A boerboel is a strong, intelligent, exceedingly loyal family guardian dog. It has been selectively bred to protect and bond to its family group. Dogs that developed over aggressive behavior with humans or livestock were not used for breeding and were normally put down. Breeders today who really care about preserving and improving the boerboel continue this same practice. Temperament should be the main consideration in deciding whether or not to breed, or sell, a specific dog.

Today’s boerboel is one of the most intuitive dog breeds in the world. A boerboel does not need to be “attack- or bite-trained.” All that is necessary to teach it when it is young is how to respond to friends and strangers. It will know when its family is truly threatened and will die to protect its people. As long as the boerboel is trained to “stop” on command, there should be no problems with the dog becoming too aggressive with people it may wrongly interpret as a threat. No family could find a more faithful or steadfast guardian and companion than a boerboel.

Boerboels are a breed that absolutely adore children. I have never experienced another breed that responds so gently and patiently to children of any age. My male, Brombeer, was 10 months old and had never met a child before. I took him to a party given by friends, and there he met his first 3-year-old. Brombeer was in a down-stay at my feet. Ashley is a very loud, active and precocious child. She crawled all over Brombeer, pulled his lips, pulled his ears, squealed loudly, and finally got on his back to try and “ride the pony.” Many dogs would have been hiding anywhere they could by this time. Brombeer simply lay there and wagged his entire butt trying to stay in the down position. Ashley got lots of big, wet kisses, too. Brombeer’s response is a typical one for the breed.

Physically the boerboel is a large, muscular, well-balanced mastiff dog. It is a blend of European mastiff dogs that were brought to South Africa when the Cape Colony was settled and some large native breeds. In recent years, other mastiff types were introduced to the breed. All in all, the boerboel should look very similar to the ancient Assyrian war dogs found in petroglyphs from the period. For more information about its development, see the history section on the home page. Most boerboels are some shade of fawn or brindle…as are most typical short-haired mastiff breeds today. For more detailed information about the boerboel’s temperament and physical characteristics, click here to review the SABT standard.