only require your companionship, but their short coat does not protect them from cold and their short nasal passage makes it difficult for them to breathe in hot weather. Boxer owners joke that boxers need temperatures between 72 - 74 degrees Fahrenheit (21-22 degrees Celsius).

Boxers are "lap dogs" despite their hefty size of about 60 pounds (27 kilograms) full grown. For this reason they and their owners will benefit from obedience classes. Boxers are very loving and will follow you from room to room, so if you are looking for a dog to lie by the couch all day, do not get a boxer! Boxers are gentle with children, but due to their size they could knock over very small children or infants by sheer accident.

Boxers are "clowns," often spinning tiny donuts when excited or wriggling on their backs, and they are extremely intelligent. For this reason they can also be stubborn on occasion. Boxers are not suited to be guard dogs, though they will bark and protect the house and family. They are not aggressive by nature. If you have property you want guarded, a surveillance system is a better idea.

If you have a family with children who are old enough to care for a family pet, and if that pet will be welcome inside the house and will get plenty of attention, exercise, and mental stimulation, then a boxer puppy may be just the breed you're looking for to make your family complete.

Aortic stenosis/sub-aortic stenosis (AS/SAS) is one of the most common heart defects occurring in boxers. Stenosis is narrowing of the aorta, right below the aortic valve, which forces the heart to work harder to supply blood. Reduced blood flow can result in fainting and even sudden death. The disease is inherited but its mode of transmission is not known at this time. Diagnosis must be made by a veterinary cardiologist, after detection of a heart murmur. Breeding dogs must be properly screened for this disease and affected dogs must not be bred from. 

Boxer cardiomyopathy is an electrical conduction disorder which causes the heart to beat erratically (to have an arrhythmia) some of the time and can result in weakness, collapse or sudden death. These arrhythmias are difficult to detect with any certainty by listening to the heart with a stethoscope, unless they are very frequent thus the first sign of the disease may be fatal. Cardiomyopathy is a genetically inheritable condition with devastating results. Because a dog cannot be cleared of cardiomyopathy by a routine veterinary examination and the disease may not show itself until after a dog reaches breeding age, it is important that all breeding stock are properly screened for this disease.
Boxer cardiomyopathy is a distinct disease from the dilated cardiomyopathy common in some other breeds. Other names for BCM are Boxer Arrythmic Cardiomyopathy (BAC), Familial Ventricular Arrhythmia (FVA) and Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC).

Hip dysplasia is an inheritable malformation of the hip joint leading to osteoarthritis. The hip joint is a ball and socket joint, where the top of the thigh bone (femur) fits into a socket in the pelvis. The bones are held in place by ligaments. Hip dysplasia occurs when the socket is poorly formed or the ligaments are loose, enabling the ball of the femur to subluxate – to slide part way out of its socket. Over time this causes degeneration of the joint (osteoarthritis) and the dog suffers pain and becomes weak and lame in the hind end. Hip dysplasia is a progressive disease, meaning that it becomes worse with time.
Hip dysplasia has polygenic inheritance, meaning it is caused by the inheritance of multiple genes. It is not yet known how many, or which genes are involved. Factors that can make the disease worse include excess weight, excess or prolonged exercise before maturity, a fast growth rate, and high-calorie or supplemented diets.

Hypothyroidism describes an inactive thyroid gland which can be responsible for such conditions as epilepsy, alopecia or hair loss, obesity, lethargy, hyperpigmentation, pyoderma and other skin conditions. While not considered life threatening, the quality of life for a dog suffering from hypothyroidism is much reduced. 

Corneal dystrophy is an inherited abnormality that affects one or more layers of the cornea. Both eyes are usually affected, although not necessarily symmetrically. Chronic or recurring shallow ulcers may result, depending on the corneal layers affected. 

Demodectic mange. The demodex mite lives on the skin of all dogs, and is passed to puppies by their dam. In healthy dogs, this mite causes no problems. However, demodectic mange can occur when a dog has a weakened or compromised immune system. The American Academy of Veterinary Dermatology passed a resolution in 1983 suggesting that all dogs that develop generalised demodex should be neutered or spayed as there is a genetic link to the development of generalised demodectic mange.
Demodectic mange can occur in localised form, which is characterised by a few spots that do not itch. These patchs usually appear on head, neck and fore limbs. Ninety percent of those puppies that develop localised demodex will heal on their own. Ten percent of those puppies will go on to have generalised demodex.

Cancer. Boxers are particularly prone to the development of mast cell tumours, lymphoma and brain tumours. White boxers, and coloured boxers with white markings should be protected from the sun as they are liable to develop skin cancer if allowed to burn. 

Bloat or Gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV) is a very serious condition that occurs when the stomach becomes distended with air, and then twists on itself while dilated. This interferes with the blood supply digestive organs, blocks the passage of food, thus leading to worse bloat. The distended stomach impedes the normal return of blood to the heart, causing a decrease in blood pressure and drastically reduced cardiac output. Blood/oxygen-deprived tissues start to die, releasing toxins into the blood stream which among other adverse effects, cause serious disturbances in heart rhythms (cardiac arrhythmias). Dogs affected by bloat can die within hours. Dogs most susceptible to bloat are the large, deep-chested breeds, in whom the stomach appears to be more mobile within the abdomen. Risk factors are: hereditary predisposition, over-eating (large meals), rapid eating, raised feeders, pre-moistening of dry food preserved with citric acid, feeding dry food with a fat in the top four ingredients. The risk of bloat increases with age. Feeding a food with a rendered meat ingredient, inclusive of bone, in the first four ingredients decreases the risk of bloat.
The Purdue veterinary research team, who conducted a research study in 2000 into the risk factors associated with bloat concluded these are the things you can do to help prevent bloat:

a.. The strongest recommendation to prevent GVD (bloat) should be to not breed a dog that has a first degree relative that has had bloat. This places a special responsibility on an owner to inform the breeder should their dog bloat.
b.. Do not raise the feeding dish.
c.. SLOW the dog's speed of eating.

Allergies. Boxers are rather prone to allergies, which can be environmental or food related. These often translate into itchy, scaly and sometimes infected skin. Boxers do not tend to do well on foods that have a high grain content, particularly those including corn, wheat or beet pulp. 

Deafness. About 20% of white boxers are deaf, due to their lack of pigmentation and suppression of blood supply to the cochlea (inner ear). White boxers should not be bred since the genes responsible for deafness in whites are inheritable. Breeding dogs that carry the extreme white spotting gene (white boxers have two copies of this gene, see http://www.boxerworld.com/coat_colour) will cause pigment dilution in all offspring and increase the incidence of deafness throughout the breed. 

Separation Anxiety. We know - separation anxiety isn't exactly an inherited health issue, but we can also tell you that it 's very prevalent in boxers and one of the most common issues we're called about. The best site we're found is from the Humane Society of the United States. Click Here