Does anyone else have a boxer that is scared of the world?
 

So I have a 60lbs boxer that is literally scared of EVERYTHING. We got him at about 9 weeks old and he was great he played with my yorkie and the neighbor dogs and was a normal happy puppy. Then my husband left for iraq when he was about 5 months old and he was left with just me. He terrorized me the entier time my husband was gone, he honest to god ate our recliner in one sitting, I never punished him anymore than a tap on the butt and a "time out" in his cage, nothing to extreem but he knew when i was mad but just never seemd to care. So fastforward 7 months and Billy comes home, buddy (the boxer) is now terrified of people, i really don't know why, he got the oportunity to meet people and be socialized but for whatever reason he is now scared. So things only get worse from there. He listens to Billy and most of the time to me and is a pretty well behaved dog when it's just us home but oh my gosh if someone else comes in the house its a fiasco and when he gets scared guess who he runs to, mommy. He growls from 10feet away and then runs outside if you try to touch him he shakes and wimpers and is pitiful. We finally got him used to our parents just by forcing him to be pet a bunch of times but things are really only getting worse. He has now developed a fear of the kissy noise and skate boards and plastic bags and kids and...... other boxer owners i've mentioned this to say oh yeah my boxer is neurotic too but it's only in passing, i want some real stories, if there are any, to let me know i'm not alone. Please share!

Has he had a physical lately? Would rule out any physical reason. There are doggie meds out there to help with neurotic behavior. Contacting a trainer would also be an option. Maybe he needs to have his confidence built up? The guy on The Whisperer show talks about that all the time.

He has a clean bill of health although he is terrified of the vet as well. We tried Zanax last time we went home and it didn't even seem to phase him, he was tired but still neurotic. I don't know that a trainer would help becaue he wouldn't be able to get near buddy to train him. I even tried to audition for the dog whisperer show but they are only accepting aplications in california right now. I just feel so helpless and frustrated!

The chewing on the recliner may just of been a puppy thing or anxiety from your Hubby leaving.( my little Yorkie Mickey would chew our wall when we would leave him when he was a pup)With you having the boxer at such and early age it makes no sence that he is so scared. are you sure nothing had happened to him to make him this way? like maybe him being out in the yard one day and kids or someone passing by hurt or scared him? also sounds like he hasent been around to many people while he was growing up. Im sure a trainer can help you with him.

Well the place we got him from seemed kind of shady, they had about 7 full grown boxers in the back yard of their town home and 2 different litters that were just born. He said he was selling this litter for his daughter and didn't have the shot records, it was just such a mess that i wanted to get the poor boy out of there, when i took him to the vet they gave him all his shots starting with the first set and gave him a clean bill of health. A couple days after we got him home we noticed he had ring worm in one spot on his side and a couple days later he got a really bad case of worms, we took him to the vet and they fixed him and THEN he got mites, this was the worst infection i have ever seen, he lost all of his hair (except for the spot where he had ring worm) and had nasty pus filled red pimple things all over him. He had to go to the vet every other weekend and get medicated baths and shots for 3 or 4 months straight. He really liked it there and adored the girl that took care of him because he saw her all the time. He didn't seem scared of the vet or other people there too. Our yard was completly closed in while we were in Cali when my husband was gone and he got to see people like once a week. He seemed ify with them but not as bad as now. He was scared of my husband at first till he smelled him and rememberd it was him. Things got worse after he got home and my husband has never punished him, i'm the one that lays down the law and even so if he's scared he comes to me. My only worry is that he wont even give the trainer the chance because he wont stay in the same room as them. I don't know.... I raised 2 yorkies and they are perfectly normal i guess i just got the boxer with his head wired wrong

I don't have a boxer, but I have a cane corso called Kaddie (6months old) that had similar problems. She's never been scared of people....but noises or strange objects would send her in to a frenzy! She wouldn't walk past dustbins, bicycles (even stationary ones), parked cars etc, and she was terrified of the hoover and when I tried shaking a can of coins to stop Wicket barking, Kaddie just freaked out! The kids could shout and run around to their hearts content and it didn't bother her, but if they got their toy cooker out, or a dolls house Kaddie would run and hide.

I wanted to enrol her in the Kennel Club Good Citizen scheme, so I did the puppy assessment course first and it really helped her....they got her used to everyday objects and it was really successful. She recently got her bronze award and is working on her silver :)

Sorry for the long rambling story:rolleyes: Is there a similar training course in your area that you could enrol your boxer in? It might help him to get some of his confidence back. I wish you lots of luck xxx

Odd, I'm not sure what to tell you.

I dog sit regularly for two Boxers and the one, Guinness, is 4 years old. For the first year in a half of his life, he went to the dog park, liked other dogs, etc. When he hit two years old, something happened and he will attack or eat any dog that comes into his presence now (minus the one he lives with but he's attacked him too) Boxers are known to not get along with other dogs. But that doesn't sound like that is really your issue. :(

Well he's only really had to opportunity to meet 2 other dogs and one is my moms dog and her dog just doesn't like him (he's a dauschund) and he just barks and growls and gets my dog all upset and then my dog does try to attack. The other one was when we were walking all three of them and some stupid lady had her HUGE dog off it's leash and she had a new born in a stroller and the dog attacked mine but he went right into attack mode and stuck up for himself. Other than that we just avoid situations that would upset him because even raising your voice a little at him causes him to shake like a leaf. You would think he was abused or something but we are the only owner he ever had and we've never hurt him. It's super frustrating!!

My mom's boxer is a WIMP. She is afraid of weather, tissues, dog toys, leashes, umbrellas, sticks, just to name a few.