| Paradise Ranch Boxers |
| Boxer Health |
| Contact Us! Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about our Boxers or breeding program. Check out each individual Boxer or litter on the Male Boxers, Female Boxers, Current litters or Past Litters page. Be sure to visit the gallery , our Testimonials Page and our Boxer Family Page for some of our favorite photos as well! Thanks for dropping in we hope you enjoyed your stay! |
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| Here at PR Boxers we strive to raise the most Mentally and Physically healthy puppies possible. In doing so we have scoured the Internet and library educating ourselves on all the aspects of canine health, Boxers in particular. What we found is that Beginning with the genetics handed down in the DNA, to the never ending assaults of the products in their environment, and the quality of the ingredients we feed them, There will never be one right answer that everyone agrees with but it was pretty simple to deduce that we needed to find a good food, find a way to boost the immune system and work our way up to including as many genetic tests as possible. The first two were fairly easy, the third will take some time but will be something we will be constantly working toward. As of 2018 100% of our stock has been tested for Heart via Echocardiogram and DM. Holter Results available for most. Hip certifications are next on the list for those that don't have it already. So, let's start with the first one, a good food. This happens to be something I have had some experience with and spent many hours researching. Years ago I had rescued a Rottweiler puppy. This was around the time that Science Diet was climbing the fame ladder and I chose Science Diet puppy. By the time Diago was 18 months old he was mostly lame. His joints in his knees were toast and so were some of his internal organs. I worked as a vet tech at the time and ran all possible tests to determine the problem. While we were testing the story came out that the formula for the puppy food was too rich and forcing too rapid of a growth pattern. Hence, the reason we now have foods specifically formulated for large breed puppies. Test results concluded diet was the likely culprit. My research taught me a few very important things that the majority of the big name dog foods, especially those sold in most grocery/walmart stores, don't want you to know. For a balanced diet a dog needs a certain amount of "digestible" protein to maintain health. So in their marketing, pet food companies tried to emphasize the protein content of their foods. Here's the kicker, shoe leather and chicken feet and beaks are 26% protein, but totally not digestible for the canine. Anything that says "by-product" is usually a mix of hideous, leftover, swept from the floor ingredients that are pass through fillers, used to raise the numbers on the nutritional specs of the feed, again not digestible. The first ingredient in most of these foods? Corn. This may sound nasty but have you ever looked into the toilet a day or so after you have eaten corn on the cob? If so, you most surely saw the corn kernels that did not digest passing right on through. It works that way with horses too. If fed a sweet feed with corn, whether whole or cracked you can see it in their stools. It is a filler, plain and simple, that has the side effect of increased energy and provides a small amount of protein making it a cheap ingredient that allows the manufacturer to use less actual meat to meet the protein requirements. Corn also has the dangerous and common possibility of containing Aflotoxin, a type of mold that can grow on the corn that is very potent and dangerous causing many deadly side effects including Liver Failure. So the quality of the ingredients is of utmost importance. This holds true for alot of the other required vitamins and minerals as well, certain sources are more bio available than others. This all led me to take a tour of a few dog food plants. The winner at that time was NutroMax. At the time it was the only company emphasizing the use of human grade ingredients and the factory was immaculate. Nowadays, there are several companies with above average products but unfortunately they like to take your right arm and leg in exchange. Not a big issue when you own one or two dogs but becomes a huge issue when you own several. Not into cutting corners but want to get what I pay for and don't like paying for advertising we found a website called dogfoodadvisor.com This site is not funded by any dog food companies. They analyze the ingredients, the form they come in and the source of the ingredients and rate them from 1-5 stars. I recommend this tool to help you decide which 4 or 5 star dog food you would like to feed. Although not all 4-5 star rated foods on this site are ones I consider to be safe or recommended as some of them are grain free and contain ingredients I try to steer clear of. Read on...A few more tips....as mentioned above I steer clear of corn, by-products, wheat and soy. And with the recent FDA warnings about Grain Free foods causing Diet related Heart