Some Advice Please

[hairykopite]

Hi firstly just to introduce myself im Paul I live in the uk and am looking to get a boxer i have found a very good breeder that i have spoken to a few times and am going to visit this weekend, we have a border terrier at the minute and would like company for her and have found that boxers are great with children of which we have 3. My problem is i have been told that boxers suffer from separation issues when left for any period of time, now this is a problem we had when we owned a beagle the minute he was left he would bark until we came home again which caused problems with my next door neighbors even though it was just the school run ( 30 mins twice a day ), this caused alot of tension as my partner could never go out even to the shops. I think to some extent that we caused some of these problems due to the way we treated him when we got him, I guess what i am asking is that with the proper crate training and exercise do you guys get the same problem or can you leave your boxers for an hour or two from time to time and not have the constant barking. Sorry if this seems a stupid thing to ask i did ask the breeder but to be fair she doesn't have neighbors so its hard to tell.

Thank You I Advance

[Doreen]

That is not true to most that I know of. I have had boxers for years and never had any separation issues. Of course there are cases where it is true, but not as a rule.
I also think since you have another dog in the house, there is also less of that chance.
If you do proper training, leaving them very short times at first. I did that with mine since she is a rescue, well, both are, I wasn't sure how they would be after have been crated while I was out, I wanted to be able to let them free to roam the house all times. I would first just drive around a couple blocks and come right back home. Praise them for behaving. Do this everyday, gradually increasing your time and they can be trained to be left peacefully in your home. I have left them for 7 hours, no problems. I haven't left them any longer of course due to potty time, not because of behavior.

Hope this helps.

[Ruby Red]

It's not a stupid question at all, kudos to you for asking and doing your research before you get the puppy. I have 2 boxers [rescues] they are fine being left in the house together. The boy can be left on his own, no problems, the girl came out of an environment where she was kept with other breeding dogs, we cannot leave her on her own, we tried, but she sits by the door and cries and cries.

I walk 2 other boxers in different places, they are both in households with other dogs and they are all fine being left - I have never sign any signs of either of them being distressed/destructive around their houses when I have gone to pick them up, one set of owners are sometimes out of the house 7-8 hours a day. This said, these are adult dogs....

You have the advantage of hindsight with the experiances you had with your last dog, so while I cannot answer your question as I have never had a young puppy to deal with, I do think that the fact that the pup will have another dog for company will help alot. This combined with crate training and exercise will all help to negate the worst of S.A.

[kaaybeeh13]

I have had my little girl since she was a tiny puppy. We crate trained from the day we brought her home. She always goes in the crate when we leave. Sometime 7-8 hours because of work. She doesn't make a peep. She did at first only because she was scared and away from her litter mates, but after a couple days she made no sound at all. I was also afraid of the separation anxiety since we do live in an apartment. Now of course like said before you want to make this as easy adjustment as possible for the little one. But as far as Boxers as a whole I don't see the little one causing too much trouble for you. Hope this helps! Good luck!