Boerboel - history, characteristics, features of the breed

The Boerboel or South African Mastiff is the unspoken calling card of South Africa. This is a formidable-looking dog with pronounced guard and hunting instincts. The pet dearly loves his family members and always protects them from danger. However, only a person with a strong character and strong will can raise such a selfless animal.

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History of the origin of Boerboels

The Boerboel is a breed with an interesting and rich history. It is impossible to name the exact date of appearance of this breed. However, it is known for sure that these dogs have lived in Africa since the seventeenth century. The ancestors of Boerboels are dogs from Scandinavian countries and Molossians, who emigrated from Europe to Africa. These breeds were actively crossed with local dogs, which gave rise to the emergence of a completely new breed - the Boerboel.

The Boerboel clan was constantly developing, various breeds were mixed into the blood. So, in the nineteenth century, the genes of mastiffs and Great Danes got there. These animals entered Africa with the British. Local farmers also made a huge contribution to the development of Boerboels. They selected these dogs to guard their estates. This made Boerboels first-class defenders, assertive and aggressive towards strangers, thieves, and burglars.

Interesting fact: The beginning of the twentieth century was unsuccessful for the breed. Urbanization began, peasants began to leave their farmlands and move to the suburbs. For this reason, the need for large and powerful dogs disappeared by itself. Boerboels began to slowly but surely degenerate.

By the seventies, it had become very difficult to find purebred representatives of the breed in Africa. Only towards the end of the eighties did their numbers begin to recover. Specialists bit by bit selected purebred individuals to further increase the population of the breed. Already in 2004, the first international organization appeared in America, which began to breed Boerboels.

Boerboel - description of the breed

Dogs of the Boerboel breed have a bright appearance:

• Powerful body. The animal's physique is athletic and massive. Their muscles are well developed. According to the standard, the height of an adult male should be sixty-eight centimeters, and that of a female should be about sixty-three. However, in real life, dogs often do not fit into the standard. The difference is sometimes as much as fifteen centimeters;
• Heavy weight. The average weight of such breeds is seventy-seven kilograms. Females weigh about fifty kilograms, and the weight of a male dog can reach ninety kilograms;
• A long tail. Usually it is docked, leaving a stump. However, in some countries this is prohibited. The natural tail of dogs is quite long, tapering towards the end. It may vary slightly among dogs of this breed;
• Large head. The head and muzzle of the Boerboel emphasize the power of the dog. The head is quite large and square in shape. The muzzle is covered with muscles, short, and has many wrinkles. According to the standard, the dog must have a scissor bite. The Boerboel's jaws are incredibly powerful;
• The ears are V-shaped. They are of medium size and often docked. The tips of the ears are drooping and have a pointed shape;
• Smooth body skin. The dog's body is muscular and beautiful. The skin is very elastic, smooth, thick;
• Thick and short fur. Boerboels have the most beautiful coat. The coat is smooth, shiny, thick. It can have different shades, but today the standard is three colors: brindle, fawn and bright red. There is often a black mask on the face, but its absence is also acceptable.

Health

People with strong immunity and good health who are not susceptible to serious illnesses, but have some predispositions:

• Dysplasia of large joints;
• Endocrine disorders in bitches after childbirth;
• Inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system;
• Problems with the eyes in old age.

If all care recommendations are followed and there is sufficient active physical activity, the dog can live up to 14 years.

Popular Boerboel colors

Boerboels have a menacing appearance, which is what a real guard should have. The dog's fur is short and thick. Guard hair is elastic, soft and tightly adjacent to the skin. In the sun, the dog's fur shimmers very beautifully. The coat of Boerboels does not require much care and retains its attractive appearance throughout the year, even during molting. Boerboel wool is resistant to water.

The dog's nose, temples, claws, groin area, paw pads, and edges of the lips have a characteristic black pigmentation. This is also stated in the breed standard. The bright spot on the face is the black mask. However, not every Boerboel representative has it. Nature has not rewarded this breed with a huge number of coat colors. There are not many of them, but they are quite impressive and original.

Boerboels adopted the coat color palette from their mastiff ancestors.

They have three main colors:

1. Ginger;
2. brindle;
3. Pale yellow.

Most often you can see red-colored dogs. This color is the most popular and combines very effectively with a black mask on the face. The second most popular color is the brindle color. It consists of vertical lines of black color located on a fawn or red background. The lines are asymmetrical, and small spots of white may be present on the paws and chest.

