The Dark Side of being White Boxer Dogs

chels6
Chelsea the white boxer, back to talk about the dark side of being white boxer dogs. I will do this while keeping my boney away from Obie!

When we are born, we are lucky if we survive, not due to health issues, but just because we are white.

Many breeders instantly kill us just because we are white. They fear we will be deaf and are not good for breeding. We should not be bred, but that is no reason to kill us either. We should be spayed or neutered, but that should be done with any pet to prevent unwanted puppies.

Why are there white boxer dogs? To answer this question I must cover the three different color types of boxers. Flashy, Plain and White.

A flashy boxer can be identified by having some of the following: white socks, white blazes, or white collars. It is sometimes difficult to tell if a full grown boxer is flashy or not. If they have only a few white toes, or small pencil-like marks on their face or a white chest, they may or may not be flashy.

The only way to know is to ask the person who knew the dog as a newborn pup if there were any white hairs or a star pattern of white on the back of the dogs neck. If there was, the boxer is flashy, if not, it is plain. This white on the back of the neck will sometimes dissappear as the dog gets older.

A plain boxer will not have the white socks, blaze, or collar. They may have some white on the toes, some white on the chest. Again, to identify if they may be flashy see the above qualification of white on the back of the neck as a young puppy.

And of course there are white boxer dogs ....like me. We are generally all white with maybe only a few small patches of color generally on the head.

According to genetics, this is how boxer puppies are colored:

Plain + Plain = 100% Plain Puppies

Plain + Flashy = 50% Plain and 50% Flashy Puppies

Flashy + Flashy = 25% Plain, 50% Flashy and 25% White puppies

Flashy + White = 50% Flashy and 50% White puppies

White + White = 100% White

As you can see, we ( white boxer dogs ) are a product of the breeders. They purposely breed Flashy dogs in order to get Flashy dogs. As a side effect of this, they sometimes get white boxer dogs.

This would be fine if the major dog organizations would recognize these dogs as acceptable, but they don't. So in order to save money, many breeders just kill the white boxer puppies at birth since most of the major dog organizations prevent breeders from selling white boxer dogs.

Why are the flashy dogs bred if they know white puppies will be born? Because Flashy dogs are the preferred markings of boxers. So, in effect, white boxer dogs are killed to satisfy this preferrence of Flashy Boxers.

Also many "backyard" breeders have no clue as to why they have white puppies and they really do not care, as they are only in it to sell puppies.

We ( white boxer dogs ) are not at fault. It is the people who breed boxers, knowing that white puppies will be born. If they are going to breed the type of boxers that can produce white puppies, they should be responsible enough to take care of the puppies and find them a good home.

Some do, or there would not be people like Mom and Dad who have enjoyed the privilege of living with me, but even then, many of us are not treated with the same care and love as our colored litter mates.

The major dog organizations should take an honorable stance and either recognize the pups if they are spayed or neutered or ban the breeding of boxers that will produce white puppies.

The breeders and major dog organizations are not accepting responsibility for this problem.

The major dog organizations do say not to use white boxers in their breeding program, and state

1. "Breed only with the intention of improving the breed".

2. "Breed only from healthy, sound, type individuals who display good sound temperament and qualities, which are free of known disqualifying faults".

Knowing that breeding two flashy boxers will produce 25% white puppies, then why is this not specifically called out and enforced in the standard and why are dogs that are known to have produced white puppies allowed to continue to breed? I guess it is considered "acceptable loss" in order to have Flashy boxers.

People and organizations will have to one day deal with this issue as more people find out what truly goes on in the boxer breeding world. We should not be killed or abused because we are white and we should be allowed to have the same happy life as our litter mates who have color.

We are not defective and are not to be thrown away or considered "acceptable loss". We have the same right to a happy and full life with owners who understand us and will allow us to show them just how much joy we can bring to them.

Accepting responsibility is what this is about. There is a lot of talk about ethics, code and good of the breed in these organizations and by breeders, but when it comes to white boxer dogs, there is very little action.

Obviously the suffering of the white boxer is not as important as having a Flashy boxers to show, which says a lot about the motivations of some breeders and organizations.

Ultimately, breeders must take responsibility when breeding boxers that have the possibility of producing white puppies. These pups should not be sold, but should be taken care of and raised to an age that they can be adopted to a loving home.

Change only comes if enough people voice their opinion. We would welcome your support in changing the plight of the white boxer.