My new puppy!

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Sirius

Plant Nerd
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Sirius-5weeks.jpg

5 Weeks Old

I can't contain myself any more! I have to show you all these photos of my new puppy, Sirius. He is a white Boxer, and just turned 5 weeks old. He won't be coming home for another 3 weeks, and I can't wait. I just found out today that his eyes will probably stay blue. He passed a hearing test, so he is not deaf (which is a common genetic defect in many predominantly white animal species from what I read). His nose will eventually turn all the way black, but it has been fun watching the process of black freckles appear on his nose. Anyway, I am very excited about getting him, and my wife has fallen in love with him after the visits we have made to the breeder. We have our fingers crossed that he checks out ok at the vet. It is so hard to wait!

Sirius-4weeks.jpg

4 Weeks Old

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3 Weeks Old

Sirius-1week.jpg

1 Week Old

Sirius-3days.jpg

3 Days Old
 
LOVELY... and cute...!!!! I think it likes the camera a lot... You have a superstar...!!!! :D:D:D Be patient and time will pass very quickly...
 
Sirius-3rdvisit3.jpg


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We played with him for 30 minutes this afternoon. He is cute, and he knows it! Shortly after he licked my face in the picture above, he pulled a Mike Tyson on my ear lobe. :) He was all "snuggles and love" with my wife.

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His right eye is brilliant blue, and the left is slightly darker blue-green. He is only six weeks old, so I guess they still might change, I don't know.
 
How about B. cereus? As in Bacillus cereus! :) Although your little guy certainly doesn't cause nausea and intestinal disruption! He's C-U-T-E cute! My wife loves boxers (the doggies mostly).

-Ernie
 
Very interesting eye colour. I see this is going to be one spoiled puppy. (okay, he's cute, like he needs more people to say that!) You even have a Day 3 photo!
 
Nice progressive shots, John!

Beautiful pup! I have never seen a white boxer!

:clap::clap:
 
Here are some snippets of info about Boxers that I have learned over the past couple of months...

-White Boxers are not albinos. They contain the Piebald gene, which is the same gene that causes the white coloration in Dalmations and English Bulldogs. The Boxer "breed" is actually a hybrid between the now extinct German Bullenbeiszer and the Bulldog, which as you may know can be brown or white.

-Approximately 25% of all Boxer puppies are born white, or mostly white. The litter that Sirius was born in had 3 white puppies, and 6 flashy/brindle puppies.

-White Boxers can have blue eyes, blue green eyes, brown eyes or any combination of these, i.e. one brown, one blue.

-20% of all the white Boxer puppies are born partially or completely deaf. This is due to the lack of pigment in the cells of the inner ear. This genetic defect also occurs in Dalmations, Bulldogs, and several other dog breeds. It can also occur in cats, especially those that are white with blue eyes.

-White Boxer puppies are often killed at birth. Read that again.

Until very recently, the American Kennel Club supported the culling, or killing of white Boxer puppies at birth. Today, many Boxer breeders still kill all the white puppies as soon as they are born. They freeze them in the freezer, drown them, or break their necks. The AKC has softened their stance on culling, but they have not banned it as a practice

I am sorry to be so blunt about this, but when I found out that dog breeders were putting puppies to death that were otherwise as perfectly healthy as their brown siblings, I was furious. It's a good thing I don't have the powers of Superman, because I would tear these people in half if I could.

White Boxers should not be bred, because it will increase the gene that causes deafness in the breed. I understand and agree with this concept. But to kill healthy puppies, or somehow say that they are less deserving of a happy life because they have a higher chance of being deaf is absurd. All Dalmations can be born deaf. White Bulldogs can be born deaf. Many other white dog breeds can be born deaf. I don't understand why white Boxers are culled like they are.

White Boxers are also sold as "limited registration" animals. This means that they are considered second class dogs by the AKC. They cannot be shown in dog shows, except for obedience/agility contests, and they are not to be bred. Any puppy born to white parents is not eligible to be registered as a full blooded Boxer.

