Meetup for the dogs

By SUZANNE CROW HAGGERTY
For the Madison Spirit suzanne.haggerty@gmail.com

Online group lets boxer owners get together to socialize

The morning before Easter, nearly a dozen boxer owners braved unseasonably low temperatures to give their dogs a chance to frolic with other boxers at the Indian Creek Greenway in Madison. Chasing tennis balls, flying discs and one another, the dogs didn't seem to notice the cold.

Members of the Madison County Boxer Meetup Group gather on the first Saturday of the month to share breed information and let their dogs socialize with other boxers.

Madison resident Donna Patterson founded the group at www.meetup.com with her husband, Mike, after Maximus, their 5-year-old boxer, died of a brain tumor in September.

"He was the closest thing I had to a best friend. He was so human," Patterson said. "I truly wanted his short life to have purpose and meaning."

After Max died, she visited a group of boxer owners in Nashville, and the leader told her how to start her own club in Madison. The local group has more than 30 members, some of whom don't attend the gatherings, which are called Meetups, but like to chat online with other boxer owners. Patterson said people also contact her about boxers needing rescue, while others are looking for boxers.

During the April Meetup, the Pattersons' three boxers, McCoy, Mindy and Dakota, served as canine ambassadors, taking the lead in greeting new dogs. They tussled with 5-month-old Kota, who Huntsville resident Jim Reece brought to the gathering "to learn how to be a dog," and a couple of boxers quickly learned who was most likely to pick up a wet tennis ball and throw it across the field again and again.

For a while, the center of attention was Gus, a deaf white boxer belonging to Katie Riggs, a Madison resident and senior at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and her parents, Robin and Van.

Gus, one of the biggest and fastest dogs at the Meetup, ran full speed in circles around the park as the other dogs surrounded him, barking and trying to keep up.

The Riggses, who also have a boxer named Maggie and a black lab named Ellie, adopted Gus after a woman in Albertville found him and contacted Patterson. The only identification Gus had was a collar that said "I can't hear."

After Katie heard about Gus, she looked up deaf dogs online and decided her family could handle the challenge.

"It was never really an issue," she said. "The other dogs treat him just like anybody else. He takes a lot of cues from the other dogs."

Patterson also runs an online boxer merchandise business, www.maximusboxerproducts.com, which sponsors the meetup group. She said she doesn't want boxers to become a trendy breed purchased by people who aren't prepared for them. "They're not for everyone," she said. "They're people-type dogs. They want to be with their owners all the time."

Angie Persch, executive director of the boxer rescue group Rockin' "P" Rescue in Jacksonville, said her group's volunteers try to match the personalities of their available boxers to potential owners. An active family, for example, would be well-suited for a very energetic 2-year-old boxer, while an older couple may be looking for a more laid-back dog.

The group, which lists available boxers and shares information about the breed atwww.rockinprescue.org, prefers placing boxers in homes with fenced-in yards, though Persch advises against leaving the dogs alone outside all day.

"Boxers are very people-oriented. They will become destructive if left alone in a yard."