Personality
By nature the Boxer is not an aggressive or vicious breed, but needs socialization to tolerate other dogs. Their sometimes over-protective, territorial, and dominating attitude is most intense in males. They are generally patient with smaller dogs, but can be dominant with larger dogs of the same sex.
Trainability
Boxers are a bright, energetic, and playful breed, and tend to be very good with children. Boxers have earned a slight reputation of being headstrong or stubborn, which can be related to inappropriate obedience training. Owing to their intelligence and working breed characteristics, training based on the use of corrections often has limited usefulness. Boxers often respond much better to positive reinforcement techniques such as clicker training.
Boxers as Pets
Boxers are friendly, lively companions that are popular as family dogs. Their suspicion of strangers, alertness, agility, and strength make them formidable guard dogs. They sometimes appear at dog agility or obedience trials and fly ball events.
These strong and intelligent animals have also been used as service dogs, guide dogs for the blind, therapy dogs, police dogs in K9 units, and occasionally herding cattle or sheep. The versatility of Boxers was recognized early on by the military, which has used them as valuable messenger dogs, pack carriers, and attack and guard dogs in times of war.