However, animals with such spots are not recommended for breeding. This is due to the characteristics of the breed. The fawn color is more common than brindle; it is also popular and goes well with a black mask on the face.

Character and habits of Boerboels

Boerboels are one of the most unpredictable dogs. From the same parents you can get puppies with completely different personalities. This was mainly influenced by the commercial nature of breeding. The breed's temperament has undergone significant transformations.

One puppy from the litter may turn out to be a real angel, the second - an uncontrollable and aggressive dog. If you need a dog for your family, you should carefully choose a breeder. The breeder must adhere to the classical direction of breeding, and not the fighting one.

If you choose the right puppy, you will be able to get an absolutely controllable pet with excellent watchdog qualities. Boerboels love their family and are friendly towards each member. Such dogs are very wary of strangers and can show aggression. Reacting too aggressively towards guests is not the norm. In this case, the dog needs to be raised, trained, and socialized.

Dogs of this breed are very attached to their owners. Any careless gesture towards the owner can cause a Boerboel attack. Despite such love, the dog in adolescence will show its stubborn character and try to dominate the person. In this case, the owner needs to show firmness and persistence. Any weakness will be recognized by the dog as a defeat. A dog must respect its owner!

Interesting fact: A special feature of Boerboels is that they are child-friendly. These huge dogs establish friendly relationships with children, can play with them for a long time and be reliable protection for them. However, any time a child spends together with such a large dog should be under the supervision of the parents.

Cost and where to buy

A breed-appropriate South African Boerboel puppy cannot be cheap.

When purchasing a pet with minor deviations from the standard as a guard and a pet, take into account that the minimum price for a dog in Russia is 25 thousand rubles.

With a rich pedigree and the opportunity to raise a future winner of prestigious exhibitions, a puppy will cost no less than 45 thousand rubles.

Before purchasing a dog, study information about nurseries that sell the South African Boerboel breed. The most famous are the representative offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Interesting facts about Boerboels

The Boerboel is a very interesting and controversial breed.

Previously, when breeding Boerboels, breeders sought to develop in them tough guard qualities. They made the dogs aggressive, vicious, because these characteristics should be inherent in the protector. However, over time, this desire played a cruel joke on the breeders. Increasingly, puppies were born with an unbalanced psyche, which led to bans on breeding these dogs. Boerboels are banned in Denmark, and since 2011 they have been included in the Russian list of dangerous breeds.

African Boerboels do not like dogs. It’s not worth getting this dog when you already have another dog. This will lead to their constant conflicts, fights for leadership and attention of the owner. When walking outside, the dog must be kept on a tight leash. We must not forget that this is a powerful dog and sometimes it can weigh more than its owner. But Boerboels can get along well with other animals, even cats.

Often these dogs become best friends with domestic cats. Boerboels need to be trained, educated and socialized from puppyhood. This is the only way to turn a dog into a true protector, a reliable friend and a friendly pet. With proper socialization, these dogs can even tolerate the pranks of children and their rudeness.

If the dog is aggressive, tries to attack a person, growls or barks at a child, then it is not the animal that is to blame, but the person. This behavior of the dog is associated with the inability or unwillingness of the owner to engage with it and train it.

Reviews

Information received from Boerboel owners allows you to get a complete impression of amazing pets.

Elena. Ivanovo region: “I fell in love with the magnificent clumsy South African Boerboel puppy at first sight. A month later I realized that I couldn’t cope with a fast-growing independent creature. I turned to specialists for help in raising a dog and now I understand that only thanks to their art can a true friend and protector live nearby.”

Ignat. Eagle: “We named our Boerboel Marcus. This is my guard and constant companion. Due to my line of work, I often move around the city in the evening. Next to this magnificent dog I feel absolutely protected.”

Konstantin. Lipetsk: “We doubted the choice of dog breed for a long time. Journalists wrote a lot of negative information about South African Boerboels, which raised concerns. And yet, a year ago we got a wonderful, powerful dog. When training the dog, I followed the recommendations, so I can say that our Zeus is a devoted, faithful, reliable pet.”

Pros and cons of Boerboels

We can talk endlessly about the benefits of Boerboels. These are very loyal dogs, devoted to their owner. They can test a person’s strength, but with the right approach they quickly recognize his authority and become manageable and obedient.

The dog's training ability is excellent! Boerboels have high intelligence, quickly grasp new material and exercise in special areas for dogs with great pleasure. If the owner becomes an authority for the dog, then the pet will obey all his commands unquestioningly.

