Let There Be Boerboels
Quality South African Mastiffs
The Black Boerboel
Provided by Mr. Lukas van Vuuren of Spitsvuur Boerboele
Provided by Mr. Lukas van Vuuren of Spitsvuur Boerboele
The Black color was always part of the Boerboel Breed. My father told me that at about 1929 the black color was common inthe Ottosdal area where he grew up. A few people recalled the same about the black Boerboels. Mr. Lukas van der Merwe from Mispah also recalls the black color was the most popular of all the Boerboel colsrs inthe area he grew up in. Before the Boerboels wew registered as a dog breed, there were well known breeders of black Boerboels of which I only know of a few. The black Boerboels or Mr. Tenus Keyter of Vaalwater was well known for their ablility to work with cattle. Other well known breeders of black Boerboels was Mr. Stefaans Eramus of Hermanssdal, Ellisras, and Mr. Jan HArm (John) van der Merwe from Nooitgedacht, Kroonstad.
This populartiy of the black dog in those years could in part be ascribed to good breeders concentrating onblack dogs and therefore the progeny of his dogs would dominate in that area. What is very important though is that the local indigenous population had a very deep rooted fear of black dogs because of ancestral beliefs. To this day the black gaurd dog is very important to the remote farmers that are prone to farm attacks. In areas in South Africa where farms are under constant surveillance by bands of would be attackers. Black dogs are not a luxury, but a life saving necessity.
Throughout theh world the black color is the most popular color for a guard dog. The obvious benefit of the fact that you cannot see the black dog at night makes it the logical color for a guard dog. Breeds like the German Shepard, Rottweiler, Doberman, etc., illustrate this point.
The fact that there was an abundance of black Boerboels around, is amply documented. A few photos that I have seen, confirm this. Many of us that grew up with Boerboels, knew theh pre-1983 black dogs first hand. In the SABT Boerboel news letter of November 1997, on page 2, there is an article on black Boerboels. The article states " form the southern free state up to the far northern Transvaal, black Boerboels were common sight". Teh article states further that in 1983 (at the founding of the SABT) the black Boerboel was not included because of the fear that then popular Rottweiler would have been used to cross-breed with the black Boerboel.
When the SABT had to formulate a Breed Standard in 1983 the black dog was omitted due to the aforementioned fear of the infusion of genes belonging to other breeds. One of theh people involved in this process put it htis way " The black dog was notincluded because of personal preferences". It was probable that both these factors played a role in this highly unfortunate decision. Whatever the reasons, the consequence was that for the past 32 years, the Boerboel had to go without the black color that was a natural part of the Boerboel inheritance.
Fortunately there were some breeders of the black Boerboel that was adament to keep the black Boerboels. Naturally they lost popularity since their dogs could not compete with the registered dogs that were as pure. Most of the breeders of the black dogs were older people and as they stooped farming and went into retirement so did the breeding of black Boerboels. The young breeders only wanted registered dogs. This process has now gone so far that we stand to lose yet more of those breeders. In this respect I have to mention the name of Bokkis Muller from Marquard. He and people like him, kept on breeding the black dogs despite the fact that they could not register there black Boerboels and thereby preserve the precious black genes.
In actual fact, it seems ass if all our dogs are black as far as the hair color genes are concerned. The brindle, brown, fawn, and white dogs just have dilution genes that result inteh colors we know. As far as I know there has been no publication pinpointing the color inheritance of the Boerboel, and therefore I go by the Mastiff information.
Recognition and Registration
Any Breed society isa always reluctant to change thier standards. That is understandable andis necessary jto acheive constant improvement and iniformity in the breed. If any changes are made in order to accommodate breeders that want to sell something that is suddenly popular, you will surley harm your breed. However, inthe case of the black Boerboel it will not be a, mod fad that will be accommodated but an intergal part of teh breed that was worngfully omitted.
For a few years now I have bred the balck Boerboel in the belief that unless someone is willing to preserve the black Boerboel, we will lose the black Boerboels completely. Since the people breeding the black Boerboel for years prior to my efforts, were not registered Boerboel breeders, they did not try to get the deserved recognition for the black Boerboel. Long before I have seen the first black Boerboel, I realized there must be someone willing to work for the recognition of the black dog, and therefore I tried to present the facts to people in such a way that they would see the necessity for the urgent recognition of the black color. The only way to preserve the black color is to get it recognized so that a lot of breeders could keep black dogs. It is a hopeless task fot one breeder to try and do that alone.
There is no doubt that eventually the black Boerboel will be registered. Whether that will happen this year, next year or whenever I do not know, but the facts are overwhelmingly in favor of recognition. Lately I have seen a strong swing towards recognition of teh black dog. The problem remains that people are always skeptical of something that they are not a part of.
Since I started with registed Boerboels I went thoughout South Africa to find real black Boerboels. I ahve brought eighteen so called black Boerboels, either unseen or as puppies, before I got the first one that was a real Boerboel.
At the 2003 AGM of the HBSA two black dogs were brought up for discussion and appraisal. They were owned by Mr. Dirk van der Merwe from Hoopstd and his son inlaw Jaco Claassens. Because they weere not members of any breed organiztion, the dogs were entered inthe developement register of the HBSA under the name of a friend Mr. Jan Muller. From there the prefix "Muller" Mr. van der Merwe later gave me these two dogs. Muller Lady and Muller Poppie. At a leter stage the HBSA apperently decided to discontine the development register. I have now written them a letter to request the reopening of this register.
The board of the SABT will shortly again discuss a formal request of teh black Boerboel. If they react positively the balck genes will be saved and the proper development of the black boerboel could take place. There are a few registration organizations worldwide that do register the black Boerboel.