issues in dogs,I also avoid anything with peas, or pea flour or anything related to peas, lentils, potatos, sweet or white, garbonzo beans, and flaxseed unless it is farther than 5 ingredients down on the list. The combination of these extra above mentioned ingredients that supply protein in varying levels can actually allow them to include less Meat (meat based porteins) even though it may be mentioned first on the list and most grain free foods contain less meat than grain inclusive versions due to this fact. Meat based proteins are processed differently and provide different types of nutrients and minerals than Plant based proteins, (which actually block the uptake of some nutrients or have non-bioavailable nutrients). You want your meat sources named specifically and chicken meal is better than chicken as chicken is mostly water so whats left after they process it into kibble is minimal, while chicken meal is essentially what is left after processing the chicken already and is more dense and nutritious than the chicken itself but remember chicken, pork or beef meal is better than meat or poultry meal as it specifies the exact source. There are many more similar facts to learn about reading a dog food label but a few minutes on Dog Food Advisor is all you need to begin to be a smart label reader. A word of caution about the grain free fad. In order for a food to be truly grain free it would have to contain a very large amount of meat protein to be balanced. To do this would make the food too expensive for the majority of dog owners so manufacturers began scrambling for different cheaper ingredients to raise the specs on the food. So there is a lot of lentils and fruits and vegetables being added to these foods. Some grain free foods are deficient in Taurine and can cause heart problems like Cardiomyopathy. Lentils (peas)are phyto-estrogens and can cause reproduction issues in breeding animals and possible hormonal imbalances in others. Grain free is just not all its cracked up to be. It has a place with animals who have allergy issues to grains though it is not always better than grain inclusive. Another truth to ponder is that the same ingredient can be listed on two different brands but not mean the same thing at all in terms of quality. A cheaper grocery store dog food may list corn as well as a high priced brand but I can assure you the corn in the cheaper food will be bottom of the barrel molded waste that they cant sell for any other purpose while the corn in the higher priced food will likely be a cleaner version. That is true of most of the ingredients. Vitamins, minerals and fats and antioxidants can be sourced from different ingredients, the cheaper ones will be less bio available than the more expensive ones, meaning your dog will be able to utilize the ingredients in the more expensive food better than the ones in the cheaper food. And most times the cheaper ingredients are the sources for allergy issues as they usually will include some degree of mold, toxins, bacteria and other unpleasant stuff. You get out what you put in and I truly believe that feeding them better quality food goes a long way to help prevent cancers and auto immune issues as well as obesity and bone and joint issues. You will likely be able to feed less of the better foods than you would the cheaper food as well making clean up easier also. Next lets tackle the environment and the immune system. Research has shown that Canines did not have all the health issues plaguing them today until we started feeding them commercially prepared dog foods and housing and feeding them in plastic kennels and bowls. Most ailments that are prevalent today were never heard of when the dogs were kept in a natural environment and fed an all natural, un-processed diet. I do believe that feeding a RAW diet is probably best but it is not for everyone and we could never expect our puppy buyers to adhere to the extra costs and maintenance issues needed to feed a RAW diet. Then there is the environment issue. So many things we come in contact with on a daily basis and never give a second thought to are sources of trouble for our pets. The chemicals in our cleaners and carpets, the detergents used to wash their bedding, the plastics they eat and drink from, the chemicals we subject them too in the name of keeping them healthy and flea and parasite free all wreak havoc on their immune systems introducing free radicals bent on destroying healthy tissue and processes. So we went looking for something to help boost their immune systems. NU-Vet fit the bill. Not just an ordinary vitamin/mineral supplement but an immune system supplement that works on a cellular level with years of research behind it, numerous patents and state of the art processing procedures. Seeking out the free radicals that we have subjected them to in their environment and the food we feed them and destroying them. All you have to do is read the hundreds of testimonials on their website from happy pet owners everywhere telling how numerous ailments have been cured or controlled by this supplement to agree that there is more reasons to