Hi. I have recently met a guy with a Boerboel and he painted a really positive picture about the breed in his experience. I didn't get to meet his dog as it is in another state, but as he is a close friend of my b/f I am guessing we will meet him one day. The b/f is completely in love with the breed and has mentioned a few times that he would like to get a puppy one day in the future.

Has anyone had anything to do with them before? I am interested in people's actual experiences if any!!

Thanks
Kate :-D

Not had any personal experience of this breed, but remember seeing one on an episode of the DW it, was very aggressive so much so the owner couldnt get anywhere near it? Cesar did manage to rehabilitate the dog and his owner re-homed him in a home that were experienced with Mastiff type breeds. I would imagine in the wrong hands a dog like this could be dangerous but, certainly a breed I feel you should look into in great deatail before even considering.

I looked at this breed a while back. On some UK Internet sites the type varies enomously. On speaking to owners they are a strong dog, guardy & not one for the novice owner. 

I'm sorry that I don't have any actual experience to give you, but I did look into Boerboels a while ago and I did rather fall in love with the breed.  But I decided not to get one.  The reason I decided against them was because I looked at a really great forum run by Boerboel owners (which for the life of me I cannot find at the moment) and I read their personal experiences. 

Most of the site was positive but they did have a thread about the negatives of this breed and although everyone who posted on that thread loved the dogs they had, some had real problems.  Many of them said they would NOT have a Boerboel around young children and had aggression problems with humans and other dogs.  I did get the distinct impression that many of the problems were down to inexperience and/or buying from poor breeders (there were serious problems with hips and skin mentioned as well) but the overriding benefit I got from reading owners experiences was an impression of what could go wrong.

Now things can go wrong with any breed, but the Boerboel is an immensely powerful breed and when things go wrong they go really badly wrong.  This breed can have drives and temperament similar to Rottweiler but are generally bigger and stronger, more like a Mastiff.

As I said, I fell in love with the descriptions of the ideal Boerboel and I may indeed own one in the future, but it's important to remember that just as no breeder can perfectly meet the breed standard physically, they cannot guarantee that the temperament of individual dogs will meet the near mythical descriptions of the Boerboel character.

I don't know if you have experience with large, guarding breeds of dogs yet but I wouldn't get a Boerboel until you have actually physically experienced trying to control a dog that is stronger than you and/or know what is like to deal with a dog that may always want to be pack leader and constantly need reminding from you that you are in charge.  If you don't have experience with large breeds, perhaps gaining experience through a similar breed that has a softer temperament, like the English Mastiff first would be a good idea?

This would be on top of the general advice of meet as many owners as you can (and not just breeders because they have a different perspective on dogs to Joe Public I find) and obviously as many examples of the breed as you can.

> I wouldn't get a Boerboel until you have actually physically experienced trying to control a dog that is stronger than you and/or know what is like to deal with a dog that may always want to be pack leader and constantly need reminding from you that you are in charge.  If you don't have experience with large breeds, perhaps gaining experience through a similar breed that has a softer temperament, like the English Mastiff first would be a good idea?

The English Mastiff is 'softer' in the sense it is not quick to fight, it is more likey to ignore/back away/just stand there if confronted by an agressive dog than it is to have a go (my dog however is still immature and will burst into a play-bow whenever he has a dog have a go at him - he find it lots of fun!), but the Boerboel is quick to rise to the challange.. As for people, again the English Mastiff should not attack if he percieves a threat, he should just use his size to hold the threat at bay, the Boerboel will attack. (No personal experience of the Boerboel, just thing learnt through research)

Given the chance, my English Mastiff would take over the house, he needs constantly reminding that the people in the house are in charge, not him, so allthough 'softer' in regards to being not very reactionery, they are still not a meek & mild, push-over of a dog, you have to take charge, but not in a harsh way.

No Experience of meeting one i have only read threads about one that attacked another dog (on a different forum) and how much damage it done

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far! This isn't something we would ever rush into, but I am pretty sure that down the line sometime we will be looking at getting one. Please keeps the replies coming if anyone has more to add.

