BREED STANDARD
Source: South African Boerboel Association

Background- In the harsh environment of the pioneers, they were strongly dependant upon their dogs as protection. The dog was the first warning of any signs of danger. These dogs are not noisy or yappy for this could be a huge liability. The dogs would have to protect the farmers and livestock against wild animals such as leopard, lion, and large reptiles as well as hostile people stealing from the farm. The Boerboel is strong, agile and a very watchful dog, he had to be to fulfill his duties. The Boerboel is reliable, obedient, and intelligent. He should also be self confident.

General Appearance- The Boerboel is a perfectly balanced dog. He has well developed muscle he should have strong, smooth movement. He is an impressive, imposing dog of strength. Males should be more masculine than females.

Size: Males- 25-30" at the withers / Females- 22-26" at the withers

Head - This is the most important Characteristic of the breed, it represents the whole character of the Boerboel.

A) Occiput "top of the head"- Wide, flat, and musculature. 
B) Face- Must melt symmetrically together with the head. With or Without mask. Mask preferred. 
C) Stop- Visible but not prominent 
D) Muzzle- Straight and in line with the top of the head. The muzzle is deep, wide and should slightly narrow at the sides towards the front. Muzzle should be in proportion to the size of the dog and can range from 3-4 inches in length. That measurement does not include the actual "Nose". 
E) Nose- Black ONLY, large, widely spaced nostrils.
F) Lips- Top lip is loose and fleshy and does not hang past the bottom jaw. Top lip must cover the bottom lip which should not be loose and fleshy. 
G) Jaws- Strong, Deep, Wide in the back and slightly narrow at the sides towards the front. 
H) Teeth- Well Developed, correctly spaced, with no missing teeth. Dog should have a Scissor Bite.

Eyes - Any shade of brown. Widely spaced with well pigmented eyelids. Eye color should be darker than the coat color. 

Ears - Medium sized, V-shaped and in proportion to the head. Ears are set high and wide. When alert the top of the ears must form a straight line with the top of the head. 

Neck - Average length, Neck forms a noticeable muscle arch attaches high at the shoulders. Scruff of the neck is loose under the chin and tightens up as it reaches the chest.

Topline - Straight

A) Back- straight, wide, and in proportion to the body. prominent back muscles with a short loin. 
B) Croup- Wide, strong, with well defined muscle. 
C) Tail- set high, straight, does not curl over back, cut short, long tails are accepted.

Forequarters

A) Shoulders- Very muscular and set so elbows are not angled out. 
B) Legs- strong and straight with well defined muscle. 
C) Pasterns- thick, strong, medium in length. 
D) Front Paws- large, ball shaped with strong, dark toenails.

Hindquarters

A) Hocks- short, strong and thick, parrallel with each other. Dewclaws must be removed. 
B) Back Paws- Slightly smaller than the front, well formed, strong dark toenails.

Movement - The gait is balanced and smooth, powerful, with ground covering strides showing strong driving action in hindquarters with corresponding reach in front. Topline remains firm and level. 

Movement Faults - Any suggestion of clumsiness, tossing and/or rolling of the body, short or stilted steps, twisting of joints, paddling. Similar movement faults will be penalized according to the degree to which they interfere with the ability of the dog to work. 

Skin - thick, loose and well pigmented with slight wrinkles on the brow when dog is alert. 

Coat - Short, Dense, and smooth. 

Color - Yellow, tawny, reddish-brown, and all shades of brindle. We are looking for little to no white. White is accepted on chest, toes (should have black toenails) and a small stripe on muzzle. It will be considered a fault if anywhere on dogs upper thighs or legs, back, or neck. 

Pigmentation - Should be well pigmented especially the lips, eyes, footpads, toenails, and genitals.

Disqualifications

1. Dogs that are deaf

2. Males without two testicles clearly descended

3. Dog too small

4. Dog too big

5. An overly aggressive dog

6. An overly shy dog

7. Blue eyes

8. Vertical ears

9. Serious Cow Hock

10. A Piebald dog

11. A Blue dog

12. Any sign of another breed

Please remember, these disqualifications are for "Show purposes" not registration. Piebalds and Blues are accepted for Pet Registration.

 

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HISTORY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN BOERBOEL

Pre-History 

In the British Museum in London there is a story portrayed of two kings Asarhaddon and Ashurbani-pal in the 7th century, that was before Christ, who used two large dogs to hunt wild horses and lions. According to the murals these dogs were much bigger than today's familiar breeds. According to Darwin's writings there was a statue of a large dog placed on the grave of Asarhaddon's son and that dates back to 640 B.C. 