try it than there are not to try it. Tumors reduced or eliminated, thyroid issues gone, shedding cured, old arthritic pets able to walk again, pets the vet sent home to die living another several months to years longer. The list goes on. See some preliminary info on our Nu-Vet page and visit their website for hundreds of testimonials. We use this supplement and recommend it to our puppy buyers. We will extend the one year Health Guarantee another 24 months for a total of 3 years if the buyers will keep their pet on the program during that time. That's how much we believe in it. BUT I was still hearing story after story of Boxers passing from cancer and other ailments even in families that did feed good food. And knowing about the mere 25% genetic statistics, stating that only 25% of our pets common ailments are genetic or hereditary, the rest caused by environmental influences, there had to be another answer. Recent research led us to stumble on some of the biggest findings in decades that totally bucks tradition and the way things have been done for decades. And in my opinion explains why we are seeing an increase of issues in our companion animals that time wise correlates back to when we began early routine Spay/Neuter of our pets and annual vaccinations and preventive measures. Let's tackle the Spay/Neuter issue first. I'm including a short summary in my words of an article from Canine Sport Productions by Chris Zink DVM, PhD, DACVP titled Early Spay Neuter Considerations for the Canine Athlete: Orthopedic Considerations. It seems through 15 cited studies from 1991 to present, in this article alone, (there are many more) that we are NOT doing our dogs any favors by Spaying and Neutering and that Spaying/Neutering too early before puberty or maturity is detrimental to their health in a number of ways. Early Spay/Neuter done before maturity/puberty causes significantly delayed closure of growth plates, so bones continue to grow when the hormones that regulate growth are absent. This results in abnormal angles in stifles, longer heavier lower leg bones resulting in stress on the Cranial Cruciate ligament, among others, leading to ruptures of these ligaments. A dog subjected to early Spay/Neuter is frequently easily identified by a taller appearance due to the longer limbs, lighter bone structure than the breed may carry, narrow chests and skulls and general unbalanced conformational appearance. Increased CCL/ACL ruptures is just one finding followed by higher incidence of Hip Dysplasia, 5 X's greater risk of hemangiosarcoma, now one of the 3 most common types of cancer in canines, (wonder why since the majority of our pets are spayed/neutered), higher chance of Bone Cancer, undesirable behaviors such as sexual, aggression, phobias, behavioral, stress, and separation anxiety to name a few. There is a higher incidence of cognitive impairment in old age, urinary incontinence in females and urethral sphincter incontinence in males. Spaying/Neutering is considered the most significant risk factor for Hypothyroidism as well. A higher incidence of vaccine and medication reactions in spayed/neutered dogs surely relates to the belief that the immune system is dependent on hormones to work properly. The above research along with personal experience and observation has led us to alter our stand on Spay/Neuter and our Health Guarantee to include the requirement that you do NOT Spay/Neuter your pet before the age of one year/or before first heat for females, and we prefer 18 months to two years. You will void your guarantee by doing so. Maturation of the Reproductive system produces estrogen and testosterone and other hormones, which are critical not only for the development of muscles, bones, and mental acuity, but also the immune system! These hormones, starting at the peak of puberty, can virtually supercharge the immune system, turning it on full blast and decreasing suspectability to many infectious diseases among other things. Not only can delayed Spaying and Neutering for 2-3 years be protective against all sorts of ailments, it can also help to fully mature the immune system for a lifetime. Speaking of the immune system brings me to the next big injustice the veterinary profession is perpetuating on our pets. AAHA ,AVMA is the organization relied upon by vets for the most current up to date research and guidelines considering vaccinations and how long they last, when to repeat, which ones are neccessary and which ones are safe or un safe in certain circumstances. The AAHA has done its job, the guidelines and research are there in black and white, and have been since 1995 but the VETS are NOT listening or following the guidelines. It states that our core vaccines such as Distemper, Parvo, Adendovirus and others provide sufficient immunity for at least 5-11 years! That's right..5-11 years or possibly the dogs lifetime. So yearly, annual vaccinations are NOT needed and are a major source of attack on our pets immune systems causing a whole host of issues including every major auto-immune issue known among a long list of other maladies including the big one...cancer! Specialty