Our family has always had Boxer dogs since I was born. We currently have boxer #5 and #6 still living with us, Boomer and Hazel. I am also including a selfie with our recently departed Daisy that I took with her the day she had to be euthanized (April 28th). She was the sweetest tank of a dog I have ever had the pleasure of loving, and our family misses her every day.

This handsome boy is Boomer, our 6 year old Boxer. Our family adopted him when he was 2 years old. A family in Connecticut had to move to Florida and they already had four boxers and didnt want to take the four dogs with them. I feel bad that Boomer was the one they decided they didnt want out of the four dogs. I don’t really agree with people giving up dogs unless absolutely necessary and their logic that four dogs was too many to move to a new state with doesn’t seem like a good enough excuse to me, but Boomer was all that mattered and he needed a home, so we adopted him.

The family drove him to our home in Vermont and dropped Boomer off days before they planned to move to Florida. Since we got Boomer as a 2 year old, we didnt truly know what his personality or behavior would be like. He was extremely shy and nervous for a good month after his owners dropped him off. We had Daisy at the time and they became inseparable within a few days. As we got to know Boomer, we noticed aspects of his behavior that pointed to neglect/abuse in his previous home. He was very distrustful of men and in the four years we’ve had him, he has tried to nip at certain men when they come on our property. He didnt cause any harm of course, just small little nips where no skin was broken, but he clearly had something happen with a man or men in his past home that made him distrustful of them. He is also extremely scared of loud noises. He’s a very sweet old soul, one one of the smallest most petite boxers we have ever seen or owned. He is very loyal to our family and even though he has his quirks, we love him very much.

This big sweetie is Hazel, our 2 year old Boxer. Yep, she’s bigger than Boomer and only 2 years old 🙂 I told you Boomer was a tiny Boxer! Of the 6 Boxers we have owned, two have been purchased as puppies from breeders, and 4 have been rescues from different situations. One was a rescue pup from Hurricane Katrina, another was an elderly boxer with cancer who’s owners left him at a Vet’s office late at night who we had for 10 months before he needed to be euthanized, and then Daisy was rescued after her owner passed of Cancer. Our first boxer, Baran, and now our most recent addition, Hazel, were purchased from a reliable breeder as puppies. And, because I can’t resist, here is a photo of cute little Hazel with my dad a few weeks before we brought her home from the breeder.

Hazel is definitely the most loving and cuddly of the boxers we have had. She doesn’t know how big she is (like most big dog breeds) and would be content to sit on your lap and get scratched and pet all day long! Her and Boomer have become very good friends, but since she is sort of in her early teenage years, she likes to annoy him sometimes. Boomer will be sleeping, minding his own business, and if she is bored and wants to play, she will literally come and sit on his head until he gets up and starts playing with her. It’s the funniest thing!

She definitely has provided plenty of entertainment for me and my brother who are both home from our respective colleges during the pandemic. I think she especially enjoys us being home all day so she can go outside and play whenever she pleases. She loves being outside in all weather and especially loves playing in the snow! Even as a young puppy when we were potty training her, she wouldn’t want to go inside even if her little paws were getting cold. When she started shivering, we would bring her inside and she would cry and paw at the front door begging to go back outside and play in the snow! It is so interesting how unique each dog’s personality can be especially since they are the same breed. I can’t imagine life without both of them in it, and I know quarantine wouldn’t be nearly as bearable without them!

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