History

The history of the Boerboel is rarely told in full, but Anamari Pretorius gives us a complete picture here:  History of the Boerboel

Simply put, the Boerboels were bred in South Africa as protection of the farms and families. They were courageous in fighting off the large wild animals in South Africa. Their incredible loyalty and trustworthiness with their families is their most beloved trait. 

Standard

There are many registries popping up these days with varying breed standards. We have decided to stay with the original Boerboel registry SABBS (formally SABT). We also register with AKC so that we can participate in companion/working events. The standards of the two organizations are different in that, SABBS now accepts the color black. The AKC has the original breed standard in place which does not accept the black Boerboel or decedents from them. We do not have black in our lines.

SABBS Breed Standard

AKC Breed Standard

Health

Over the years we have embraced a more holistic view of caring for our Boerboels which includes feeding them RAW. The more 'holistic' we become in our own lives as a society, the more we become aware that what we once thought was good for us and our pets is actually causing us and them harm. We have noticed that many issues such as allergies are often completely cleared up with a species appropriate diet. This is a subject that Jennifer researches often and is happy share the information she has.

Despite what you have read, Boerboels are prone to the same illnesses and diseases as other mastiff type breeds.

HD/ED/Bones/Joints/Cartilage - Giant breeds grow quickly putting strain on bones and joints. We have found that Boerboels that are reared in a species appropriate environment are far less likely to develop these issues.  It is important that the pup has proper bedding, exercise and nutrition from the first day of life. Continuing with species appropriate diet and exercise once pup goes home is the best defense against issues.

Entropion - The eyelid curls inward. Ectropion - the eyelid curls outward. Depending on the severity, these conditions could require surgery.

VH - Vaginal Hyperplasia

Heart Issues - There are a number of heart issues that can occur both hereditary and non-hereditary, serious and non-serious. We are seeing an increasing number of issues in the breed and we encourage all prospective owners to ask if the breeder is doing echocardiograms on their adult dogs. 

Cancer - We are seeing cases of cancer in this breed. Since instances of cancer is soaring in the human population it doesn't seem odd that is also rising in our pets. How much is environment? Food? Immunizations? We believe these all play a huge role. 

Hypothyroidism - Many new studies are linking this directly to the break down of the immune system due to immunizations and chemicals that our dogs are exposed to.  As a puppy buyer, we will guide you through a holistic approach to vaccinating your dogs.

Health Testing

Hip/Elbow x-rays are done on all of our breeding dogs. While we were set on using PennHip for many years, we have recently decided to not use this method for two reasons: 1. The dog has to be heavily sedated. 2. The hip joint is popped out of socket to get measurements.  Our x-rays are available to our buyers for those not done through PennHip or OFA. Cardiac: each of our breeding stock has had a complete cardiac evaluation with an echocardiogram and puppies will have cardiac evaluations before being sent home. We do complete blood panels on the dogs which will detect if something is off with the function of major organs. 

Food

We have tried many different kibbles over the years and have found that grain allergies are very common in dogs of all breeds. Starches used to bind grain free kibbles cause swelling in the joints, affecting the growth of puppies. We ended up switching to a Prey Model Raw diet in 2011 and we are loving it. Many people believe that is costly but we have found it to be more cost effective than a high quality, grain free kibble. While we understand that most people are not accustomed to feeding a RAW diet to their pets, we ask that all our puppy owners follow our RAW protocol.