Kate.

Hi not a breed i would consider having, they were used in africa for guard but also for fighting lions, they are a powerful breed, more powerful than my bullmastiffs and they are not for the fainthearted, i would not consider this breed if you are a first time dog owner or if you have not owned a large breed before.  Research the dog and speak to as many breeders as you can and even try to visit breeders and see how the dogs are.  I remember watching the dog whisperer episode with the breed, it was Patti Labele that owned the dog, she had him from a puppy, and as he reached adult hood he changed, she was too scared to go by his kennel, cause every time she did he would fly for her.  And she owned it from a puppy.  Her kennel maid ended up having the dog in the end, as she had a mastiff and another dog, as far as i know they all got on well.  Hope this advice helps?

Hi, I helped a friend (who is a behaviourist) work with one who was (according to her owner, people aggressive) she was ok as a pup then became very protective of her owners when she reached maturity. Most of the issues seemed to be from the weak/uneducated owners.  I guess, like any breed, we, as prospective owners need to research the breed of which we like, intensively, speak to people who own them and ask them for their honest opinion on what they are like.  I think with training, firm, fair and consistent leadership any breed has the potential to be a nice pet - However, I do believe that we should first & foremost take into consideration what any breed was originally bred for. We also need to be honest about our own characters, not everyone is mentally strong enough to raise a strong willed dog.  Crufts is not that long away, find out what day they are being judged on, speak to the owners and handlers (if they are?? - sorry showing isnt my thing) and visit them at the discover dogs stand.  Good luck.

There won't be Boerboels at Crufts - the KC don't recognise them.

I have a friend who has Boerboels. She currently has 4 of them, sadly she recently lost her older male. He was HUGE! They have a very strong guarding instinct - and I write this as an owner of Rhodesian Ridgebacks. They are most definitely not the breed for everyone. They need very thorough socialising and training. Hers are great, take part in competitive obedience, but she knows what she is doing. I feel perfectly comfortable visiting her and her crew.

I admit to being too lazy an owner to take on the responsibility of a Boerboel. They are also affected by health issues (poor hip and elbow averages) so very, very careful research would need to be done before going in to this breed.

have a look in the Dog World paper today. On page 48 there is an article about them & some photos. In my previous post I said about the difference in type  you will see what I mean from the photos, also some have full tails & others dont.
There used to be a yearly assessment held for all Boerboel owners, dont know if this still happens but would be worth attending to see a few of them first hand.

oops sorry stormy didnt realise you werent in the UK. Maybe you can see the article online.

I think the ones without tails were docked - didn't think they had bob tails. I'll ask my friend.

> The English Mastiff is 'softer' in the sense it is not quick to fight, it is more likey to ignore/back away/just stand there if confronted by an agressive dog than it is to have a go (my dog however is still immature and will burst into a play-bow whenever he has a dog have a go at him - he find it lots of fun!), but the Boerboel is quick to rise to the challange.. As for people, again the English Mastiff should not attack if he percieves a threat, he should just use his size to hold the threat at bay, the Boerboel will attack. (No personal experience of the Boerboel, just thing learnt through research)
>
> Given the chance, my English Mastiff would take over the house, he needs constantly reminding that the people in the house are in charge, not him, so allthough 'softer' in regards to being not very reactionery, they are still not a meek & mild, push-over of a dog, you have to take charge, but not in a harsh way.

That is sort of why I was saying that the English Mastiff would be a better place to start IF the OP doesn't have any previous experience with very large dogs.  I don't think any of the Mastiff breeds are in any way a meek or mild group of dogs but seeing as the English has for many years now been bred to NOT be agressive whereas most of the others in the group retain very strong guarding instincts, that it would be a better place to start if you were not experienced with these types of dog.  Another alternative would the Great Dane, but not if you particularly like the chunky look.  Even a bullmastiff (smaller than a boerboel) may be a good introduction? 

I think what was also said by another poster about knowing ourselves and being realistic about what our personalities can be compatible with, not just what we would like to be compatible with, is very important and in my opinion the best way to get this knowledge is from real life experiences.