African Boerboels are affectionate dogs that are devoted to every member of their families. While they make excellent protection and guard dogs, Boerboels love nothing more than playing with any member of the family. One of the extraordinary things about the Boerboel is that the dog doesn't choose one member of the family to act as its leader, but will take direction from anyone in the family, if the dog is trained well. While Boerboels will take wonderfully to training, they do require either an experienced hand or a thorough obedience class.
The South African Boerboel Breeder's Association was founded in 1983 in order to save the breed as well as set a standard and promote it. Now that the foundation stock for the breed in the dog's native South Africa is closed, the dog is gaining in popularity outside of Africa.
Here are some interesting facts about the African Boerboel:
The African Boerboel is a member of the Molosser family and is sometimes called the South African Mastiff.
"Boerboel" means "farmer's dog" in Afrikaner.
Boerboels are descended from the large mastiff dogs that accompanied the Dutch colonists that settled in South Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries. These European dogs were crossed with native African dogs to create the Boerboel we know today.
Boerboels were traditionally an all around working dog for Afrikaner farmers. South Africans say that a good Boerboel would accompany the children to the fields to watch the cattle, hunt small game for the children's lunch, escort them home and then join the family around the fire at night while all the while protecting the family. Now that's a hard working dog!
The Boerboel really shouldn't be considered rare, as it is certainly well known and established in its native South Africa, but it is certainly growing in number and reputation, particularly in the United States, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
The Boerboel is slowly gaining acceptance in the dog breed world in the United States. The breed was recently accepted to the American Kennel Club's Foundation Breed program. While this step does not mean that the breed has become recognized, this does open the door to participating in AKC events and can eventually help the breed win recognition.
Traditionally, the tail of the Boerboel was docked in order to protect it when meeting wild animals, which could grab the tail in a fight, in the brush of South Africa.
According to legend, the Boerboel was able to fight and even kill lions, but the truth is that it would be quite difficult. However, Boerboels are strong and large enough to take on the occasional leopard if need be.
A Boerboel's skin under his fur and on his stomach should be quite dark. It developed this way in order to protect the dog from the intense African sun.
Starting in 2008, the Boerboel will be eligible to compete in Herding and Companion events sponsored by the American Kennel Club.
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