Let's look at the CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) standard.
There are 4 snippets that reference the skin:
1- General Appearance-
The Boxer is a medium-sized, sturdy dog, of square build with short back, strong limbs, and short, tight-fitting coat. His musculation, well developed, should be clean, hard and appear smooth (not bulging) under taut skin
2- Coat and Colour -
Coat short, shiny, lying smooth and tight to the body.
3- Head -
The head should be clean, not showing deep wrinkles. Folds will normally appear upon the forehead when the ears are erect.
4- Neck-
Round, of ample length, not too short; strong and muscular and clean throughout, without dewlap, with a distinctly marked nape and an elegant arch running down to the back. Faults: Dewlap.
Note: The dewlap mentioned here is referred to loose skin hanging down around the Boxer dog's neck.
Next, we come to the UK (The Kennel Club of the United Kingdom).
We'll look at 4 snippets from this one:
1- General Appearance -
Great nobility, smooth-coated, medium-sized, square build, strong bone and evident, well developed muscles
2- Head and skull -
Skull cleanly covered, showing no wrinkle, except when alerted. Creases present from root of nose running down sides of muzzle.
3- Neck -
Round, of ample length, strong, muscular, clean cut, no dewlap
4- Coat -
Short, glossy, smooth and tight to body.
And now let's look at the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI)
standard which over 80 member countries, keeping in mind that it is describing the German Boxer line. There are 3 snippets that refer to the expected tightness of the dog's skin:
1- General Appearance -
The Boxer is a medium sized, smooth coated, sturdy dog
2- Head -
It should be clean, not showing any wrinkle. However natural folds are formed in the cranial region when alerted.
3- Skin-
Dry, elastic without any wrinkles.
In addition,
if you read the entire standard texts, the word 'muscle' or musculature' comes up 9 times in the AKC wording, a variation shows 10 times in the CKC document and 7 times with the FCI.
What This All Means
This leads one to believe that if a Boxer met standards, he would be exceptionally strong looking with a super tight coat and almost no wrinkles at all (folds on the forehead/ cranial region are mentioned in both CKC and FCI and creases from nose to muzzle are mentioned in the UK's document).
But that doesn't describe the typical Boxer that you'll find in homes throughout the States, Canada, the UK and other locations.
We must keep in mind 2 things:
1)
These are the standards for the ideal Boxer dog. The perfect dog does not exist; but if he did, the above wording would describe him.
2)
These explanations of ideal appearance are geared toward the adult Boxer even though younger dogs may enter.
The age that a Boxer dog is eligible to enter a conformation show varies depending on the county that is hosting the event. For example, in the US, with the AKC a dog must be 6 months old to enter a conformation show event. In the UK, a dog must receive 3 Challenge Certificates (CC) from 3 different judges to be able to receive the title of champion which is given to dogs over the age of 1 year old. Some counties have 'puppy' or 'junior' classes.
So, even though a Boxer puppy may be shown, the physical traits of having a lean, sleek yet muscled body does refer to older adolescent and adult Boxer dogs.
It should also be noted that the American lines tend to sometimes have marginally tighter skin than the UK or European lines, however many Boxers are a mixture of these types and loose skin cannot be attributed to the
Boxer breed type. It is simply an issue of age.