My partner, Bob Blumberg, and I had a vision of what might be done to improve the lot of the Boxer in this country.  Often dying far too young of various cancers (such as lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma and osteosarcoma) and ARVC (boxer cardiomyopathy), the state of the breed inspired us to look to the concept of general longevity in the pedigree when making breeding decisions.  As Dr. Robert Bezel said once in a television interview:

                “The best way to have a long life

                        is to have old parents.”

Bob, himself, died relatively young, in August, 2007.  He left behind him a commitment to trying to ensure long life in the Boxer through health testing coupled with longevity pedigree research -- and a strong belief that AKC champions can be made without the benefit of cosmetic surgery on their ears.  Thus, although certainly we will sell to show homes that prefer to crop, a puppy born at Minstrel and staying at Minstrel will remain uncropped.  We’ve made three natural-eared AKC champions in the short time since we started trying to, proving that it’s certainly a viable option that we hope others will attempt.

Bob was proud of Ch. Minstrel’s Dust Up -- the first champion from the only litter he ever bred.  He was also a huge fan of future Ch. Faerdorn Alchemy At Global (whom I co-own with Kti Jensen of Global Boxers), the first natural-eared UK Boxer bitch to attain the title in this country. All of this has been made possible by the willingness of Sue Harvey, Faerdorn Boxers in the UK, to share with us her exceptionally beautiful animals, allowing us to start afresh and do it right.

Much is happening at Minstrel.  Now in its 4th generation, we hope that our UK-based line will continue to provide superlative test results coupled with happy, outgoing temperaments and, if we’re lucky, generations of Boxers who live well into their second decades.