Expert: Jannie Balliett - 1/2/2011

Question
My family consist of two girls 8 and 2 years my wife and I and we are considering purchasing a boxer that is 14 months old. We were wondering if this is wise since my 2 year old is small? We have always had dogs however we recently moved to Germany and we weren't able to bring our retriever over. The family that is selling the boxer has two older children however they don't have time to attend to the dog. Would it be wise to bring the boxer to my home for the children?

Answer
Boxers are excellent with children.

I would recommend asking them to bring the Boxer to your house on a leash, and see how he behaves with your children first.

A test run.

If the 14th month old Boxer is fine then you know you can buy him and add him to your family.

Be sure to ask them about his training and commands so you can control him and ask how they reprimand him, etc.

You want everything to be consistent.