About Briarbush Boxers, LLC.

Zoe
She is waiting at the rainbow bridge, Bitter sweet, but ever fond, till eternity I'll love thee, till forever and beyond...

Behind Briarbush Boxers, LLC. is my first boxer Zoe aka doe-doe. I purchased her when I was young, just 17 years old. She was my first true love and my best friend for many years. I fell in love with her honest eyes at a pet shop in 1990.

In my mind I rescued her. Because of her, I will never have any other kind of dog. And because of her I have a desire to produce boxers of sound mind, body and soul.

Our Kennel

The home that we have created for our boxers is a 30’ x 36’ building that as it was being constructed has gone through many changes. What works, what does not?

We made sure that the materials that we used are non- toxic. The paint contains no VOC, the insulation is formaldehyde free, and there are plenty of windows and plants. The lighting is broad spectrum, as close to natural as artificial can be.

The dogs have rooms to stay in and they are not kenneled very often. Each room is approximately 10’x14’, and is limited to two dogs. On top of that, they always have plenty of toys, no PVC’s and real beef bones to occupy their time. All cleaning agents are non-toxic, and the grounds are maintained with all natural ingredients. The above is due to lots of research on toxins and the relation to cancer. This is one of the health issues that plague the boxer.

Our Rural Location

The outside area for our dogs is approximately two acres of field. There are small, 10x20 individual fenced areas for unsupervised outdoor play and the rest is one big fenced area. The fencing is to keep out the poor porcupine, and other wild critters. Due to our location we have many, moose are quite frequent visitors, bear, bob cats, fisher cats, coy dogs, dear and many other less threatening.

What We Feed Our Dogs

We feed our dogs high quality dog food; there are no well-known brands such as Purina, Pedigree, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet or Old Roy. Nutrition is a very high standard at Briarbush, corn and rice are not something a dog needs to eat every day. Yes, high quality food is more expensive, but in the long run it is not. Our dogs are fed mostly raw meat/bones and vegetables, something different all the time. The main base is chicken, turkey, fish and beef. The raw diet is well balanced with a variety of ingredients, including meat, offal, and fruits and vegetables. They are also given assorted vitamins, minerals,
enzymes and herbs.

Health Considerations

“Genetically inherited” disorders such as heart disease, cancer, dysplasia and thyroid imbalances have all also been proven to be linked to improper nutrition. We are what we eat. We do not over vaccinate our dogs; the only shots that are given are puppy shots and the required rabies vaccination. We do not use frontline, heartguard, flea dips or other toxic topical/internal applications. We believe that a healthy immune system does just fine on its own. There are
many alternative treatments available that are much less harmful to the body.

In Conclusion

Our kennel will always be work in progress; there are many more improvements to come, more ideas and bigger dreams. Those dreams have always been to achieve a level of commitment to the breed that far exceeds what most desire. Part of the commitment is a never-ending lesson of loving, understanding, heartache, loss and most of all learning. Every true animal lover does this cycle repeatedly. It is a commitment to selflessness.

We are always available for advice; we are willing to pass our knowledge to others. Our doors are always open, by appointment of course.

The Half Breed

They call me a Boxer, But I’m a Half-breed.
Part Boxer of course, And part people indeed.

Anyone who owns me knows that its true.
We’re so close to being people, we’re like part of you.
“He’s one of the family”, you’ve heard people say.
“Don’t know how we will manage when he passes away.”

But they’ll get another Boxer, a pure bred at first.
Not the most well-behaved puppy, but far from the worst.
Then the change will take place, the same as before.
They’ll end up with the same Boxer Half breed once more…

Anonymous