Hello folks
Taking my ridgebacks out for a walk today,I came across a man with a
hansom looking dog which i thought was a mastiff breed in a wheaten
colour,didnt get a chance to ask the gentleman about his dog as he
was on the other side of the road.Further on my dogs walk i came
across another dog walker and in conversation he said it was from
the same neck of woods where my two our from,i think the breed
is called a belgarmo?.Does anyone have any information on this
hansom breed.

It sounds to me that the wheaten coloured mastiff-like dog that you saw was a boerboel (pronounced boar-bull), sometimes also known as a South African Mastiff. I have recently become interested in this breed as unlike many of the larger breeds, this breed is said to suffer less in the way of hip problems and other disease that other molosser breeds seem so prone to. They are also said to adopt the whole family rather than be a "one master dog". They are still very rare in this country although they are pretty well established in the USA, Europe and their country of origin. A litter was advertised earlier this year by a kennel based in Denmark (Anasha)with friends of theirs in Wales hosting the litter. There is a breeder by the name of Anthea Jones in Wales who tells me she is planning a litter in 2003.
If you need any more info just type "boerboel" into Google!

Thanks Bordeauxboy
Going to look up this site.

No problem Zimzam - let me know if it was what you were looking for - I think you'll agree that from what info is out there the boerboel appears to be a very impressive breed of dog.

HI Bordeauxboy
Went to the site you said very useful,done a bit of searching today about the Boerboel breed,the first
thing that stood out a mile was when you got the name of the breed right was the "boer",which is
mentioned alot in my male dog papers as his dad was a import from Africa "boer+deboer" also get
mentioned in Ridgeback books and also there is a picture of the Boerboel in one with a brief
paragraph :ie the male Boerboel should stand no less than 66cm tall.I no the Deboers were settlers
in Africa from Holland and bred Ridgebacks,did they breed Boerboels + our they connected?.

Hi zimzam,
Don't know much about Ridgebacks I'm afraid - you'll have to enlighten me on that front. I seem to recall that Ridgebacks were originally created by crossing the native african ridgeback dogs to the dogs brought over by European settlers (mainly mastiff type dogs).
Boerboels were also bred by crossing the mastiff type dogs (bullenbijter) with native african dogs so I guess they must be related in some way. The boerboel is said to originate from dogs brought over by a guy whose surname was "Van Reibeck" - is that a Dutch name? Either way, you have to admit that the two breeds' history is similar and from their appearance I wouldn't be surprised that they share some common ancestry

Hi Bordeauxboy
Just got your last post,thanks for the helping me gather the correct information
on Boerboels (could`nt help me with 6 numbers for the lotto)?.

Try this link..have just found this SA kennel.

http://www.boerboelsa..co.za/

Thanks for the info Lily Munster and a merry xmas to all you dog owners out there.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas - as usual I have eaten far too much, meaning I'll have to make a resolution again about losing weight and not keeping it. Hope everyone has a good New Year too!