Expert: Jannie Balliett - 6/13/2010

Question
Thanks for taking my question Jannie:
My two awesome boxers just had six puppies.  This will be my female's one and only litter because we are going to have her spayed now.  My question is, my husband and I would   like to keep two of them but we are concerned once they get older what will happen.  Will the males get along - what about the females?  We are your basic boxer lovers as you can probably tell and we don't want to make an uninformed decision.  Right now the pups are three weeks old.  Thanks for any information you can give me on this topic.

Answer
So your question is keep females or males?

Since you own mom and dad, keeping either will be fine, and either will have it's problems too.

I do suggest one each and spay and neuter both when the time comes to prevent interbreeding.

You will have your problems of dominance when the time comes, but nothing that cannot be handled early.

Begin letting the pups know that YOU are alpha. And the mom and dad know too, that YOU are the alpha.

If you need techniques to become the alpha in your "pack" just let me know.