The larvae turn into hardy pupae that could survive for months before changing into adult fleas.

Fleas are host to tapeworms. Both problems are likely to occur together in your Boxer and, therefore, treatments are also usually given together by vet.

A bit of garlic a day may keep fleas away from your Boxer.

Heart ailments

-Bradycardia or slow heart rate may be a symptom of thyroid disorder in Boxers.

-Dialated cardiomyopathy constitutes a serious, emergency case.

Your dog may collapse from it or back legs have sudden pain and paralysis.

It is a serious heart condition whereby heart muscle is enlarged and thin walled. Your Boxer will experience shortness of breath, coughing and can't take to exercise.

Another serious heart condition is called cardiac conduction disease that is affecting Boxer's longevity. It was previously known as Boxer cardiomyopathy but new term is used to differentiate it from dilative cardiomyopathy.

Cardiac conduction is difficult to deal with due to 3 factors.

-One is many Boxers will not show any symptom (asymptotic) but will just drop dead suddenly from it.

-The Boxers develop this disease later in life, often after they have been bred.

-There was no good screening method for it until one recently developed by Ohio State University researchers, called 24-hour Holter monitor test.

However, there is still no assurance that Boxers "cleared" now from cardiac conduction disease by Holter test will remain so in future.

Many breeders and Boxer experts are now working to refine test procedures, expand database and come up with a guideline to select only, for breeding purposes, those Boxers with high probability of being free of disease.

There are also concerns elimination of too many dogs from gene pool would be bad for breed diversity and could cause more problems in future. Some opinions hold that extensive culling should only get done after more studies on genetic diversity in Boxers.

Hip dysplasia

This is a bone disorder whereby there is an improper fit of large femur bone with hip socket, causing lots of pain and lameness.

It occurs more in male

Daniel Lesser Dog and Puppy Articles, Pictures and Resources http://www.thingsfordogs.com

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Mast cell tumors are malignant and they do not occur very often but can form either in skin or within body.

The related disorders reported along such tumors are round raised masses in skin of your Boxer, lack of appetite, vomiting and abdominal pain. Check for tarry stools due to bleeding in upper intestinal tract.

Boxers of any age can develop mast cell tumor but older ones, above 8 years, are more prone to it.

Never take tumors in your Boxers lightly, even a small one! The veterinarian would usually have them removed immediately because of their high susceptibility to cancer. One owner noticed her Boxer had a bump size of a mosquito bite that did not go away even after 10 days. The vet diagnosed it a malignant tumor and removed it very next day. The owner felt so relieved that tumor was removed before cancer had a chance to spread.

Another owner found both his Boxer girls had lumps and had it checked out immediately. The vet removed lumps due to their breed and Boxers were all fine now!

Yet another owner was not so lucky.

"I have had pleasure of raising two great Boxers but both passed away much too young of cancer. The last one, Nick, died one week after being diagnosed with anal cancer. It spread rapidly and he was only 7 years old!"

Daniel Lesser article url: http://www.thingsfordogs.com/dog-health.php