Before we study a picture of a champion, and then study the 2,000 word standard of the breed, before we analyse the reasons for all the requirements of skull, mask, colour, feet, etc, let us get deeply imprinted in our minds what the German enthusiasts of the l890’s were seeking when they drew up their standard in Munich.

They wanted power, they wanted fearlessness, they wanted intelligence, they wanted activity. They wanted a dog that had stamina as well as speed, that could jump like a cat and yet attack or defend like a mastiff. They sought, as we seek today, the qualities of strength, substance, pace, beauty, elegance, and character, all in one parcel. The boxer was, and is, that dog!

When you think of it, where else in the whole animal world have all such conflicting qualities of power and pace been demanded before? The animal which is built for strength bears no resemblance at all to the animal which is built for speed. The one had a thick-set body on short powerful legs: the other has a short back, but a comparatively slim body, on long, slender legs. You have only to look at the Shire horse alongside the thoroughbred, the bulldog alongside the greyhound, the bullock alongside the roe-deer to see what I mean.

But in one animal, whose all-round accomplishment has been close to English hearts for two centuries at least, we find the same sought-after ideal. The hunter horse must be built and bred to have everything that we want also in the boxer. He must have power, he must be able to gallop, he must stay, he must jump—and he must, above all, have a great, courageous heart. As with the boxer, your hunter horse’s character speaks from his head. You see his pace in his hock and shoulder, his stamina in his spring of rib and heartroom, his ‘lepping’ qualities in his massive, muscled hindquarters. 

This powerful dog, the boxer, delivers these qualities on all accounts, just as the hunter horse does, to make for an exciting picture of a true champion.