I knew I wanted a Boxer, and after our cat Lefty died, we needed some new energy in our lives. When I found out about the white Boxer, I knew that I wanted one. I have his papers from the breeder, but I am not going to register him. I refuse to support the AKC in any way.

Oprah recently did a story on puppy mills and how the dogs they raise are often abused. From what I have read, many so called "Professional" breeders aren't much better. I purchased Sirius from a private dog owner who is raising the puppies inside her home with her family. This type of "back yard breeding" is also looked down upon by professional dog breeders, but at least they don't kill the white puppies.

Ok, I am off my soapbox now.
 
I hesitate in making this post BUT ...... here I am!
John has gathered some good information & makes some good points. There is another side to the fence, it's only fair to look at both sides. I would like to speak from a dog instructor's position & as a breeder.
It's very hard being a dog (or any pet) lover to sometimes seperate your emotions from this whole picture. Sometimes we need to face reality. Keep in mind how many healthy dogs of any age, any breed are destroyed in animal shelters every day.
As a dog obedience instructor I have dealt with pet owners TRYING in vain to train a deaf dog. Most don't really know how much work it will be & after 6 months (if that), realize they can't cope with it. Now what is to become of this animal? Who's going to want it? What type of fate will it be met with? Where's that happy life? Consider the high energy level of a boxer. When outdoors this dog can only be off leash in a secure area, if the dog squeezes out the gate or an open door, you're in big trouble. What's worse - culling at birth or being hit by a car or abused?
The AKC is being criticized for supporting culling. Reality check. In the wild does nature have it's way of culling? Just think a moment, there's culling going on all around us. I would like to hear from some of the European countries. Back in the '70's when I got involved in dog training I met a Dobe breeder. He trained protection dogs/breeds. He claimed that in Germany, you as a breeder you DID NOT have a choice in culling. All litters were automatically culled down to a certain number & you as the breeder did not have a choice in deciding who stayed & who went! Can you imagine some stranger coming into your home & making these decisions??? YIKES!!! If this was true back then, I would have never been a breeder in Germany!
Don't be to quick to paint a nice picture of backyard breeders. YES -There are some good ones (you are fortunate). There are BAD "professional" breeders as well. There is a reason why "professional", (I prefer the word "experienced") breeders look down upon them. Most do not educate themselves before taking this big step. They have no idea what are the health problems in their breed. Do they have health clearances on the dog they want to, or are going to, or did already breed? NO! How could they, they didn't know? They didn't take the time to research it. Did they buy this dog from a reputable breeder? Well ..... What's wrong with buying from the pet shop after all they have papers?! What are the reasons you want to breed this dog? Because you think it would be nice to experience 'motherhood' thru your dog? Because it would be good for your kids to see puppies being born? And what happens when the inexperienced momma dog accidently chews off the puppy's front leg while chewing thru the amblical cord? What happens when the momma dog dies 24-48 hours later? What are your dog's physical faults/structural weaknesses? Well look - 4 legs, 2 eyes, 2 ears, a nose & a tail - what faults?! Does the mate share these SAME faults? Most importantly - what is the temperment of your dog? Here's where emotions come into play big time! The dog has a wonderful temperment, he/she just doesn't like some people, other dogs, being touched in certain places, etc. the list goes on!
As a breeder, you get blamed for everything. A conscientious breeder can do all the health clearances, try to make the best decisions on a mate, but yet it's still your fault if every dog isn't perfect. So often I get asked, are your dogs guaranteed? My reply is NO. I then proceed to ask them what health problems are in your family, your spouse's family? Did that stop you from procreating? What guarantee do you give your children? Sheds a little bit different light, doesn't it? I can't control mother nature, there are no guarantees in life! I'll try to do the best I can!
Time to get off my soapbox!
 
