Bishop's Boxers: A Chicago, Illinois boxer breeder committed to excellence and ethics in professional boxer breeding. We provide quality boxer puppies to the Midwest and Nationwide.
About Bishop's Boxers
Welcome to our blog!
We have been a Boxer-loving family since 1987. Our love for the breed began with our first boxer, Chesty. Purchased from a California pet store, Chesty was extremely intelligent and trained closely with military police dogs, becoming highly skilled in search and rescue.
After losing Chesty to cancer and knowing we didn't want to experience life without Boxers, we purchased a striking 8-month-old fawn male Boxer from Crossroad Boxers in California. We named him Bishop. Little did we realize that he would be the beginning of our kennel, Bishop's Boxers.
Bishop participated in many dog shows while we had time in graduate school, but then came four children and 16 years of active duty military life. Having the desire to have a puppy from Bishop and the determination to uphold and improve the standard of the Boxer breed, we bred Bishop and kept a puppy, Lady, from the litter in February of 2005. Lady produced two wonderful litters of puppies with Telstar Boxers. We continued our breeding program with Telstar Boxers and Eve, Lady’s daughter, until we retired from the military in 2016.
As we transitioned back into civilian life, we paused our breeding program for nearly five years and are pleased to introduce our two new Telstar females, Callie and Prancer. Our goal at Bishop’s Boxers is to be dedicated to breeding and raising healthy, beautiful dogs with affectionate temperaments and sound structure in accordance with the AKC Boxer breed standard. The health and well-being of all our animals from birth until they leave with their forever family--and beyond--is critical to us. We utilize current recommended health tests before breeding to provide our puppies the best opportunity for a long, healthy life.
Our puppies are raised by our family with children and other dogs. They play an active and very important role in caring for, preparing, and socializing the puppies for their future families. As a result, the puppies leave our home with a clear advantage in adapting and transitioning to their new families.
The puppy departures began tonight with mom Maddie and Bailey. Maddie was certainly an amazingly loving and caring mom right to the very end. They enjoyed their last playtime outside before getting a little spa treatment. A very special thanks to Maddie's owners for allowing Maddie to be such a big part of our lives!
2 months with these puppies has gone quickly, and their departure this week is bittersweet for us. They are all true gems and we know they will make many families very happy for years to come. Teddy will remain with us for a couple extra weeks, so we are making the other puppy departures gradual for him. They are eating about double what they ate last week, and, as you can see from the pictures, are growing like weeds!
These little rascals are on the move and more challenging to keep still for their photos. They were glad to get outside today after the rains. I picked up some new rope toys too, and they loved playing keep-away with each other.
The puppies had their first visit to the vet yesterday and they all got a clean bill of health! They also had their first set of puppy shots. You should now plan on scheduling an appointment in 3 weeks (the week of March 11) for their next round of shots.
We had a major bathing day today for the 3 older dogs since it was so warm out today (puppies won't get their first bath until their day of departure), which included shampoo, shaves, manicures and pedicures for all. Then we brought out the puppies for a picnic lunch and playtime. The fresh air does them good. Two more weeks!
Teddy
Brightman, Teddy (he jumped in the water bowl), and Bailey
Six weeks has flown by! The pups enjoyed the afternoon in the backyard, with Maddie teaching them about playtime.
Teddy (Rolo)
Bailey (Hershey)
Ruby (M&M)
Brightman (Snickers)
Maddie gently plays with her pups. They love the outside.
If you have another boxer at home, you may be wondering how they might react to a new puppy. We brought Eve out to play with the puppies for the first time, and you can see a difference between Maddie and Eve. Maddie, as mom, is gently guiding the play and uses her nose and paws to direct her pups. Eve wonders who these puppies are in her yard and is a little nervous and jumpy with them. The puppies are playful with both, but they are a little nervous about Eve's quick moves (Eve will be 3 in April). As you introduce your new puppy to those at home, take it slowly and be patient with both the mature dog and the puppy. Although the puppy will naturally require a lot of your attention, pay more attention to your mature dog than the puppy. This will allow the puppy blend into your relationships already established, instead of redefining them. You are bringing the puppy into your world, and that doesn't need to change just because a new puppy is in the family now. Be sure to never leave the mature dog and puppy unattended until the relationship between the two is established and safe.
It was a pleasure to meet most of our new owners over the weekend. We love knowing our puppies will be well cared for and loved immensely. Each has a new name, which we have begun using. Rolo is now Teddy, Hershey is now Bailey, M&M is now Ruby, and Snickers is now Brightman. They gave me a cute pose this afternoon!
Left to Right: Teddy, Brightman, Ruby, and Bailey
Nothing like the aroma of steaming dog food permeating your home!
Now that they have teeth (sharp ones!), we no longer need to blend their food, but we do completely soften it with hot water so they can eat it easily. They eventually won't need it so soft, but we do highly recommend that you always soften dog food with a little hot water. Choking on dog food is a common problem, especially among puppies, and it can easily result in death. Here is a great link by Eukanuba for extra advice about feeding your growing puppy.
Crate training is an essential part of training your new puppy. It provides a safe and comfortable home of it's own, and prevents damage (well, more like total destruction) of your home while you are away. We introduced the small crate today so the puppies see it as a "normal" part of life. With the door off, and a cozy mat inside, they can come and go as they please. As you can see, they made themselves right at home.
It was a nice day outside today, so we took the puppies out for the first time to get a little fresh air and some grass between their paws. Maddie tried to egg them on a little and play, and they had some fun with each other. They'll get regular outside time on warm days over the next couple weeks.
And I got nibbled and kissed by the little ones too. They are so much fun. They are always part of our family, even though they will have loving families of their own.
The puppies had their first meal besides mom's milk last night. We use Eukanuba Puppy food, blended with hot water (so it's like baby food consistency), and add a dollop of full fat (4%) cottage cheese for enticement. They seemed to be pretty happy with it.
