Coat, Ears & Tail

AKC Working Group · No. 18 in 2025

How to identify a Boxer

The Boxer is a medium-sized, square-built working dog, ranked No. 18 by the AKC in 2025. Start with the face: a broad, blunt muzzle about a third of the head’s length, usually under a black mask. Boxers are fawn or brindle only, and white can cover no more than a third of the coat.

Photo of a Boxer
Photo: Mood210 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC Boxer standard.

  1. “Broad, blunt muzzle” only ⅓ the length of the head, which the standard calls “the distinctive feature”
  2. Black mask on the muzzle; white may “replace part of” it and run up between the eyes
  3. Fawn or brindle only, with white markings covering no more than a third of the coat
  4. “Short, shiny” coat “lying smooth and tight”; square build, tail set high and carried up (docked for the show ring)

Tell them apart

Boxer or Cane Corso?

Check the muzzle and the color. A Boxer’s muzzle is short and blunt, about a third of the head, under a black mask, and the coat is fawn or brindle only, often with white. A Cane Corso is bigger and heavier, and comes in black, gray, fawn or red as well as brindle.

Boxer

Boxer

  1. “Broad, blunt muzzle” only ⅓ the length of the head, which the standard calls “the distinctive feature”
  2. Black mask on the muzzle; white may “replace part of” it and run up between the eyes
  3. Fawn or brindle only, with white markings covering no more than a third of the coat
  4. “Short, shiny” coat “lying smooth and tight”; square build, tail set high and carried up (docked for the show ring)
Cane Corso

Cane Corso

  1. “Medium-large size Molossus,” athletic, with a square-looking skull
  2. Muzzle “very broad and deep,” about one-third of the head’s length
  3. Ears cropped to an equilateral triangle, or natural and held tight to the cheeks
  4. Black, gray, fawn, or red, with brindling allowed; never tan-pointed

Boxer or Bull Terrier?

Check the head. A Bull Terrier has an egg-shaped head that curves down to the nose with no stop, and small, triangular eyes. A Boxer has a distinct stop and a short, blunt muzzle under a black mask. A mostly white dog points to a Bull Terrier, since a Boxer’s white can’t cover more than a third of the coat.

Boxer

Boxer

  1. “Broad, blunt muzzle” only ⅓ the length of the head, which the standard calls “the distinctive feature”
  2. Black mask on the muzzle; white may “replace part of” it and run up between the eyes
  3. Fawn or brindle only, with white markings covering no more than a third of the coat
  4. “Short, shiny” coat “lying smooth and tight”; square build, tail set high and carried up (docked for the show ring)
Bull Terrier

Bull Terrier

  1. “Egg shaped” head: oval from the front and curving “gently downwards” from skull to nose
  2. Small, thin ears “placed close together”
  3. Small, dark, “triangular” eyes set high and close
  4. White (markings on the head allowed) or Colored, where brindle is preferred; short, low tail carried level

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