vaccines, while beneficial in very specific high risk circumstances, are rarely effective and highly dangerous in terms of reactivity and side effects, causing more issues than they prevent. And others are just plain not needed or not reccommended at all by the AAHA. You can read this report yourself at https://www.aaha.org/public_documents/professional/guidelines/caninevaccineguidelines.pdf These statistics have been known to be true since 1995.Though they are frequently reviewed, I found it ironic that just recently in 2015 they changed the reccommendation from 5 years to 3 years. But there is NO new studies to base that change on that I have found and the most recent research studies done still adhere to the 5-7 year immunity statistic. AAHA does not force Veterinarians to adhere to the guidelines because they are funded in part by 4 major vaccine companies. And here is where I believe the pressure to revise the document came from. Vaccines make up 15% of a vets practice income but 65% is treating the vaccine induced lifelong illnesses. Some are probably just un-informed or un-educated on the facts and statistics, others follow the status quo of those who go before them and others, not liking change, most likely are just protecting the bottom line. When a puppy is born it receives maternal antibodies that circulate through the puppies bloodstream. The amount of antibodies depends on the immunity level of the dam and is also different for each puppy and changes as the puppy gets older. These maternal antibodies actually negate the effects of the vaccines we give them when they are present. Hence the reason they have to be repeated every 3-4 weeks. So this means that we never really know when a puppy is really protected due to varying levels of either antibodies or vaccines. Studies show that at the age of 16 weeks there are no longer any maternal antibodies present to interfere with vaccine immunity. So the most important shot your puppy will ever receive is the one given at or after 16 weeks of age. If you remember the cited study above this vaccination could protect your puppy for 5-7 years or possibly even your dogs entire life. But back to those first 16 weeks- this time frame is the most critical for your puppy's health. During this time frame your puppy needs to be protected from exposure to contagions. This means do NOT take your puppy to the dog park or any other outdoor area that other dogs frequent. When traveling with your puppy look for places to potty your puppy that are not obviously going to be attractive to everyone else looking to potty their dog. If you take your puppy to the pet store, carry them and do not let anyone else pet your puppy or let it sniff noses with any other pets. When you take your puppy to the Vet do NOT let them walk in, carry them in. And take a towel from home to lay on the scale that they will invariably ask you to place your puppy on. Anyone ever seen them clean the scale after each pet? Me neither. I also use my home towel on the exam table. Though early socialization and training is important it needs to be done with the puppies health in mind. Have trusted friends visit your home in these early weeks for that purpose and leave the group training sessions for 2 weeks after that 16 week vaccination. Its not commonly followed but it could be a good idea, and one we practice, to carry cleaning wipes with bleach in your vehicle to wipe the bottom of your shoes with upon re entry to your vehicle or have a bleach bath, consisting of a catbox sized tub with paper towels in the bottom soaked with a bleach solution near your entry door to step in before entering your house. It is only for those 8 weeks after leaving our care that they will need that extra protection and here are 2 scenarios that will make you think... First one is a true story I read in a dog magazine once. A guy who lived in one state and his mother in another state wrote about his experience with the devastating degree of contagious abilities of parvo. He had a neighbor who had a new puppy. Un-benownst to him this puppy had contracted parvo, It was fall and the leaves were blowing everywhere. The man left his townhome to head to the airport to go visit his mother who had recently aquired a new puppy as well, 7 days after his visit his mothers puppy came down with parvo. And these two pups were separated by several states but brought together on the bottom of one mans shoe. The second scenario, if someone has a puppy come down with bloody diarreah all over their house where do you think the first place they will go other than the vet will be? Walmart, to get supplies to clean up the mess, and you just happened to need a gallon of milk from that very same Walmart. It is THAT easy to expose your puppy. And again, it is only for 8-10 weeks that you need to be extra cautious. It will be worth the money you WONT spend in vet bills, I assure you. So what comes after the first 16 weeks? As mentioned above, the core vaccinations do NOT need to be repeated annually. Our recommendation is to do a Titer test at one year of age. A Titer test is a blood test that