boxer lungeing

Question
I was recently visiting my son and daughter-in-law  who has two boxers. I was babysitting my 8 month old grandson and my son was sleeping in his bedroom due to his work schedule. The two boxers one female, one male, were making noise in the kitchen with their claws on the floor and I wanted them to be quiet so I walked over to their crates and asked them to go in. The female ran to the bedroom, the male woofed at me and ran to the bedroom door. I started towards the door and he came towards me, pounding his front legs on the floor. He then lunged at me . . .I took another step towards him and he lunged again getting very close to me and looking intently at me. I was terrified, I stepped backwards slowly not making eye contact and moved into the kitchen. I was trembling . . the baby woke up. I went to get him and started to feed him, the dog was then laying in front of the bedroom door guarding it. After about ten minutes the dog stood up . . .I was nervous and took the baby his food and two bottles into his room and closed the door. When my son woke up two hours later I hollered at him to lock up the dog and I told him what happened. I did see this dog last summer go after a stranger when we were all camping together . . .a man walked towards us and the dog lunged, growled and went after the man's neck. If my son had not had him on a leash he would have bit the man. My son agreed to keep the dog in the crate. My son thought the dog wanted to play and thinks I misread the dog. There was no tail wagging like play and he was very tense. I am now worried about my grandson as he gets older and starts walking, and I also worry about being alone with the dog . . . am I worrying needlessly? Thanks for any input."

Answer
Hi Kathy,

I can understand your worrying. First it is very hard to read a dog's body language if your not accustom to it. The boxer is a guard dog but a hearing guard dog, they do tend to protect children and adore them instinctively. They are usually stoic around children and tolerate alot from them without being aggressive.

I am assuming you are afraid of the male dog from your description and believe me this dog knows it and can feel your anxiety. He may try to play with you to calm you or he may warn you to stay back as this type of energy your giving isn't allowed in the canine world.

If the dog bowed with its front feet down and lunged in a bouncing fashion then it was wanting to play, it is a gesture in the canine world of an invitation to play and yes boxers do this regularly and will bark at you at the same time. Especially if they don't want to do what they are told to, its a distraction tactic.They are the clowns of the dog world and the wild eye stare during this game is intent.Sounds like you fell for what I call the chase, they didn't want to kennel up and ran from you so you'd chase after them, its a game to boxers.We have all fell for this at one time or another in our lives with this breed.If the dog didn't growl then I suspect this is what it was.

If he did growl then he was warning you to stay back. If the dog saw you as a threat to his pack which includes this baby then its possible he was warning you.If you do not live in the household with the dogs then they do not see you as a pack member/leader and may not obey your commands, also if your not 100 % confident in your energy around the dogs or in your command to kennel up they will not listen.You must tell a boxer what to do and mean it never ask it to do something. If you ask them they'll turn it into a game every time.A firm but not harsh approach works best. Be 100 % confident show no fear and they should be putty in your hands. If you can't do this then by all means have your son crate them while in your presence.

They will also protect from strangers if a real threat arises but have a retractable personality if real friendly gestures are given, but if the person shows signs of fear or nervousness any canine will pick this up as unstable energy and may attack. This is how 99% of people get dog bit, the dog is fearful of the person and growls to warn to stay back and the person doesn't do it or they startle the dog. It is a natural instinct in all canines. This may have been the case while camping with the stranger. The dog warned by growling and the stranger kept coming.

It is rare for a boxer to actually attack and bite someone. They look mean and tough but like I said a real threat has to be given for the dog to actually attack and this is with any canine. We may not see it as a threat but in the dogs eyes it is and if the situation is studied carefully then it is almost always the case 99% of the time.

A dog with its tail wagging doesn't automatically mean friendly either, it can mean aggressive posture. I would have definitely had to have seen the posture to say for sure what was going on. I'd like to recommend a book for you called "On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals" by Turid Rugass, this is a short read but very informational and may help ease your fears and allow everyone to get on the same page with the dogs. Hopefully this will ease the tensions in the family with the dogs or bring light to the fact that a problem may exist with them, if it does then seek a professional in your area for an in-home evaluation of the dogs. I also would like to add I never leave a child unattended with a canine this is a rule all canine owners should abide by as we forget these are animals not little humans in furry coats no matter how well we think we know the dog.

Thank you very much for your question.

Angela Donald
Canine Behavior Consultant
Hi-Tower Boxers
http://www.hitowerboxers.com