Performance directed breeding program - Foreigners often ask:” How on earth was it possible to create a wonderful breed like the Boerboel?” The best way to answer it is to quote David Hancock:

“The Boerboel looks to be a magnificent breed, developed in a hard school by tough farmers who were threatened by every kind of dangerous predator, in testing terrain and a challenging climate. Hard-pressed pioneer farmers however resourceful, didn’t have the circumstances which exactly encouraged the conservation of rare breeds of dog. They had a need for brave powerful virile dogs and bred good dog to good dog until they obtained the desired result. Performance directed every breeding programme.”

Functional dogs - Because we live on a farm in South Africa we keep the Boerboels not only for companions but still as working dogs in a sense. In this part of the world we have gangs of armed thieves spying on farmsteads to find soft targets to raid. The Boerboel is therefore very important to help make up the mind of the spy that this is an unhealthy place to visit at night. We do not hunt with the dogs any more like in my youth, and we do not work cattle with them, but they often accompany us to the veld.

"Form follows function." - Every breed in history that ignored this truth failed miserably, yet it is very tempting for every breeder to take the short cut and go for form and not for function.  I am very weary of this pitfall.

What are the functions of the Boerboel? - If the function is so very important; we must ask ourselves: What are the functions of the Boerboel? The Boerboel must be a guard dog and a (working) farm dog. A guard dog does 99.9% of his work by intimidating would be intruders. Apart from the very necessary and obvious trait, temperament, he must have three very important conformational characteristics: 1) Size. 2) Head. 3) Muscling. Without discussing these traits it is obvious how important they are. There is no way that I could scare away an intruder with a smallish dog with a small long (hound) face and a narrow weak body. While we must always remain very careful not to over select for any trait, we must breed an impressive Boerboel. With all three these traits there is an optimum. If a guard dog is not agile he cannot patrol the premises. Too large and too heavily muscled Boerboels is not agile and will be lazy dogs and cannot be used for guard work either. Too much muscling is also associated with hip and elbow problems. A farm dog must be agile and strong in order to cover large distances with ease.

Breeding preferences for conformation - Our breeding preferences for conformation are therefore medium to large size, large head (but in proportion) and a well muscled body without losing agility. All this must be put on a sound frame. Without discussing frame in depth, it is neccesary to note that, in order to maintain the superiority of the Boerboel amongst the Mastiff breeds, we must give meticulous attention to the hindquarters as far as loin, rump and angulation of the hind limbs are concerned.                                        

Non-Visual Factors - The dog’s conformation could be judged by a visual inspection or on a photo. What could not be seen is very important: Temperament and Health. Hancock describes it so well when he writes:

“The Boerboel appears to feature all the best attributes of the mastiff breeds: immense power combined with great faithfulness, physical stature combined with admirable tolerance and a temperament capable of placidity or ferocity, if its family is threatened.”

Working qualities - In our selection the working qualities of the dog also plays a major role. A dog with the ability to work well with his master, remains stable under stress and easy to work with when tired or stressed, is the dog to breed from. The Boerboels superiority comes from selection for these traits and we will continue that.

Health issues - Health is another issue that poses a great threat to our precious Boerboel. I believe in the future, Boerboels with Vaginal Hyperplasia / Prolapse in their pedigree will not be used for breeding any more. This restricts our choice of alternative bloodlines very severely. In the absence of any scientific method to determine carriers, the bringing in of new breeding dogs remains a risk. There are no known carriers in our breeding lineup.

Hip and Elbow testing - Hip and elbow testing is a very important part of our breeding program but also a very taxing task because of the distance (more than 500km ) we have to travel with the dogs. We wait until we have enough dogs to make the trip worth while before we go. Sometimes a female will have her first litter before she is hip tested, but all our breeding dogs get hip tested when they are more than eighteen months old. I have never, either in my youth or as a registered breeder of Boerboels, had a Boerboel that was lame or limping because of hip or elbow problems. While I am very weary of the problem, I prefer to breed with a good dog with not perfect hips, and improve the hips in the next generation, to breeding with a bad dog with perfect hips. In other words I believe it is easier to correct hips than temperament or certain conformational faults or Hyperplasia. 

Breeding Selection - Progress in breeding depends on selection. Research has shown that genetic progress is greatly enhanced when progeny evaluating is done to identify (select) the best breeding sires and then using them extensively. At the moment we are conducting an evaluating scheme privately, although I believe it is the responsibility of the SABT to do that. The success of this scheme will depend on the quality of young sires that enter the scheme. In order to make sure we start with the best young dogs in the breed we select them from throughout the country. If I only select from my own animals and ignore the large majority of dogs in the country, the progress will be so much slower. We are already also selecting from the dogs outside South Africa. The quality of the young stock is extremely encouraging and shows that sustainable breed improvement of the Boerboel is possible.

Start with the very best - Genetics and animal breeding has been part of my life for many, many years. I am involved in the breeding and / or judging of a few cattle breeds, sheep, pigs and Arab horses. Racing pigeons and dogs was my first experiences with breeding, and rabbits while at university. With all these breeds I learned that breed improvement is possible with the application of knowledge and experience in conjunction with scientific methods. I also learned that there is no sense in putting great effort into improvement if you start with anything but the best. That is the reason why I can say with an open mind that the dogs I breed from is the best that I know of. There are of course others that I would like to bring into my program, but they will have to wait for a later opportunity.