A German King used large dogs to re-conquer his dominion and the Cimbrians used dogs to guard their belongings while in battle. These people referred to these large dogs as "Dogges" 


The king of Albania gave Alexander the Great a dog in which he was very impressed with because of it's large size, until he tried to use it to hunt bears, wild boar, and deer, he was outraged by the dogs lack of interest and said the dog was very lazy and he wanted the dog immediately destroyed. When the King of Albania heard this he immediately sent Alexander the Great a new dog and told him not to put the dog to test against such small animals, give him a challenge. Alexander the Great set up a fight with a lion, it took only minutes and the lion's back had been broken, then he gave him an elephant, the elephant ended up jumping off a cliff to escape the dog who had hit him with several attacks from all sides. 

There are other writings of dogs killing lion's in Megsthenes, Aelien, Diodorus, Siculus, Strabo, and Plutarch. In the book "Traveles of William de Rubruquis" a monk who worked for the King Louis IX of France describes how big the dogs were of Albania, large enough to fight lions and bulls and strong enough to pull a wagon like an Ox. The dogs of Syria and Albania were widely dispersed across modern Europe, the far and middle east, and the British Isle. 

While we are still unsure of the next claims listed it is for sure that the Canis Molossus of the Roman Empire play a big part as to how of our well known modern breeds of today could have developed. The part we don't know is that if the Romans took their Canis Molossus to the British Isles or if the Romans took some English dogs back with them to Europe. Both claims can be true. 


History 


In 1652 Jan van Riebeeck arrived in Cape bringing with him a dog known as the "Bullenbijter". Other colonists also brought with them large mastiff type dogs when they arrived in Southern Africa. 

Although this is the part of the history that we like to remember and stop here, the further history includes crossbreeding the large dogs of the colonists with the Kafferbrakke from Africa. This is how the Boerboel became the dog that is found on so many farms and later moved North with the Groot Trek. However there is plenty of other interesting information that can lead to an alternate thought. 

EC Ash claims that there were massive dogs that looked mastiff like that existed in ancient Egyptian times. At that time, a very busy trade existed between the nations. We also know the history of Noah's son Ham, the ancestor of differant nations in Africa and others in Ethiopia. The King of Persia reported that a barbaric tribe in Ethiopia which were called the Cynomones had dogs they called the "Indian Dogs". These dogs were descendants of the Babylonian dog. They were described as large, strong dogs that were suitable to fight lion. The Cynomones bred large numbers of these dogs in late summer because of the large numbers of migrating wildebeast that would stampede through their houses, destroying everything. The dogs were also used to catch the wildebeast and the rest of the year were used to hunt wild animals. They also milked the females, like other tribes milked cattle and goats, that is why they were called the Cynomologi which means dog milkers. Aristotle wrote things about these "Indian Dogs". He said these dogs came from a cross between a tiger and a dog, and mankind could only use the 3rd generation because the others were too aggressive. Today we know that this is impossible but the "Indian Dog" is gray or brindle in color. Makes you think how they got those colors? The Cynomones traveled very far and also traded their dogs, you can find out more about this in the time of Darius Hystaspes who was the king of Persia. 


Now does the only source of the origin of the Boerboel seem to be that of Jan van Riebeeck with his "Bullenbijter" especially if we go back to the mongrels or the Kafferbrakke. In Africa the black tribes moved south when they came in contact with the Europeans, and of course they took their dogs with them. The question is, the African dog with the V-shape tail, is it a descendant from the dogs of Ethiopia? If they did, the origin of the Boerboel could be: The boerboel is made up of two sources the Bullenjiter and the African dog which probably came from the Cynomones and with earlier roots traced back to the Babylon. This could also explain why the Boerboel is structurally better than all other mastiff type dogs. During the arrival of Jan Van Riebeeck and the Groot Trek (1652-1838) the original Bullenbijter bloodline and the colonists dogs were isolated after the start of the Groot Trek in 1838. That's when the Boerboel started after 1838 and continues today. 


Unfortunately the Boerboel was subjected to people who thought they could perfect the already perfected by mixing other breeds into it. A lot of damage was done to the breed but through a process of good breeding selection these undesired genes will be removed. Thanks to the vision of the wonderful people who started the SABT in 1983.