“In order to properly evaluate the bite, IT SHOULD BE VIEWED NOT ONLY FROM THE FRONT BUT ALSO FROM BOTH SIDES SO ONE CAN GET THE FULL PICTURE.”
is achieved when the length (the muzzle is half the length of the skull, from stop to occiput when viewed on a profile), width (about ² ⁄ ₃ the width of the skull) and depth are properly developed form- ing a squarish look. For that to happen, it’s necessary to have thick, well padded lips; well developed jawbones and a proper undershot bite. Th e undershot bite is wide with the lower incisors set in a straight line and with lower canines aligned with the inci- sors making it as wide as possible. Th e back part of the lower canines sit snuggly in front of the upper corner incisors on both sides—this defines how undershot a Boxer
bite should be. In order to properly evalu- ate the bite, it should be viewed not only from the front but also from both sides so one can get the full picture. Very seldom this is seen being done in the show ring so it should come as no surprise that many Boxers have been rewarded in spite of wry bites and too undershot bites. Th e underjaw should turn upwards thus creating a well defined chin. Th is combined with a muzzle of proper length allows for the lips to meet evenly in the front of the muzzle. Neither an overlip (upper lip covering the lower lip) nor an excessively developed chin (too undershot/ muzzle too short) is correct for this breed.
Th e eye is a very important feature as it is crucial to create the proper expression. Th e current standard, in my view, is both omissive and inaccurate when address- ing the Boxer eye. Firstly, it’s omissive in addressing the eye shape—it merely says what the eye should not be “not too small, too protruding or too deep set”. Secondly, it calls for the eye to be “frontally placed” and that is not accurate for this breed. A frontal placement is found in the Pekinese and the Pug—these breeds are extremely brachiocephalic causing the eyes to be truly frontal and leveled with a rather flat face. Boxers, however brachiocephalic too, are not as extreme as the breeds aforemen- tioned. Th erefore, the eye placement tends to be frontal, but it is not completely so. Th e width and length of the head deter- mines eye placement—there is a spectrum of variation on brachiocephalic heads, the more extreme the head the more frontal the eye placement. As far as eye shape goes, there seems to be a lack of proper, commonly accept- ed term to describe the Boxer eye. Judy Horton (www.worldwideboxer.com) and other authors have suggested the term “lemon shape”. I find that to be the best description as of yet. Longer headed dogs mostly will have elongated, almond shaped eyes and shorter headed dogs tent to have circular eyes. Boxers sit some- where in the middle. Boxer eyes are fuller than the almond shape and tend towards the circular yet the outer and especially the inner corners are still well defined.
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