An important advantage of this breed is its excellent watchdog and protective qualities. These dogs can guard private houses, garden plots, dachas, and any other property. They will not allow strangers into the territory and will be able to protect the whole family in case of danger. Another advantage of Boerboels is their excellent health. These are strong, powerful dogs with excellent immunity.

Interesting fact: With proper care and feeding, your Boerboel will rarely get sick. Only purebred Boerboels have good health, so when buying a puppy you should definitely study its pedigree.

Despite the impressive list of advantages, Boerboels have many disadvantages. This is a dog with a difficult character. She requires serious training. Few people understand how to do this correctly. In this case, you should contact professional trainers, because an untrained Boerboel can behave extremely aggressively. Another disadvantage is the need to waste the animal’s physical potential every day. The dog should run a lot and engage in physical activity.

Rules for choosing puppies

In order to purchase the South African Boerboel breed, turn to reputable nurseries.

Vaccination will be provided here. The future owner will be given a veterinary passport for the dog. They will also provide information about the Boerboel’s pedigree.

Puppies are examined before purchase. The Boerboel must be active, with a shiny coat, without skin rashes, redness, signs of bloating and with a color that meets the standard.

Breeding Boerboels

The Boerboel is a specific breed. The demand for Boerboel puppies is moderate, because such a dog is considered dangerous and its maintenance requires the fulfillment of certain conditions. Before you start breeding dogs, you need to ask yourself the question: for what purpose will it be done? You can pursue various goals: receiving funds from the sale of puppies, increasing the number of your own “farm”, obtaining puppies for your friends or acquaintances. Regardless of this, the main goal of breeding should be to produce healthy offspring.

The birth of healthy puppies is possible only from purebred Boerboels, without genetic or other diseases. For this reason, it is important to wisely select a male for a female. At the same time, we must not forget about checking the health of the bitch herself. Both parents must be healthy and free from severe mental illness and any genetic diseases. How to distinguish a good manufacturer from a bad one?

A strong male must:

• To be active;
• Be aggressive within the normal range for the breed;
• Have strongly expressed sexual characteristics;
• Have a deep voice;
• Be distinguished by a great desire to dominate other animals.

When mating, you must strictly adhere to one main rule: you cannot mate dogs that have the same deficiency in one trait! Also, the most important criterion for selecting a male dog is his external characteristics. He should look as much like a bitch as possible. Having chosen a suitable male, you can arrange a date for them. The meeting of dogs must take place in the territory of the dog. If mating occurs, the meeting can be repeated after a while.

Caring for Boerboels

Boerboel dogs are real “heroes”. It will be uncomfortable for such a dog to live in a small apartment. It needs space. The ideal option is a private house with its own small plot. The Boerboel should arrange its own enclosure. It should be suitable not only for summer living, but also for winter. The enclosure should have a well-insulated booth. If there is no kennel, then in severe frosts the dog cannot be kept outside for a long time. We'll have to give her a warm corner in the house.

Despite all its power and striking appearance, the Boerboel does not require special care. This is a huge plus for the breed! The pet does not need to comb its fur every day. It is enough to do this once a week to ensure a rush of blood to the surface of the skin. Combing will also help to promptly identify skin parasites, fleas, and ticks. If such problems are found, the dog must be treated with special means.

Important fact: An important condition for care is good nutrition. Such a huge dog needs a lot of vitamins and microelements for the full functioning of the body.

Boerboels rarely need to be bathed. Frequent bathing can lead to dry skin and coat. It is better to wash such a pet outside if it is warm there. Placing a fairly large dog in a standard bathroom is unlikely to work. Bathing should be done as needed. Every year the dog must undergo vaccination, and every six months - preventive treatment against parasites. The Boerboel also needs to have its claws trimmed, its eyes examined, and its teeth brushed. All these measures will help maintain good health of your pet.

Boerboel diet

Maintaining such a large dog as a Boerboel requires a lot of money. Quite large amounts of money will be spent on food alone. Boerboels need a comprehensive and high-quality diet, enriched with various vitamins. There are two possible options for feeding a dog: specialized food, natural food. If the first option is chosen, then you should be prepared for high costs. Only super-premium food is suitable for Boerboels. However, this feeding option has a significant advantage - the dog does not have to cook every day.

Feeding natural food requires proper diet planning. Also in this case, the dog will need to take a vitamin complex. You should work with your veterinarian to create your pet’s diet and select the right medications.

