The Truth about Black Boxer Dogs

By: Jason Rusch
Submitted: 2008-07-24 23:23:45
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There are a lot of people who say that they own black boxer dogs.  Likewise, there are many backyard breeders who purport to be selling “rare” black boxer dogs.  The problem?  There are no black boxer dogs.

Perhaps that seems a little confusing.  Maybe you have even seen a black boxer dog yourself, and you can’t see how the above statement could possibly be correct.  Well, it is a factual statement—there are no black boxer dogs.  It is genetically impossible for a black boxer dog to exist.

What are these dogs, then?

So, this begs the question—what, exactly, are the black boxer dogs that backyard breeders are selling and that people say they own?  What was that black boxer dog that you might have seen yourself?  After all, these dogs look every bit like boxers…and you might be thinking that the coloring of these dogs looks like black to you.

As it turns out, these dogs are actually brindle boxers.  Some people call them reverse brindle boxers.  Nonetheless, they are brindles, not black boxer dogs.

A brindle boxer is one that has some type of fawn coloring (from a tan color to a dark reddish color)—but, on top of the fawn coloring are black stripes.  Boxers can have any number or sort of black striping.  They can even have such a quantity of black striping that they appear to be black with fawn-colored striping.  The boxers who have this much black striping are often called reverse brindle boxers.

Some of these brindle boxers may end up with such a great amount of black striping that it can be quite difficult to find the fawn undercolor.  Boxer experts know that there is fawn underneath; however, those who are uneducated about boxers naturally assume that these are black boxer dogs.

Why the deception?
When a backyard breeder sells dogs that he claims are “rare” black boxer dogs, he can sell them at a higher price than the price at which he sells his other boxer dogs.  Since many backyard breeders are not quite ethical in a lot of their practices, this price gouging over a falsehood fits in with how these breeders function.  Of course, not all backyard breeders are like this; however, any backyard breeder who claims to be selling a breed variety that doesn’t exist in nature probably doesn’t have the highest moral standards.

Why is it so impossible for there to be black boxer dogs?

It takes a simple knowledge of genetics to understand.  Basically, every being—whether it is a mammal, like a dog, or an amphibian or anything else—has genes.  These genes determine everything about the being, from skin color to the number legs to where the eyes are…genes control everything. 
Genes control coat color in dogs, too.  In order for a dog to be black, that breed of dog must contain the gene for having a black coat.  Boxer dogs do not have that gene.  So, there cannot be any black boxer dogs.  It is genetically impossible for a boxer to have a black coat.

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