Breed Standard

Description: 

The Boxweiler is a powerful and muscular dog whose origins come from rottweilers and boxers.  Therefore, they have a strong drive to protect and please their families.  They have a deep chest and a double layer coat with either fawn or brindle coloring.   While all puppies have lots of energy, a full grown boxweiler is not a hyper dog and does not like to wander far from its family or home. It is alert and cautious around strangers, but friendly and goofy with family and friends. Proper socialization, like with any protective dog, is key.

Temperament:

The boxweiler is a calm, alert, powerful, brave, and loving dog that is easily trained because of its high drive to please its family.  However, because of its intelligence, it requires an owner who is consistent and fair in training (in other words, something can't be okay to do one time and wrong to do the next, and vice versa).  Early training and establishing one's self as pack leader is required.  Everyone must be higher than it in the pack.  Proper socialization with children and pets (like cats) early on is recommended as with all dogs.  While alert and cautious with strangers and will not let anyone inside the home without the owner's permission, the boxweiler is clownish, goofy, and fun loving with family and is often known for being excellent with children.

Height and Weight:

Male boxweilers should be about 24 to 27 inches tall (61-69 cm) and weigh 95 to 130 pounds (43-59 kg).  Females should be 22 to 25 inches high (56-63 cm) and weigh 85 to 115 pounds (38-52 kg).  Any more than this and your dog is overweight.  An overweight dog is more susceptible to health problems that could shorten its lifespan and cause discomfort.

Health Problems:

Because of overbreeding, both rottweilers and boxers have some pretty serious health risks which  include Rottweilers: hip dysplasia and entropion of the eyelids, and snoring. Boxers: heart problems, thyroid issues, cancer, tumors, epilepsy, arthritis, deafness in some boxers, hip dysplasia  and knee issues, flatulence, and snoring.

While it is possible for a boxweiler to inherit these traits as well, the fact that it is a hybrid helps balance the genetic gene pool and greatly decreases some of these risks.  Some things that have been proven to show up in Boxweilers are: flatulence when diet is changed, snoring, non-cancerous tumors in older dogs, arthritis in older dogs, deafness in older dogs, and (as for all large breeds) hip dysplasia.  Also a trait of all large breed dogs, DO NOT overfeed a boxweiler puppy or give it any form of human food during development, as this can result in premature rapid growth that makes bones brittle and easily broken.

Living Conditions: 

The boxweiler will do okay in an apartment if given sufficient exercise.  They are not very active indoors during adulthood, but prefer to run in large yards outside if available.  They cannot be outside dogs as they are very sensitive to heat and need proper family socialization.

Exercise:

Needs plenty of exercise.  A good daily walk and a good game of throwing ball will keep a boxweiler looking lean and trim.  They like to be close to their humans, so any activity done outside, whether it is a hike, swimming, or spending time with you in the yard, will bring it great pleasure.  However, be sure not to overwork a puppy.  Too much stair climbing for puppies is a bad idea.

Life Expectancy:

Boxweilers can live about 11-15 years in a happy, healthy environment.

Grooming:

The boxweiler has a short, double coat which keeps them warm and is easy to maintain.  Brush about once a week with a bristle brush to decrease shedding, bathe only when necessary (over bathing can cause the skin of any dog to become dry and scratchy).  This dog is an average shedder.

Appearance:

The body reflects the shape and proportion of a rottweiler.  It's nose is not scrunched up, it's lips are not too large, and it's chest needs to be the proper size.  See AKC breed standard for rottweiler shape (only as a reference).

The color is preferably fawn or brindle like a boxer's.  Other colors (black&tan or white) are not encouraged as the white boxer is prone to deafness and cancer, and black and tan colored dogs are more susceptible to Parvo.  Any other than those I have mentioned are not true boxweilers and have something else mixed in.