Puppies born on 30th June/1st July.
See Slideshows of 2010 litter:
Serious enquiries by email or telephone please.
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Important Considerations
1) Appearance.
We line-breed in order to achieve homogeneity of type, because line-breeding tends to produce puppies which grow up to resemble their parents and ancestors closely. It is important, therefore, for buyers to be impressed by the appearance of the breeding pair, which has produced the offspring, since this is what the puppies are likely to grow up to look like. If there is no evidence of line-breeding in the mating then the puppies are likely to be much more variable in type.
2) Ancestry.
Outstanding ancestors tend to produce high-quality offspring. It is important, therefore, to do your homework. Many Boerboel puppies, born in the UK, are bred from dogs which carry mediocre, and even inferior, blood-lines. Look for a puppy with a top-class pedigree, containing many highly-regarded and influential dogs in the first five generations.
3) Health.
Healthy parents are more likely to produce healthy offspring. Both parents should, therefore, have been fully health-tested. They should have been hip-scored, elbow-scored, certified free from entropion, ectropion, and the dam free from vaginal hyperplasia.
4) Temperament.
Boerboels should have sound, confident temperaments, but, as a guarding breed, they should also be protective and territorial, without being overtly aggressive. They should be at ease in the company of welcome guests, but be prepared to deter unwelcome intruders. Some breeders claim to breed for "temperament". You should ask what this means. Are they seeking to breed out the spirit and character from the Boerboel? Boerboels should, indeed, be obedient and tractable, but do we wish to breed 70kg lap dogs, who would roll over submissively when under threat.
5) Appraisals.
A Birth Certificate will only be issued to a Boerboel puppy from registered parents. In order to be registered as a purebred Boerboel, a dog must have attained a score of at least 75% at an official Appraisal. The two main organising bodies are the SABT and EBBASA. More recently, Boerboel International has sought, with much success, to establish a credible reputation.
Apart from this, Appraisal Scores mean very little. I have seen very good dogs awarded poor scores and very poor dogs achieve high scores. Indeed, the whole appraisal system has been brought into disrepute in recent years, as a result of some remarkably inexplicable scoring. In 2006, Coomore Lulu was given an Appraisal Score of 77.8% by the SABT. Three months later, the same female was awarde 90.4% under EBBASA. Kayser Bella was originally awarded 77.9% by the SABT, but, in 2006, she was given a score of 93.4% and proclaimed the EBBASA World Champion. One might conclude, from this, that EBBASA consistently awards higher scores than the SABT. In fact, this is not the case. Many of the highest scoring SABT dogs, in the UK, were given significantly lower scores under EBBASA. Such papably absurd anomalies have done much to undermine the whole Appraisal System.
6) Guarantee.
Most Guarantees are vague, and, quite simply, unenforceable, at law. They are given to placate prospective purchasers. The onus is invariably upon the purchaser to prove that the puppy is suffering as a result of hereditary, rather than environmental, influences. However, any reputable breeder is honour-bound to replace a puppy, or refund the purchase price, if an owner has to endure the heart-break of having a puppy euthanized as a result of a likely genetic defect.
7) Price.
The price charged for a puppy is entirely at the discretion of the breeder who produced that puppy. No breeder should attempt to occupy the high moral ground by seeking to dictate to others how much they should charge. Price is, after all, only one factor, among a host of criteria, which any discerning purchaser would wish to consider. Nevertheless, prospective purchasers will be both relieved and gratified to learn that they can purchase a puppy, carrying World Champion blood-lines, and bred from top-quality parents, imported from South Africa, the country of origin of the Boerboel, for no more than they would pay for a puppy from inferior parents, with very mediocre pedigrees.
8) Repeat Matings.
The purpose of breeding Boerboels, in the UK and elsewhere, ought to be to improve the quality of the breed. Breeders, who consistently produce mediocre offspring from the same parents, year after year, and even twice yearly, in some cases, are doing so for, at best, financial gain, and, at worst, are guilty of puppy-farming. If a mating has produced outstanding offspring in the past, then, of course, there is every reason to repeat the combination.