08/11/2024
I am sharing this comment here to make it visible to the public, as my reply to a newbie to the Boerboel breed was automatically declined based on some very unspecified criteria. Though I'm no longer involved in the Boerboel breed, my passion, knowledge and desire to pass on the CORRECT information regarding the breed remains. Here goes.
The four different 'types' were clearly described in some of the earliest books written about Boerboels, specifically Lukas van Vuuren's book as well, where he described how to utilise the different 'types' to breed a dog that better adheres to the breed standard. I still stick by it over a decade later, as I clearly saw the different phenotypes during my time in the Boerboel world. The terrier type is a smaller, slight dog with thinner bone structure, less volume, smaller head, tighter lips and muzzle, tend to have an incorrect ear setting and shape, i.e. rose ears. The hound type is a taller dog with a narrow head, long legs, longer body, less volume, longer muzzle. The bulldog type is the type that was extremely prevalent just a couple of years ago - short, stocky dogs with broad barrel chests, blocky heads, short and broad muzzles, lots of wrinkles on the face. The mastiff types are the type people strive for today - overly large dogs with a typical mastiff appearance - blocky head, wrinkles on the face, it looks like a boofy mastiff. NONE of these are correct according to the breed standard. The breed standard should be the holy grail of Boerboel breeders (and owners) and it's not, because most breeders nowadays breed only for a look. They have no idea how to interpret the breed standard to assess the qualities in their dogs and make of the most of the GENOTYPE of their dogs to breed towards the correct PHENOTYPE. They forget or don't know that the dog standing in front of them is NOT the whole picture; that there are over 20 years of ancestors that can and do contribute to what your dog is capable of producing. A good breeding dog and a dog that looks good in the show ring is NOT the same thing. The most unassuming b***h can breed the most outstanding pups, while the winner of the show turns out to be a mediocre producer. Understand the phenotype, i.e. hound, terrier, mastiff, bulldog, in your dog's ancestors and you will get a better understanding of what you will get out of that dog. The types are extremely valid - back when the first potential breeders brought their potential breeding dogs to the first appraisals, the type of their dogs often depended on the region where their dogs were bred, as they utilised the genetics available to them in the area and that often established the type in that region. Don't underestimate the impact the genesis of the breed still has on the breed today. Learn to see the bigger picture - it's not just about the breed today, it goes all the way back to the beginning.
