Boxer's Standard mentions two colors as being acceptable - red (fawn) and brindle (striped). In fact there is only one color in Boxers - red, and brindle is simply a striping pattern. Think of two apricots. If you cover one with a black veil, the black mesh will cover and "hide" the apricot's true color. Even though our covered apricot looks different now, it is still the same solid red fruit. It is similar with Boxers: a red Boxer is a "naked" apricot, a brindle Boxer is the apricot "dressed" in black veil. The tighter the mesh of the veil, the less ground color is visible. If we cover the apricot with a yashmak such as the one Muslim women use to cover their face, our juicy fruit will appear totally black. The striping of a brindle Boxer can be so intense, the dog will appear nearly black.

The existence of brindling or the lack of it in each Boxer is determined by the two genes the Boxer got from his parents. Each parent contributes one gene. "B" gene means brindling (covered apricot), "b" gene means no brindling (naked apricot).

A Boxer can have either two "B" genes, two "b" genes or one of each kind. When one of the sire's genes meets one of the dam's genes in a newly created puppy, they determine his final color. If both of the parents' genes were "B", the puppy will be brindle. If both of the parents' genes were "b", the puppy will be red. If one parent contributed "B" and another one shared "b", the puppy will always be brindle, because "B" dominates "b". Think of it as "B" gene being bigger and stronger and always winning over "b" gene when arguing about which one gets to be exhibited phenotypically in the puppy.

Hi! I am red and have nothing to hide! My displayed gene is "b" and my hidden one is "b", too!	Hi! I am brindle and have nothing to hide! My displayed gene is "B", and my hidden one is "B", too!	Hi! I am brindle and I hide a red gene I got from one of my parents! I display my "B" gene and hide my "b" one!
RED This is our "bb" Boxer	DOMINANT BRINDLE This is our "BB" Boxer	BRINDLE This is our "Bb" Boxer

Every Boxer in the world belongs to one of the above types. Now let's take a look at what should we expect when breeding our apricots...I mean Boxers together.

Parents:
bb		bb
Offspring:
bb	bb	bb	bb
When breeding two bb Boxers together, all the offspring will be "bb" just like the parents.

 

 

 

 

 

The conclusions:

I can produce red puppies only when bred to another bb Boxer. No brindles there! Breed me to Bb, and I will produce both reds and brindles. If you breed me to BB, I will give only brindle puppies, but none of them will be dominant BB.	I can produce nothing but brindle puppies when bred to either BB, Bb or bb. Some of them will be dominant BB just like me, while others will be Bb brindles if my partner had that "b" gene. Hopefully some of my grandpuppies will be red!	I can produce both red and brindle puppies. Breed me to bb or another Bb brindle, and most likely I'll have some reds! If you breed me to BB, all my puppies will be brindle, but some of them will have the potential of producing red grandpuppies for me!
RED This is our "bb" Boxer	DOMINANT BRINDLE This is our "BB" Boxer	BRINDLE This is our "Bb" Boxer