Boxers are a bright, energetic and playful breed and tend to be very good with children. Boxers have earned a slight reputation of being "headstrong" or "stubborn", which can be related to inappropriate obedience training. Owing to their intelligence and working breed characteristics, training based on the use of corrections often has limited usefulness. Boxers often respond much better to positive reinforcement techniques such as clicker training.

The Boxer by nature is not an aggressive or vicious breed, but needs socialization to tolerate other dogs well. Their sometimes over-protective, territorial and dominating attitude is often most intense in males. Boxers are generally patient with smaller dogs but can be dominant with larger dogs of the same sex.