Training Your Boxer

How to Get Started with Training Boxer Dogs

Training your boxer requires discipline of yourself. You can't take training boxer dogs lightly or things will soon get out of control. Make boxer dog training a priority!

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When you teach your boxer dog how to behave, you are doing the biggest favor, not only for the dog, but also for yourself, you family and for everyone who comes into contact with you and your boxer dog. An out of control boxer dog is no fun for anyone to be around!

On this page, we'll give you some tips and advice for how to proceed with training your boxer puppy the right way from the get go. You can thank me later!

How to Get Started With Training Your Boxer

Start the training some place that is familiar to your boxer, where there is minimum distraction. But remember socialization is also an important part of the training because you don't want to end up with a very shy boxer. So after both of you are skilled at several obedience commands, start taking him to different areas for practice, where there are increasing amount of distractions present. Examples are near a supermarket, busy parking lot and a busy park on Sundays. This may seems like starting all over again, but you'll have a superbly trained dog at the end of it. So it's worth the effort.

When working on training boxer dogs, keep in mind that boxers are intelligent dogs. Being an intelligent dog has its own advantages and drawbacks. For example, they are quick to learn. But, it also means they have a mind of their own that would sometimes show up as stubbornness. Thus, they can be harder to train than most other dogs due to their independence.

Understand boxer's intelligence/stubbornness, handle it well, and you can avoid problems in disciplining and training them. As owners, you must maintain respect between you and your boxers. Respect goes both ways. Respect their intelligence. Love them. Set the rules for behavior. Trust them. There is no need for extreme measures to show boxers that you are the top dog.

Handle their hard-headedness with patience and don't give up on their training. And because they are stubborn, conventional obedience training may not be the most effective way to get them to listen to you.

Utilize Their High Play Drive

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For more effective training, conduct "play training" whereby the training tasks are made into fun games and the boxer's high play drive is used as motivation. There are many really good books available on this type of training. Basically, boxer dogs are intelligent and could be stubborn. So you have to outwit them! While training and disciplining your boxer dog, you have to make him WANT to do what you want him to. You can't make him do stuff unless it is FUN. Otherwise, you are wasting both your time and his.

Your boxer's favorite activities should become training, which you can accomplish by making training sessions feel like playtime. Boxers LOVE to play! You will have the happiest boxer in the world and most obedient if you will just spend some time, giving them your undivided attention everyday. Otherwise, they feel ignored, bored and will tear or chew things up and will not listen to you.

How to Get Your Boxer to Listen

Here are some tried and proven tactics you can use to make your boxers listen to you more.

• When playing with your boxer puppy, play at his level. If play is encouraged at ground level, this builds your role as the dominant or top dog when you are standing and training your puppy. If the puppy is allowed to jump up and initiate play, then this can lead to unwanted jumping up, as the boxer gets older.



• From the very beginning, make sure your boxers know you are the master. However, it is sufficient to teach your boxer to obey simple commands of raising a paw in a handshake, giving a hand lick for a kiss or doing a roll over to show his submission to you. Most boxers love performing these simple tricks (obedience commands) for you.
  
  There is no need for extreme measures to prove you are the boss. Obedience training should be fun and rewarding for you and your boxer.
  
  Once it is established you are the boss, one owner declared: "Life with your boxer will be just kidney bean dancin' all the way!" Another reported: "My boxer wanted to be class clown at obedience class until I got serious and showed him I was the boss."



• The boxer must always eat after you do. This is the easiest way to show to your boxer who is the boss. But this is easier said than done when there are many people in the family and not all would respect the rule.



• Accommodate a very active young boxer's short attention span. It is best to have many short 5 to 10-minute lessons than a single, long 30-minute lesson. Keep the training session short and sweet. Lengthy sessions easily become dull, boring and tedious for both you and the boxer.



• Start the training at quiet places familiar to your boxer with very few things and people around to distract him. Gradually move the training to places with more and more distractions so he will learn to obey your commands despite the distractions.



• Speak to your boxer strongly but not in an angry voice. Be kind but firm while training and never give in to what they want. It seems cruel but in the end, you will have a much better relationship with your boxer.



• Use only one word like "sit," "down," "drop" and "stay" when teaching boxers commands. Have a big play by running and throwing his favorite toys. If you give them a lot of playtime, they'll listen to you more.



• To keep a boxer from charging the front door, put up a door/gate that he can't see through or hop over. Have him wait until people enter and come up the stairs then he gets a treat. This particular owner noticed that even when the gate is left open the boxers don't usually go by unless they see a squirrel or cat!



• Finally, no matter how well trained you think your boxer is; remember that he only has an attention span of a few seconds! HDon't let him run away because he'll just keep going and going. Always keep him leashed outdoors if not in a fenced area. He can run faster than you can, and you will not catch him if he runs for the road!

In Summary...

Training your boxer isn't always going to be easy, whether you're doing it when they're still a puppy or with an older dog. And training boxer dogs can be frustrating at times too, because they are so stubborn and high-spirited. On the other hand, your boxer loves you and wants to please you... and he loves to play, so when you make training fun, the results will be positive for both of you!

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