Owning a Boxer

Well hello all ye' SFL readers!!!!

Maddie from Thriftary here.

I am SO excited to be hanging out with all you friends today. Mostly because I get to talk about one of the cutest and wrinkliest and hyper parts of my day. My little boxer dog, Macey.

My husband and I got Macey about two months after we got hitched, almost 3 years ago. Wow. I can't believe she is almost 3. We picked her up from a farm in Atlanta, GA. She was the tiniest little thing, with a lot of bowel issues. We are very sure that she was not born into a good situation. She was only about 6 weeks old when we got her!

She was immediately a snuggler and super playful, even though she was in pretty bad shape for the first 6 months or so. We were in and out of vets offices, trying different methods to figure out why that poor little girl just couldn't hold it in. It turns out, she has colitis, and had to be put on a very strict food diet at a young age. There were so many times that my husband and I questioned wether we could afford to keep Macey in those early days... And every time we were just brought to tears by her sweetest disposition.

Oh my goodness. All of these old photos are killing me! Anywho... After we got Mace Face's colitis under control... It was all downhill from there. She was super smart, REALLY hyper and the most loyal companion in the world.

So many people told us (those who didn't own boxers) "don't get a boxer!! They are so cute but so hyper and will chew your house to bits."

Well folks. You are sadly mistaken. I think that most dogs would unfortunately fall under that category if you don't give them the attention they need!

Macey is:

- The easiest dog to train. She wants nothing more than to do exactly what Ben and I ask

- If Macey get's chastised, she tends to lean her head really low and crawl away

- Early on, we taught Macey to "Die" which is a trick where she lays down and rolls over. This is ANOTHER way that she shows us she is really really sorry.

- The only thing that she has ever chewed is socks and trash. Annoying... Yes. But not irreplaceable.

- She LOVES to hike and camp and jog. She is definitely in her element when she's got her backpack on and she's on a mission.

- She has never met a dog she didn't like. Now, some dogs may not like her because she is SO loving (she tends to lick other dog's faces instead of sniffing them, in salutations) but not the other way around.

- Macey is very protective of Ben and I. Until she realizes that you are not a threat, and then she tends to jump and kiss.

- Macey would sleep on top of me every night if I let her. However, my husband won't let that happen (though we do steal a couple hours of cuddle time when he works late).

- Though Mace is about 50 lbs now, she still acts like a lap dog.

- Macey has the boxer lean, where she loves to sit on your toes and lean on your leg and stare off into the distance. Just to let you know that she is there and she's got it all under control.

All this Macey talk is getting me teary eyed.

Typical of the boxer breed, Mace is a completely playful and adorable addition to our family. We wouldn't be the same without her.