He’s just a goofy, happy, out going, boxer boy," says Theresa Donnelly, Hoss’ owner.
Brought home by Theresa Donnelly, who also has two other boxers, Hoss comes from Shadigee boxers a husband and wife team who breed champion boxers out of Kentucky.
"All of the puppies are part of the family," says Lee Nowak, Shadigee Boxers.
The Nowak’s have bred approximately 25 boxer pups over the past 12 years. They say they are very selective when they breed and are extremely thorough when it comes to health care.
We take a week’s vacation, we spend a week with those puppies the first week they are growing up. They go to the vet with their mom the day after the litter to make sure that Mom is ok that the puppies are ok," says Lee Nowak.
Earlier this year more than 150 dogs were seized from a suspected puppy mill in Waimanalo calling into question the ethical treatment of animals being bred and sold.
"You need to see the home of where the dogs are raised. You need to get to know the family that is breeding and find out why they are breeding," says Donnelly.
Improper breeding can lead to serious health conditions including heart problems, genetic disorders and even death.
To ensure the dogs are healthy the Nowak’s use a holter heart monitoring system which records the dog’s heart beats to determine if the dog has potential health problems.
It identifies whether the heart is working correctly," says Nowak.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