Goldenrose,

What about pet owners who buy a dog just because it's fashionable, and then later abuse them or drop them off in a shelter? Isn't this more a problem of stupid people being allowed to purchase a dog and not so much a problem of deaf dogs being hard to train? I would bet good money that a majority of animals that end up in the humane society are the product of people not spaying/neutering, or not taking responsiblility for their hearing pets.

I think what you were trying to say is that deaf animals could end up abused, abandoned or in a shelter because they are difficult to train. If this is the point you were trying to make, then I must imagine you also support the killing of deaf Dalmation puppies, deaf Bulldog puppies, and deaf Persian kittens? Or are we talking about killing white Boxers only?

You ask what is worse, culling puppies that MAY end up deaf, or a deaf dog being hit by a car. I am going to have to go with culling as my answer. See, the breeders who cull white Boxers don't wait until the puppies are a few weeks old, until the ear canal opens and the puppy becomes aware of it's environment. If they waited until this point, they could perform simple hearing tests to determine which puppies are deaf. But then they would have to kill a five week old deaf puppy that looks like the one in my pictures above. You would have to be a real monster to do that. So instead, they simply put all the white puppies, hearing and non hearing, in the freezer until they freeze to death. So much more humane don't you agree?

My criticism of the AKC runs far deeper than just supporting culling. Let's be honest, the main reason white Boxers are culled is because they don't fit the breed standard. If white Boxers could be shown in dog shows, you would see an immediate turnaround in culling practice. If deafness is really the reason that white Boxers are culled, then why does the AKC allow Dalmations to be bred at all? Every single Dalmation puppy ever born stands a chance of being born deaf. I really hope entire litters of Dalmations are not being culled.

You say nature performs culling. Sure, and if a puppy is born with a severe birth defect, I support the humane euthanization of the puppy. But we aren't talking about puppies with severe birth defects here, or even puppies born in the wild. We are talking about healthy white Boxers that have a 1 in 5 chance of being deaf, but otherwise completely healthy. Yet, all of them are killed before hearing tests can even be performed. How civil. Circle of life and all that, right?

I am not trying to bully you, but I do want to state my opinion, and I just think all the arguments to support culling are total bull. There is no reason for it. Or, if you are still saying that the chance a puppy may be born deaf is a good reason to cull the puppy, why not wait until the puppy is old enough to go through a hearing test, giving the hearing puppies a chance to find a good home? Because only the brown puppies can be shown in the ring, so why bother with the white puppies? That's why.
 
John - As a started my post, I indicated one needs to take their emotions out of this whole picture & that is hard for some of us to do. Those that can do it may come across as cold blooded or heartless. You are entitled to YOUR opinion as am I. You once again make some good points - by 3-4 weeks of age a breeder could easily detect a deaf puppy, it would probably take another 1-2 weeks to notice a blind or partially blind puppy. Most puppies are fully weaned & ready to go to their new homes at 7 weeks of age. At this stage of the game, how would you or anyone else know if this animal has/ or will have a compromised immune system? These are all things mentioned in the links you provided, that can be associated with white Boxers. Yes, SOME will be fine. Will you be the lucky one to recieve that dog?
Your links indicate that white boxers have the same temperment of colored ones. I agree a color gene should not have any affect on temperment but deafness does or can. What if that deaf dog is not trusting? You now have a potential fearbiter on your hands. Is that really a happy, perfectly healthy dog? People invest so much in their animals - time, emotion & money. Call me a murderer if you'd like but if I can spare A WHOLE FAMILY that kind of heartbreak & agony then I will cull if I have to. Do I like to cull - HELL NO! It is just sometimes necessary. Can it be done humanely - YES. Would I have any of the breeds you mentioned? NO, because then I'd be forced to make decisions I don't want to make & have to act on them!
Alot of breeds are/or were a mess because of us humans interfering. Who's going to clean up the mess & how? Selective breeding, test breeding & along with that, unfortunately, comes culling. There are only so many homes out there for handicap dogs. Do you wonder what breed I have? Golden Retrievers.
 

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