<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />By Reinier Geel
Kempton Park, Gauteng,South Africa
Occupation: K9 Unit Commander, Dog trainer, 7 years as head instructor of the unit
Some Facts on: The Boerboel: like any other breed there is the great myth and then there are the dreadful reminders of what could happen if ignorant men/woman try their hand at breeding. Then there is the actual breed. So I would like to start it this way, we have many types of beer on the market, same with dogs; some like their beer warm others cold, some like it dark some like it light etc. Same thing with dogs, some like warm temperament and others prefer mild. Therefore, it makes sense that not every one will be drawn to the Boerboel.
Whilst the Boerboel is certainly no push over dog either way hot or cold temperament wise or physically, yet mentally he reminds me of the Doberman and Rottweiler with the gentleness and character of the Great Dane all rolled into one. Should anybody be looking for a fight? He will get more than what he bargained for, this dog attacks with the vivaciousness of a great white. The “ Real Boerboel “ is a friendly dog, that has nothing to prove. Its very nature is friendly but commanding, a friendly personality is an imbedded characteristic of the real Boerboel, if you get out of your car at the residence of a Boerboel owner these dogs will stay around the owner, and once they are all right with you, they will keep you under the eye all the time.
Boerboels, are not the type of dog that will come up and greet you with a wagging tale, either. They would rather walk up to you and smell you from head to toe, push against you, and intimidate you. A badly behaved or over aggressive dog is and was always will be unacceptable from the onset. In addition, a commendable breeder would have put it down immediately. The farmers here, have big families and live miles from hospitals, so they could not afford any liability (with a dog) running around like a loose cannon, with a lot of live stock, and farm workers around. The dogs had to fit in, from way back, its been a “Voortrekker dog” – Farm dog. However, I will be the first one to admit that we have had some backyard breeders here that do not belong to any federation that are selling on the overseas markets, that have bred terrible specimen dogs. These could very well be the same guy’s that tell long tales of having to cull aggressive temperament, and then sell them at 50$ a head. By selling, and sending better temperament dogs, with low-grade aggression “LOL”. How do you really gauge temperament around three months or so, or sift the aggressive from the none aggressive etc. this is beyond me, no way will you find a Boerboel with a pedigree for under 1450$. At this price, you will pick up the real thing, a Real Boerboel. The Boerboel associations have established a very selective and practical breeding ethic, which keeps turning out a loving pet. One with an even temperament that is happiest in a family environment, sleeping in the house with the door open is nothing uncommon here.(well it use to be).
These are not dogs, which you can keep in a crate - “ever”, they go nuts. They need wide-open spaces, direct contact with their human counter parts and they demand to be part of the family circle.
The South African Boerboel has been bred as a personal protection dog (PPD) specifically, traditionally a farm dog, and a herding dog of sorts, as well as a hunting dog going out on the hunt, was not unfamiliar. The dogs have superb hunting capabilities. One, farmer once told me that his Boerboel have killed leopards on his farm, and I know many abroad see this statement as far fetched, as any Boerboel farmer in the Free State can tell a tale or two of the dogs on the hunt “ The Mispa” breeder can tell you several tales of his dogs on the hunt. Now a leopard only weighs in at around 60 to 180 lbs so two dogs on one cat is not a big match considering they can grow to 210 lbs. Strange how this seems impossible to some, but they will tell you that they have seen pit-bulls fight bears and bulls? These dogs also killed several baboons, known to be natural dog killers. So yes, when it comes to, pure brut power, and brawn, they epitomise the concept. What is confirmed by investigation is that “Jan van Riebeeck” brought with him in 1652 a (Bulllenbijter) on his arrival at the Cape. The dog was a large strong breed that reminded one of the big Mastiff types of dogs.
The British arrived later, 1820, they bought amongst others the real Great Dane and Mastiff type of dogs. The “Voorterkkers” during the “Great Trek” took several Boerboel with them on their long journey and they continued to breed with them scattering them throughout South Africa. Their way of life was moving herds of cattle and other livestock, hunting, killing predators and surviving the elements.
The Boerboel is naturally immune to all species of tick on the African continent, we have trained several of them for farmers, they train very fast in just 26 lessons they are obedience and protection dog trained. They do not take well to Schutzhund training. Like Africa they need to be handed with a firm hand, I only train them in the Choler method, no food reward or crap like that; with this breed, “it just does not work”, its back to basics. They do not have to act or behave aggressively; just by jumping on the front gate and watching the tremor run through the concrete wall, you will understand what this dog is all about. A friend and College told me once that he was attending a complaint on a farm, when he drove up to the house and saw a Boerboel walk up to his police car, using his better judgement, he did not get out, but sounded the siren. The dog standing was able to look him in the face standing next to the car, the next thing he flew around the front of the car and ripped a piece of the plastic bumper off.
They are mostly Very big Power full gentle giants. Boerboel can be kept with farm animals without any problem, they are also seen in big packs, and the one breeder I know has 12 just walking around the farmhouse. These dogs can become very huge up to 90 kg; the one champ “Tolla” was over 100 kg.(200 lbs) Not your average dog. He looked like a calf.
Now Finding an agitator brave or should that read stupid enough to stand and train a LION -dog, Just on that, the Romans believed the Boerboel to have been crossed dog, crossed lion. No wonder Aristotle named the ancestors of these dogs “Leontix” (sons of lions).
That’s where the problem starts, and stops for most trainers, they will say no thank you I am not into training lions.
