Your other source option is animal shelters that in US alone receive up to 12 million homeless dogs and cats every year, and about 25% of them are purebred. Paying adoption fee is a lot cheaper than price you will pay to a breeder or pet store, and you will be saving a life.

The definition of good stock or purebred must include beauty, and in a Boxer good look means coat is fawn and brindle, with white markings or "flash" covering not more than one-third of entire coat.

Sometimes distribution of "flash" alone may make difference between a show champion and just a pet Boxer.

The all-white Boxer or "check" is prone to blindness and deafness, and American Boxer Club members are not to register, sell or use "whites" for breeding.

When it comes to choosing male or female Boxers, there are not much clear-cut differences in their personalities.

At times, male is calmer, more tolerant of other dogs, willing to hold still for those hugs than female. But at other times, female can be so. One owner said female Boxer is hyper and more aggressive especially toward other females, and that aggression has increased as female gets older.

* "They are a gift! The two I have are always smiling and they cheer me up when I’m not too happy. They can be your friends for life!"

* "My Boxer can take up my moods or lay quietly by my feet for hours." * "Boxers are so intuitive, so easily bored and heartbroken. They are definition of devotion and courage."

* "If I treat my Boxer puppy as an intelligent animal and talk to him almost like he's human, he is more responsive and better behaved, as though he's picking up on my sentiments by way I am speaking to him."

* "Boxers can be very manipulative. They are a lot smarter than they look! Don’t get taken in by their innocent-looking face or let them walk all over you no matter how much their eyes make them look like they are truly sorry."

* "Give up being house-proud and enjoy your "devil dog". Don’t have potted plants because you’ll end up with empty pots! Don’t run to answer phone because you’ll be rugby-tackled and end up flat on your face."

* "Bringing a puppy or even an older dog into your home and your life is a major decision. It brings with it responsibility and commitment, but it also renders supreme joy, laughter, and sadly, but inevitably, tears. Not one of us who has ever shared his life with a Boxer would have it any other way."

* "Boxer dogs think they are human. Treat them like one - love them, talk to them, cuddle them and value them and you will get your love back unconditionally 10,000 times."