Roxy is about one year old and was surrendered by her owners. They purchased her from a breeder in Arizona. A Boxer puppy is a huge investment in time and training. Roxy unfortunately did not receive either. Due to a family member's allergic reaction to her she was mostly outside. We promised her family that we would help Roxy find the right home for a happy forever.
Upon arrival at BRLA her complete lack of social exposure cause her to lash out in fear and insecurity. She was extremely reactive to dogs and people she saw outside. She is a big strong young lady and her lunges nearly pulled volunteers off their feet. She would get so overwhelmed and overstimulated that she demonstrated the desire to "transfer"; where a dog gets so worked up over something they see and if they cannot get to the target they snap at anything nearby. Volunteers legs were at risk.
Roxy is extremely treat motivated and our team is very determined. Step by step we started to see improvement with Roxy. She was getting used to the outside work and was beginning to trust and gain some confidence. She is definitely a work in progress and has a lot more to learn. But she has taken the first steps.
After about 5 weeks of social and confidence building, Roxy finally trusted that all was okay and walked with another Boxer. He was the most calm and most balanced candidate for her to get her social training wheels with. Roxy can still be reactive to other dogs so her future will be training and more training until she loses her edge.
She is young and eager to learn (now that she realized treats are part of the process) but she will only succeed with someone fully committed to put in the work still required. She is a big powerful girl with a lot of energy to put somewhere. Her energy needs to be put to positive training to build confidence and lose reactivity.
Considering her previous attempts to "transfer" an adult only home is best. Being the only dog in the home will give Roxy the time to continue training and gaining social skills with dogs out in the world.
She is like a Boxer bowling ball of love. Ready to bloom in the right home with the right skills for her. She is making up for lost time.
THE RIGHT HOME FOR ROXY SHOULD
