When we first decided to get a dog we knew that we wanted a Boxer. Why? Because they are great. That's why. Here was the list -

1. They are really smart and challenging and take alot of work.
2. They are really good family dogs, full of personality and tend to be really sweet.
3. They look scary and mean, which makes them effective guard dogs, but they're actually quite friendly.

Fritz has met and exceeded all of these expectations.

1. He is definitely smart - too smart - so that he gets bored and destroys things. As it turns out, not using capital punishment is what has taken the most work.

2. He LOVES kids. So much so that he tends to pounce on them and knock them over, not injuring them but definitely giving them a dog complex. He is FULL of personality. He's the only dog I've had that will look you right in the eye and listen to what you're saying as if he understands. We've had full conversations. He is really sweet and actually believes he's a lapdog. One time when I was lying face down on the couch watching TV, Fritz jumped up and laid on my back, dog-pile fashion.

3. He does look scary to some people but is really quite friendly. More than once, we've been on a walk through our neighborhood and a person we don't recognize yells out "Hi Fritz!"
I used to be convinced that if a burglar ever tried to break in to our house, Fritz would give him the grand tour, pointing out our most valuable items, "Here's the studio and over there is my people's most expensive gear. Oh, and don't forget the TV in the bedroom." On 2 separate occasions he failed the guard dog test...miserably. J came up to the gate disguised and acting suspicious. Most dogs would go into attack mode and sound the intruder alarm. Fritz did NOT bark at him or try to defend our home, nor did he welcome him and show him where to break in, but rather he ran. He ran all the way to the very back corner of the yard as far from the "intruder" as possible and was about to jump the fence into the neighbor's yard when J took off the disguise and Fritz realized who it was. That was a sad and disappointing day.

I guess I need to give him a little credit though, since on Halloween this year he barked at every masked kid who came up to our door, which is really something since he really does not bark very often. Maybe he's finally growing a spine. After all, he's not a puppy anymore.