The question has popped up on several occasions, THE BOERBOEL AS A WORKING DOG?; The Boerboel is the only breed in the world specifically bred to guard and protect, a watchdog. Therefore, in my book a watchdog or guard dog is not the same thing as a classic working dog, which mostly comes from herding lines. This is most probably the reason why the Boerboel has not been affirmed it self as a working dog. Whilst it is a very big dog, it is a very soft dog, and when in puberty, they go through phases of shyness and then withdraw; he comes back stubborn, and tries to dominate just as if your teenager would going through stages of puberty. If you are familiar with the breed then this is no reason for panic or alarm. He is not the type of dog that likes public in general, although the opposite has also been seen but less of; he is mostly a very private family type dog that likes his territory and his people. They like rides in the car, the boat or on the back of the truck. However, you wont see them strolling around in a Public Park a lot, you require a powerful handler firstly and a trained dog combination. They will remain on the Pick-ups in the farm towns around here. I for one think that you would be looking for trouble if you try to turn him into a social dog; he is too protective by nature’, and might just interpret someone’s sudden advances for instance as threatening, with serious consequences. The police dog rule is applicable here, “ the bigger the dog the bigger the law suite”. I always say… As for using them as police dogs, well they do not travel well in confined spaces, they get car sick a lot, and in police cars that are small like the one’s we have here it just aggravates the problem. They do fit nicely into vans and Pick-up trucks and don’t experience the motion sickness if they can stand. Training equipment does not last long either.
Moreover, protection work requires extra slip sleeves to wear under the attack suite, and more than one agitator, they bite straight through a suite. It trains well in obedience and attack work ( to them it is a game). But they do not do well at all in agility work. They get stuck on the low bed and the pipe. However, there is alaways an exception to every rule, “Zeena” a female loved it, and could out run any GSD into the ground at competitions. We even got some titles in agility work with her, but over all I will be honest, the normal GSD will give them carrots one on one, not as good as the GSD’s for instance in training while young. Reason being, they are still in puberty whiles other dogs the same age are seasoned already,“ very-very playful“ just chasing a ball will go on all day. They like to jump up on cars, and come to stand between your legs, they will pull a grown man clear of his feet just by taking off after a ball being thrown, whilst the handler is making idle conversation for instance- very powerful. They all tend to want to lean into the leg or against it, “ this irritates” some instructors and handlers, because the dog is so strong and heavy against the leg when teaching to heal and turn that it becomes a pain in the butt -.
However, they do track very-very well, great at rounding off and do a massive squaring search. Nothing negative about the dog, it just does not fit in everywhere, it just requires a bigger handler, car, kennel, diet etc. a “stronger”- than per the norm dog, and a lot more patience from the handler and trainer is required.
We only start training them from 9 months up, no aggression or hard training, basic conditioning and adaptation, with a generous portion of “ socialisation and habitation exercises”, training takes place up to nine months. Drive building gets a lot of attention as well, to keep a mastiffs attention takes doing, like rightly pointed out on several boards, and we enforce that with the ball as reward, because they are very clumsy and play-full when young, so you need to bleed off some energy before training. You will not train them if they are not fit either, believe me they will melt in the hot summer sun like butter and just hang on the lead, so it takes a lot more that brain and brawn, they would rather push you over and lick you than bite at this age.
They could seem very aggressive when young to the untrained eye, they like fighting each other in mock attacks and sleeping is a favourite past time. They are super chewers; never leave any thing lying around. At feeding time, they are very aggressive around the feeding trays, stay away. They bulk from about 2 years and get serious around three to four years of age. If you would like a comparison, it would be some where between a Great Dane and Saint Bernard, for temperament and amount of drool, with German shepherd and Rottweiler like aggression. In other words, they can be controlled on the attack, there jaws don’t lock, contrary to perception.
On one occasion an adult male about three years old, broke the hard arms bar, I have never read of any dog being able to do this. This is why we can safely say we cant use them for general policing “ not because they wont train well to standard but because of the amount of damage they will incur, just to much to handle for a police dog handler in the public” - but in the same breath it has been done successfully. We have trained several for private use, security, prisons and VIP details. With a lot of pain and some medical bills, you will be able to train him. Where there is a will there is always a way. Schutzhund is not big here actually non-existent, so I cannot give you any big names with big titles as reference, but you would be out of the league in Schutzhund in my opinion, the smaller dogs are more agile and come of age way earlier, but nothing is impossible.
Its natural guarding ability makes it an excellent sentry dog. Our prison services, the Military and Security industry here use them extensively. Yet its good temperament makes it an easily controllable dog. On the down side, that controllability issues, must be taught properly and enforced, otherwise it will become yet another grenade without a safety pin (but that is true for any breed). It eats much more than the other guard dog breeds. They will also require larger than normal kennels that must be built from strong material, with solid partitioning between dogs, and good ventilation.
A cranky, temperamental Boerboel that stays surly after being reprimanded is not a Boerboel. The Boerboel is acquired for his even character. This was and always should be his main quality. Any Boerboel owner should be able to confirm this. These traits should be recognizable from puppy hood.
In summery they need wide open spaces, they need a lot of interaction and they need to be kept fit - taking the dog out for a daily walk, and then crating him, will never ever work, they cannot be kept on kennel and in small apartments. I have had to put down Boerboel that were kept on running lines. In addition, others that were kept in confined spaces, they became so aggressive, from frustratesion, or should that read agitated that no one could come any where near them. Not the dogs fault “ the owner”.
Do they have what it takes to be working dogs? IMO It will depend on your training skill and knowledge firstly, and yes, most certainly, on your needs and certification criteria, they have records of accomplishment to that effect, but I would propose the Koehler method of training for this breed when rounding off and a very hard and firm upbringing if you wish to succeed.
R.H. Geel. Author: of "K9 Unit Management".
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