We are family who just love Boxers. A Boxer is your friend, not just a dog, they love your company and being treated as one of the family. Give lots of love and you will get it back 10 time over.
My name is Jayne Millhouse and I am Jaytopher Boxers.
My love for Boxers started many years ago.
When I was 12 I moved to Surrey with my family. We had lived in North London next door to a family with a lovely boxer dog that I used to walk every day. My sister and I begged our parents to get us our own boxer dog. One morning my father was in our front garden when a lady drove by with 4 boxer dogs in the back, my Dad flagged her down and asked her about her dogs and if she new where we could get a boxer from. She turned out to be a breeder called Katie Stimpson otherwise known as Katiecroft Boxers. She lived just round the corner from us (what luck) she invited us round and we met all her lovely dogs.
Katie took me to Crufts and we saw the boxer classes. I loved it, it was so exciting and Katie taught me so much.
Shortly after that one of Katie’s Bitches was expecting a litter and when they were born we went and saw them when they were really tiny. We saw them often and by the time they were ready to go we had chosen a little red boy nicknamed “Willie worm”. We called him Ben and we loved him to bits.
Every day we went for a walk in a local park, we had to drive past a field with cows in, Ben was fascinated by these animals and when he was 18 months old, he decided to leave the park and go and see the Cows. Sadly this involved the road and he was hit by a car and suffered internal bleeding and died at the vets.
We were devastated and broken hearted. My parents said no more, it was just too sad.
I was also very involved with horses and helped at stable yards at the weekends. One Saturday, approximately 1 month after Ben had died, I came home from the yard, I was tired, dirty and just wanted to eat and flop. Mum said that a lady had come to stay, her name was Cleo, being a grumpy teenager, I said “who’s that”, Mum opened the door and out came a lovely red boxer girl – called Cleo. She was 18 months old and had come from Boxer Rescue – through the London and Home Counties Boxer Club from a Rescue Centre called Tall Pines. She had not been badly treated just a victim of circumstance and needed a new home. After she had leapt all over me and given me lots of kisses, mum told me she had fleas, but I did not care – we had a boxer back in the house.
Cleo was very sad and depressed at first and we tried everything to make her feel happy and loved, but nothing seemed to be working. She was not eating and just seemed miserable. She had been with her brother in the Rescue Kennel, a brindle boy called Brinboy – he was huge and my mum did not think that she could cope with such a big dog, so Cleo was separated from her brother. She had been with him all her life and missed him.
One evening mum was cooking some chicken for my sister and my tea. Cleo left her bed and came round to the kitchen area, nose in the air – sniffing. Mum finished cooking the chicken, chopped it into little pieces and after it had cooled she gave it to Cleo – who ate it so quickly, with tail wagging. Mum was overjoyed. I don’t know what Susie and I had for tea, but Cleo definitely enjoyed the chicken. After that, she never looked back.
Cleo had a mention in the October 83 newsletter of the London and Home Counties Boxer Club after my mum sent a photo of Cleo enjoying her first Christmas with us. Her re-homing was also mentioned in the Tall Pines Boxer rescue section.
We had great fun with Cleo. She loved horses and loved being in the fields – trying to share the horses food, and stealing the carrots. She played football with our pony in the garden and enjoyed jumping the same jumps.
We took Cleo on lots of holidays, especially the Isle of Wight and many trips to Badminton Horse Trials. She really was part of our family and we took her everywhere.
My husband met Cleo when we first started to go out. He was very wary of dogs, (despite having a dog) but Cleo won him over. He got to know the clown, the lap dog!, the friend and the great companion that is the boxer.
Cleo eventually died of the dreaded Cancer in April 1992. She had it in her bones and her lungs. She was 13 ½ years old and despite being so frail she still loved her squeaky boot.
Our family had been without a boxer for 13 years. My parents could not face the heart ache of losing another dog and I got married in the September of 1992 and moved into a flat, not really the place to have a boxer dog, plus I was working all day, long hours and did not think that was fair. In the space of 10 years, we had three children, moved to a house with a garden and I stopped working.
I said to my husband – its time for a boxer dog.
I did lots of research on the internet about boxers, health issues and various breeders and found a couple who lived in Kent who had a litter due. The litter was born on my middle child’s Birthday (fate I thought). We contacted them and went to see the litter. We all fell in love with a little golden brindle girl and called her Millie.
She came and joined our house and our little Border collie puppy – Meg (Meg was bred by a friend). There was 6 weeks between them and they became the best of friends. They still love each other very much and will often share a bed, lying in a big heap of legs and body. Millie is a great comfort to Meg when there are fireworks or thunder, as nothing frightens Millie.
My children have now had the wonderful experience of dogs in the house, and of course a boxer puppy.
Millie has been a wonderful Ambassador for the breed. She is very friendly, loving all people and all other dogs. She loves to play and gets upset if the other dog is grumpy and wont play. She likes to go up to people and just stand by them waiting to be stroked. When they have had a stroke she goes off and plays again, much to the amusement of the person.
We had never intended to breed from Millie. Originally she was just going to be our pet. I did lots or surfing on the net and we tried a little local showing. It seemed good fun and reading the results pages from various breeders, I was getting caught up in the excitement of the competion. I did lots of Pedigree studying (which is very interesting) and I thought maybe it would be nice to bred a litter from Millie (she has a very good pedigree) and see if we get a puppy to start showing with or just a new boxer to add to our family, either way we win.
I found Rita Tucker of Abythorn Boxers in Romford, Essex, I spoke to Rita about breeding from Millie and they both thought Rapper (Abythorn All Wrapped up for Carmondene) would be a great mate.
All went well with the mating and the pregnancy, and on April the 12 2008 a wonderful litter of nine puppies were born. They all weighed about a 1lb in weight and yes Millie was huge.
We all instantly fell in love with them all. Any one who has one of our puppies has to be a special person who loves boxers very much.
My sister had one of Millie’s puppies; she had waited 16 years for her puppy and was very excited. Lucky for us most of the other puppies went to family and friends so we get to see and hear about them.
Millie is a great mum and loves her puppies very much. She was so gentle when they were small and now loves playing with them.
We don’t know what the future holds for us with regard to showing and breeding. But we do know that it will be fun. With boxers it can only be fun and most of all they are our pets and our friends.
We are always happy to talk about boxers or dogs in general. Give us a ring, or email us. We look forward to hearing from you.
Remember if it's not a Boxer is just a dog !!!
About Us
