Boxer Colors

Question
I have been the owner of a great white Boxer for two years.He has been such a great pet we went out and bought another Boxer.Our new pup is a girl and she is 8 weeks old.How light is the the light fawn of Boxer standard?  We have no intentions of breeding or anything like that but our sweet girl is not a normal color.When she was born the breeder thought she was white. She got darker but now at 8wks she is just reached the color of light light khaki.  I have never seem one so light so I was wondering if she still fits the standard.

Answer
Hello Erica,

A litle education mixed in my reply:

Fawn and Brindle both have different shades.

Fawn ranges from almost "blond" to a deep, dark mahogany red. Quite different and looks to be a whole different Boxer breed!

My 3 1/1 year old female is almost blond.  And her coat is corse and rough, All her puppies except one, were blond. Daddy of them is dark mahogany and his coat is as soft as velvet.

Brindles have different "stripes" ranging in various shades from lighter to darker as well. And there is the "Reverse" Brindle that looks black (almost) because their markings are so close together that it appears black instead of red with the black stripes.

A "White" Boxer is a gene that causes the lack of pigmentation color in the coat. It is not a Boxer choice like a Fawn color, Brindle color, or Reverse Brindle..

A Fawn and a Brindle can have a White puppy due to a parent or grandparent having the "white gene" and the one parent carries the "white gene." Their puppies may never be "white" or they might have a "white" in every litter- no one can guarantee either way.

That is your white male Boxer. I don't know if his parents were Fawn and Fawn, or Fawn and Brindle, or Brindle and Brindle- but one of his parents carries the "white gene" and he is the result. I would imagine he was the only pup in the litter that was white. Usually, only one pup is, if at all, but generally there is at least one when the gene is present.

Also, for your information; a Fawn and Fawn will produce only Fawn puppies. A Fawn and Brindle will produce half and half of each possibly. A dominate Brindle and a Fawn will produce Brindle puppies. A Brindle and Brindle will produce all Brindles. The Reverse Brindle and regular Brindle (not dominate) will produce a possiblity of half and half.

A "white" Boxer should not be bred however, as the Boxer Breeder Association and the AKC both strongly advise against it due to not wanting the undesirable "white gene" handed down and mixed into the breed.

If it happens, and all or most "white" Boxer owners continually breed their "white" Boxers-- our Fawns and Brindles will cease to exist. The "white gene" will be predominate in the Boxer breed and dominate soon taking over.

"White" Boxers are like white cats= they can be born deaf, they can be born blind. They can be born both. And even if not, they can develop deafness and blindness later. And no one wants that for any innocent puppy.

Although I know you stated you have no plans on breeding him- I thought I'd educate you on the "white" Boxer for your own knowledge. :)

As far as your Fawn baby girl- she is a blond Fawn and perfectly normal. There is no "white" mixed into her- as it is either "white" or "fawn" or "brindle." No other is possible. There is no half and half- it is one or the other.

As we know, we can have a puppy that looks exactly like one parent, markings almost exactly like one parent- but has the color and coat density of the other parent.

My last litter had 5 puppies. One like his daddy. Three just exactly like mom. One was a heck of a mixture of both parents. Two of those puppies had a white blaze down the face to the nose, yet both parents are completely black-masked and classic markings, not fancy. So somewhere in one parent's genetic family tree, was a fancy. White facial blazes are concerned a fancy yet the puppy has no other "fancy" markings.

Your girl is a blond fawn :)