We lost our boxer to a long battle with cancer and heart disease. We just adopted a one year old puppy from a boxer rescue group. Here in Austin, they have adoption events where several of the dogs will be and you just see if one bonds with you. My dh got hold of this one and it was love at first site. You just have to be prepared for health issues (ours is lightly heartworm positive and we are dealing with that). They will be able to tell you if the dog you choose is good with kids, other dogs or cats. We are really enjoying our dog. He was very quiet at first, but is coming out of his shell some now. You can tell he didn't get much attention because he wants to sit right by you, touching some part of you all the time. He was very underweight, which is not unusual in a rescue dog, but is eating well and gaining weight. He is crate trained and mostly house trained. We take him out pretty often, but he has had a couple of accidents. Good luck.