Reprinted with permission from the AKC Gazette.

I’ve been feeling a little irrelevant lately. The internet Boxer lists are full of chatter—much of it centering on health registries for heart, thyroid, hips and a wish that the ABC or some other authority would certify what is and is not a "breedable" test result. There are constant arguments in regard to which tests are reliable, which tests matter, which tests are morally obligatory. Advances in medical research have taught us all much more than we ever knew before about the diseases that can cripple or kill. We hear ardent pleas to allow the limited registration of white boxers, and the devotees of the natural ear cannot fathom why ears that are a birthright are not given parity in the Standard with ears that are cropped.

These are all meritorious topics for discussion. Yet, they appear to have usurped discussions of boxers in regard to type, temperament, and conformation. Pejorative phrases such as "old guard" creep into the vocabulary. A schism seems to have developed between relatively new breeders, who think they know it all, and relatively older breeders, who think they know it all!

Longevity is hardly a guarantee of wisdom, any more than recent breed converts guarantee wise reforms. "Old guard" and "new guard" are illusions, because card-carrying members of either group constitute some of the dumbest and some of the smartest among us.

An open mind has always been a virtue. Novices must be encouraged and valued—some of them will be the "stars" of tomorrow. But I would wish that the Boxer fancy did not break down into "us" and "them." I would wish for honest debate, but less crusade. I would wish for respect for each generation and what it contributes to the next. I would wish that emphasis returned to what made us love the Boxer in the first place—his unique personality, his clean good looks, and his sound athleticism.