In general, a Boerboel’s diet should consist of the following foods:

1. Meat, mainly beef;
2. Sea fish;
3. Chicken eggs;
4. Vegetables;
5. Cereals, rice and buckwheat;
6. Prunes, dried apricots.

From time to time, the diet should include offal, bones, and cartilage. These products contain collagen, which is essential for healthy joints. You can also sometimes pamper your pet with fermented milk products. This could be medium-fat cottage cheese or live yogurt.

Boerboels should not be given kefir. This product may cause fermentation in the intestines. There is also a list of foods that Boerboels should not be given. It includes: potatoes, cow's milk, wheat, grapes, oatmeal, citrus fruits, bananas.

Nutrition for puppy and adult dog

Most of the Boerboel's diet should consist of lean meat, which is best boiled when feeding a small puppy. Meat can be replaced with offal, including cartilage, which is good for your dog's joints. Sometimes you can give boiled sea fish, as well as fermented milk products. As for cereals, it is better to give preference to rice, oatmeal or buckwheat.

You can feed your Boerboel with ready-made food, as well as alternate it with natural food. Such feed must fully satisfy the animal's needs.

The bowl should be removed after each feeding. Overfeeding is not very good for your dog's health. Therefore, you need to monitor the amount of food and feed your dog at the same time. Puppies are initially fed four to five times a day, and then gradually transferred to the adult diet and fed in the morning and evening.

Large dogs should not be fed from the floor. The bowl should be at chest level. To do this, you can purchase a special adjustable stand. And you definitely need to make sure that your dog always has a bowl of water.

Diseases and health problems

Boerboels are native to southern Africa. The harsh climate of their homeland was able to instill in these dogs good health and high immunity at the genetic level. For this reason, the dog will rarely upset its owner with illnesses. The list of diseases that are most often found in Boerboels is quite small. The most common genetic disease is vaginal hyperplasia. It affects females. This disease can be detected in puppyhood.

The second most popular disease is joint dysplasia. In these dogs, the elbow and hip joints are more often affected. However, this is not at all surprising. This disease is quite typical for large animals. Some dogs suffer from allergies. Fortunately, this disease can be “cured” by eliminating the animal’s contact with the allergen.

The most common type of allergy is food allergy. Its cause can be determined experimentally or with the help of a veterinarian. Dysbacteriosis is another common disease. The reason for its appearance is an incorrectly selected diet. This is not a terrible disease, but it is difficult to completely recover from it. It takes a lot of time, a special diet and expensive medications.

Boerboels rarely suffer from obesity. However, if you do not provide your dog with sufficient activity throughout the day, it will begin to gain weight. This will not only lead to difficulties while caring for her, but will also cause various diseases of the intestines, stomach, and heart. To prevent a dog from gaining excess weight in old age, it needs to be put on a special diet. In this case, you cannot do without consulting a veterinarian.

Training and education

The Boerboel is a large and serious dog with strength and power. Already at 5-6 months, a Boerboel puppy is capable of many things, for example, snatching a leash from the hands of a careless owner. So we start education from an early age.

First, we instill in the puppy the rules of good behavior in the house and on the street. After vaccination, the pet can be socialized. He must respond adequately, without aggression, to passing people and animals encountered during walks.

We conduct training quite strictly, but without shouting or physical punishment. It is recommended to use treats, petting and praise as rewards.

The Boerboel owner must be prepared for the fact that his charge will not carry out commands with lightning speed, even if he has mastered them well. This dog first thinks, as if trying to understand why this or that action is required of him, and then makes a decision.

An inexperienced owner can turn his Boerboel into a terrible, uncontrollable weapon, dangerous to people and animals. So the owner, not the dog himself, is to blame for the bloodthirstiness of some representatives of the breed.

In order for a Boer dog to grow up adequately, it is necessary to undergo a general and protective training course with it. It is recommended that training be carried out under the guidance of an experienced dog handler.

Interesting Facts

• Translated from African, “boer” sounds like “farmer.”
• Boerboels, crossing a protected territory, tend to expand its borders, subjugating as much space as possible for themselves to control.
• Having undergone special training, a Boer dog is able to assist disabled people and people with limited mobility in moving.
• The Boers were European colonists who settled farming in Africa, so the mastiffs that served them were called “Boer dogs.”
• There are many known cases of Boerboels attacking people. After such attacks, people died or were left disabled. The blame for such behavior lies entirely with the owners, and not with the dogs themselves.