will tell you the immunity levels of your pet to all of the core vaccines including Rabies. If there is any response at all it means your pet has immunity and does NOT need to be vaccinated again. Titer tests can be run as often as you want but every three years should be sufficient. Some state and city entities are now allowing and accepting Titer test results instead of vaccinating. I will end the vaccine rant on Rabies in saying that it is one of the MOST dangerous of all and can cause lifelong personality changes in your pet, especially if given too young to an immature immune system. It can cause Rabies Miasm (do a google search or use the search option on dogsnaturallymagazine .com) either early on or as an accumalative effect from each subsequent Rabies shot. Our guarantee states that you will NOT vaccinate for Rabies before 6 months of age and preferably not before 12-14 months. Other vaccines not considered CORE vaccines are considered specialty vaccines are usually not reccommended as their benefits in most cases do not outweigh the risks. I strongly urge you to delve deeper and use the search option on the below link for more detailed info on each vaccine, heartworm prevention, and so much more. Details in the link above and below on vaccines. On to genetics. Studies show only 25% of the ailments affecting our pets is due to genetics. The rest is environmental. The 75% that's environmental stems from the already mentioned above diet, to the relentless application of preventive medications and vaccines we subject our pets to whether they need them or not, including flea meds, heartworm prev, monthly anti parasitic, and more, to the chemicals in their environment we use to clean the carpets they lay on, the lawns they play on and the beds they sleep on, as well as the bowls they eat from and the chemicals we mop our floors with that they then lick off their feet. All of which their natural immune system was not meant to have to deal with and causes a continuous forced reaction from the immune system. While I am not saying some of these products don't have their place in certain circumstances, I do NOT believe they are safe for monthly application when not needed. Don't treat for fleas if you dont have them. There are safer ways to deal with the occasional contact with fleas than monthly, just in case, scenarios. (Dawn dish soap kills adult fleas, and CapStar is a safe medication that kills adult fleas for 24 hours and can be given for several days in a row if needed without subjecting the animal to 30 days of chemical) New research on Heartworm prevention shows monthly application unnecessary as well and actually testing every 4 months is just as cost effective as and safer for your dog than monthly administration. The newer combination products offered by Vets are far more dangerous than single products and are usually "preventing" something that isnt likely to happen anyway. Don't use a wormer on your pet if a fecal hasn't shown it to be neccessary. We tend to use products that have been on the market for more than 5 years. I'd be happy to discuss alternative options personally. A good source for info on all these things and more is http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com This is a holistic canine website that is devoted to uncovering the truth about canine health and wellness. Articles are backed up by credits and links to studies used to garner the information. Its search function is an invaluable tool to finding the truth about vaccines, heartworm prevention/treatment, specialty vaccines info, early spay/neuter and so much more. For that 25% that can be genetic we do the following. We have added some Euro lines to our program to improve the health, longevity and quality. There is a huge problem in the US as far as the quality of the Boxer breed is concerned and we are essentially the laughing stock of the European countries in that regard. Too many people are breeding any Boxer to any Boxer without thought or regard to health and quality and the integrity of whether or not the lines are even pure in some cases has been questioned. If you research the Boxer standard and then look around on the internet you will find that American Boxers are no longer even looking like Boxers in most cases. Long noses, fly away ears, broken down feet, light bones, bad bites are just a few traits you will find in most advertised puppies not being bred by reputable dedicated breeders. On the other hand I also feel that some of the show breeders are just as guilty at ignoring or covering up issues in return for a chance at the win in the ring for names sake. Therefore finding a delicate balance is hard, but is where we try to fit in. The Europeans take great pride in their Boxers and most have to prove their worth in the show ring or as a working dog before they are bred. Crossing the two often brings the best of both worlds and types together into a nice well balanced Boxer. Then there is the issue of inheritable genetic diseases that are plaguing most breeds of dogs including the Boxer. Several years ago research led to testing methods for most of