When families come to our kennel, contacting us looking for a puppy... there is an interview process that happens.
We are not about to give one of our South African Boerboel puppies to just anyone who has money for one.. oh no no no !!!
We want to get to know who you are as a person,now don't get me wrong... I am not wanting to become your best friend by any means. However I want to know that you are capable of handling such a dog. I don't necessarily expect you to have years and years of dog handling experience, because frankly it is those people who do not want to listen to or take advice from either myself or my kennel partner! Yes the Boerboel is a dog and nothing more, nothing less.... but.... it is a dominant breed farm dog. They are bred to work alongside their master(s), keeping them safe, be a utilitarian farm dog capable of protecting the property/people/livestock (to some degree)and a family dog at the end of the day. As an owner though, please do not expect to be ALL cuddles, ALL positive reinforcement (in your training), or extremely friendly to EVERYONE that you meet on the street! These dogs are a handful and the dogs that we chose to breed from are also very intelligent, they are quick to pick up on what you are wanting from them. I do not want to spend 30 hours a week in training my dogs, nor do I have the time. Therefore, a stupid dog does not last here at my house (nor my partner's house) for any length of time. Intelligence in a dog means that you as an owner need to be on top of the training and the consistency in which you run your household. My boerboels and what they produce are dogs that are easily handled for someone who has gumption within themselves, who is a natural alpha (someone who runs things well without being aggressive), and someone who is up for wanting to learn more!
With all of this being said, we have bred from some fairly dominant dogs in the past and what we have been able to incorporate into the breedings is some soft handled characteristics. Again what does this mean to you; the dog can be corrected when appropriately timed without worrying about the dog falling apart or the other end of the spectrum ... the dog climbing the leash to correct you back!
What we look for within each person who applies is an educated owner (ask tons of questions), someone who is not so high on themselves to ask for advice, a person who is looking for a serious family guard dog and all that it entails, and intelligent enough to know not to put the dog into a situation in which could lead to unwarranted aggression.
You do not have to have a large property for him/her to run on, however, your lifestyle should be such that you can devote time to getting rid of any excess energy to avoid frustration issues.
We do not recomend that if you have young young children/toddlers and are a very busy household, that the boerboel is the dog for you. Yes every website out there will tell you such mythical facts as EVERY SINGLE BOERBOEL is great with children. This is false advertising... not every dog is appropriately temperamented for young children, same as not every dog is suited for working with the Police department!
What owning a boerboel boils down to is diligence on your part... plain and simple!
