The Boxer Head

This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, June 2014 issue.

The Boxer Head

The vision of the ideal Boxer head dates back to 1896, when the proposed standard by the Deutscher Boxer Club (Munich) was made official. Around 1905, what is now known as the Munich silhouette became a guideline for perfection.

Looking at head types from the early 1920s shows the long road of selective breeding that led to the correct proportions represented by the Munich silhouette.

In my opinion, the first way to assess the correctness of the Boxer head is through expression. The proper proportions and features required by the standard all contribute to the resulting “intelligent and alert” expression.

A unique feature of the Boxer head is the square muzzle. The length from the tip of the nose to the stop must be half the length of the skull when measured from the stop to the occiput, and when viewed from the front, it should be ⅔ of the skull’s width. Three parameters are essential for the proper muzzle: the formation of the jawbones, the placement of teeth, and the texture of the lips.

In selective breeding, the length of the underjaw does not align with the shortening or elongation of the upper jaw. This is why undershot bites appear in breeds with short heads, like the Pekingese and Bulldog, and overshot bites in breeds with long, narrow heads. As a brachycephalic (short-headed) breed, the Boxer will have an undershot bite. However, the muzzle should not be so short that it exaggerates the projection of the underjaw, nor so long that the upper lips cover the underjaw nor should it be too long as to have the
upper lips cover the underjaw when seen on a profile.

The correct muzzle will have the upper and lower lips meet evenly.

For this to occur, the proper undershot bite relies on lower canines placed directly in front of the upper corner incisors on both sides. Additionally, it requires a wide and straight line of lower incisors situated between the lower canines. Common deviations include narrow underjaws, curved or misaligned lower incisors, and wry bites, where one side is more undershot than the other or appears crooked from the front. The only way to properly evaluate the Boxer bite is by examining it not only from the front but also from both sides—a practice few judges perform in the ring today.

In a correctly structured headpiece, with adequate proportions and balance, a skin fold will extend from the inner corner of the eye to the corner of the lips on both sides. When the dog is alert, natural wrinkles will form on the forehead and in front of the ears.

The Boxer’s eye placement is rather (though not entirely) frontal. Selective breeding can alter head length, which in turn affects eye placement. Thus, breeds with very short heads, such as the Brussels Griffon or Pekingese, tend to have eyes positioned in the frontal plane, while dogs with longer heads have eyes set more laterally. Eye placement, skull width, and the amount of loose skin all influence eye shape. Longer heads typically yield almond or triangular eye shapes, while shorter heads tend to produce circular shapes with a fuller eye.

The Boxer’s eye, however, is neither almond-shaped nor circular. Despite being a well-known “head breed,” the Boxer is the only breed in the Working Group whose standard does not describe eye shape—it merely states what it should not be. The Australian Boxer authority, Judy Horton, on her website worldwideboxer.com. Tere, Horton suggests that the Boxer eye is shaped like a lemon.

I like that definition and believe the American Boxer Club should adopt it in the standard rather than omitting any mention of eye shape.

Boxers should have dark brown eyes; lighter shades create a bird-of-prey expression, which is undesirable for this breed. Ideally, the third eyelids should have a pigmented outer band, although they may be unpigmented on one or both sides due to white markings on the face or other factors.

The standard allows for both cropped and uncropped ears. Cropped ears should stand erect when the dog is alert, enhancing the dog’s lines. Natural ears should lie against the cheeks with a well-defined crease at the base.

White markings on the face are acceptable, typically replacing part of the black mask on the muzzle and possibly extending onto the skull between the eyes. Although the standard lacks an exact definition for “mismarks” regarding head markings, the eyes should be surrounded by the black mask, with no white markings extending that far. I wish the standard would specify this, as it’s common practice not to show dogs with such patterns—it’s an “unwritten” disqualification. In my view, this should be listed as a mismark and disqualification. Sometimes, white markings cover the corners of the lips and the sides of the face. While the standard does not address this, common sense would suggest that as long as the expression is unaffected, such markings are likely acceptable.

Unfortunately, there is a growing trend to artificially enhance the black mask of show dogs, covering “undesired”