the more predominant ailments beseiging the Boxer. There are now tests for the Cardiac problems, DM, ARVC, Thyroid, and of course Hip and Elbow Displasia. This allows breeders to make better decisions when mating dogs who may carry genes for some of these maladies. There are limits on some of the tests requiring the dogs to be of certain ages before testing. You will find some who demand that all this needs to be done before breeding any dog and though I agree that it can help ensure we are doing our best to breed puppies that have the best chance of living a long healthy life, we also have to entertain the fact that if all dogs tested to be carriers or affected were removed from the picture, the gene pool would be drastically reduced resulting in a greater risk of low lying genes for a hundred other ailments we dont have tests for or current problems with, to rear their ugly heads and plague the breed, as well as essentially getting us no further to our unattainable goal of totally erradicating any and all health issues. So I wholeheartedly believe that where possible these tests can help us make better breeding decisions where certain ailments are involved but as with everything, even with the testing there is still no 100% guarantee that there will not be an issue. Chances are better but not guaranteed. I also believe that going overboard on excluding some bloodlines can have the same disastrous effects we were trying to avoid. This testing is expensive and in some cases must be performed on an ongoing basis. For the breeders, including us, who raise their own stock it means you will have 2 years invested in the dog before it is old enough to test and breed. The hardest part of that is the emotional investment for most of us, financial investment aside. This along with pedigree differences and time and effort expended to produce an all around physically and mentally well balanced puppy will help explain the reason for the price difference between a $200-400 puppy and the $1,200-1500 puppy. Our goal is to continue testing our stock and add that to all the rest of the efforts taken here at PR Boxers to produce an affordable, physically and mentally well balanced, healthy, properly socialized puppy. Here at PR Boxers our puppies are whelped in the house, underfoot where they are a part of and exposed to daily life. We are home based in our business so we are most always home, resulting in the ability to spend plenty of time with the pups. They are supplemented from birth, along with the dams, to prevent any chance of malnourishment and to keep the dams in top condition. Their environment is kept clean and climate controlled so our puppies are not expending extra calories trying to stay warm or cool. They are started on Nu-Vet Immune supplements and dewormed and vaccinated in a holistic manner. They are fed the best possible diet of high quality kibble. Special attention is paid to introduce outside stimuli at the proper age and in the proper way to ensure a mentally balanced and well socialized puppy. We have made the effort and taken the time to choose our breeding stock carefully and include some of the best pedigrees and bloodlines possible and/or chosen the best possible representative of the breed to include in our program. We are constantly striving to better the breed with each litter. We also offer Lifetime Breeder Support. If at anytime in each puppy's life they are in need of a home they are required, and welcomed, to be returned to us for placement support. We are always, no matter how long it has been, available to our buyers to answer any questions or lend any support needed. We also are one of very few breeders who offer LIVE puppy Cameras for deposit holders, which allows you to watch the puppies grow from birth to 8 weeks, 24/7 live on your smart phone. So no worrying about whether your puppy is being raised in a clean healthy environment or not as you get a ringside seat! Please visit the Nu-Vet page here and the Nu-Vet website for further information on those products. And if you don't buy a puppy from us, please be careful in your search and ask the right questions to ensure you are supporting responsible breeding. We will help you in any way we can whether or not you buy a puppy from us. Thanks for visiting and considering a PR Boxer puppy!! |
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| To be eliglible to be added to the waiting list for a PR Boxer puppy the reading below and on the Purchase a Puppy page is required as is a telephone conversation. The information below is likely to be very enlightening depending on your outlook and contains all that I used to go over with everyone by phone. However, our clientel has grown to the level that there is not enough time to verbally go over all this info with each person and still have the time we need to spend with these amazing dogs. So to simplify and free up time I have put it all on here. After which we will have a conversation to answer any questions you may have or provide more details. It is a long read but please endure to the end , it may even save you thousands in vet bills. |