Quality
The quality of the black Boerboel compares very favorably with the rest of the Boerboel population. Because the black dogs I know of this moment are still 100% farm dogs, they tend to look more like the working dogs of 20 years ago. That usally means an athelic dog slighty higher onteh leg and less muscled thatn the presesnt day high scoring Boerboel. It is my opinion that They will fit into the top 40% of the Boerboel population. Iam only familiar with theh black dogs in the free state and eastern cape. I know there ar eothers that I have not seen.
From time to time I get calls from people that had black pups later in a litter. These pups were never registered before and were lost to the breed. In The future thaty will hopefully be registerd and will help to perpetuate the black Boerboel. They will off course represent the current breeding trends in the breed. Because all the black dogs to my knowledge so far has always had at least one brown parent there is really no noteworthy difference between the black dogs and the rest.
Positives and Negatives
The overwhelming advantage of The black dog is of course the fact that you could nto see him at night. The advantage of the great fear that some people have of balck dogs was mentioned as well. What has not been mentioned is the beautiful shiny black coat. There are few dogs that could really look as beautiful as a healthy activeblack dog with short shiny hair.
In the African sun, pigmentation is very important. Breeders are always trying to improve the skin pigmentation of their dogs to prevent sunburn onthe nose and other places. Inthe black dog that is of course no ta problem. The skin is totally pigmented except where you find a white spot the sometimes goes as deep as the skin itself.
Some peopl are concerned that the black dog will absorb too much heat from teh sun. Research was done by society breeding cattler with black hair coloring, and it was found thathte short shiny hair was more important than the color of the hair. It is logical to assume that the heat absorbsion of a dark brindle or brown dog will differ very litte form that of a black dog.
Conclusion
Whether any Boerboel breeder intends breeding with the black dogs or not, it is very important that we unite our efforts to get the black dog recognized and registered and therby assuring the future of the black Boerboel. Thismatter is inthe hands of the presentactive Boerboel breeders, and it is our responsibility to preserve that which is within our power to preserve. We still have the the last few individuals available of the black dogs that were nearly lost forever due to a mistake in 1983. We now have the opportunity to rectify our past mistakes and preserve the wonderful black Boerboel for generations to come.
This populartiy of the black dog in those years could in part be ascribed to good breeders concentrating onblack dogs and therefore the progeny of his dogs would dominate in that area. What is very important though is that the local indigenous population had a very deep rooted fear of black dogs because of ancestral beliefs. To this day the black gaurd dog is very important to the remote farmers that are prone to farm attacks. In areas in South Africa where farms are under constant surveillance by bands of would be attackers. Black dogs are not a luxury, but a life saving necessity.
Throughout theh world the black color is the most popular color for a guard dog. The obvious benefit of the fact that you cannot see the black dog at night makes it the logical color for a guard dog. Breeds like the German Shepard, Rottweiler, Doberman, etc., illustrate this point.
The fact that there was an abundance of black Boerboels around, is amply documented. A few photos that I have seen, confirm this. Many of us that grew up with Boerboels, knew theh pre-1983 black dogs first hand. In the SABT Boerboel news letter of November 1997, on page 2, there is an article on black Boerboels. The article states " form the southern free state up to the far northern Transvaal, black Boerboels were common sight". Teh article states further that in 1983 (at the founding of the SABT) the black Boerboel was not included because of the fear that then popular Rottweiler would have been used to cross-breed with the black Boerboel.
When the SABT had to formulate a Breed Standard in 1983 the black dog was omitted due to the aforementioned fear of the infusion of genes belonging to other breeds. One of theh people involved in this process put it htis way " The black dog was notincluded because of personal preferences". It was probable that both these factors played a role in this highly unfortunate decision. Whatever the reasons, the consequence was that for the past 32 years, the Boerboel had to go without the black color that was a natural part of the Boerboel inheritance.
Fortunately there were some breeders of the black Boerboel that was adament to keep the black Boerboels. Naturally they lost popularity since their dogs could not compete with the registered dogs that were as pure. Most of the breeders of the black dogs were older people and as they stooped farming and went into retirement so did the breeding of black Boerboels. The young breeders only wanted registered dogs. This process has now gone so far that we stand to lose yet more of those breeders. In this respect I have to mention the name of Bokkis Muller from Marquard. He and people like him, kept on breeding the black dogs despite the fact that they could not register there black Boerboels and thereby preserve the precious black genes.
In actual fact, it seems ass if all our dogs are black as far as the hair color genes are concerned. The brindle, brown, fawn, and white dogs just have dilution genes that result inteh colors we know. As far as I know there has been no publication pinpointing the color inheritance of the Boerboel, and therefore I go by the Mastiff information.
Recognition and Registration
Any Breed society isa always reluctant to change thier standards. That is understandable andis necessary jto acheive constant improvement and iniformity in the breed. If any changes are made in order to accommodate breeders that want to sell something that is suddenly popular, you will surley harm your breed. However, inthe case of the black Boerboel it will not be a, mod fad that will be accommodated but an intergal part of teh breed that was worngfully omitted.
For a few years now I have bred the balck Boerboel in the belief that unless someone is willing to preserve the black Boerboel, we will lose the black Boerboels completely. Since the people breeding the black Boerboel for years prior to my efforts, were not registered Boerboel breeders, they did not try to get the deserved recognition for the black Boerboel. Long before I have seen the first black Boerboel, I realized there must be someone willing to work for the recognition of the black dog, and therefore I tried to present the facts to people in such a way that they would see the necessity for the urgent recognition of the black color. The only way to preserve the black color is to get it recognized so that a lot of breeders could keep black dogs. It is a hopeless task fot one breeder to try and do that alone.
There is no doubt that eventually the black Boerboel will be registered. Whether that will happen this year, next year or whenever I do not know, but the facts are overwhelmingly in favor of recognition. Lately I have seen a strong swing towards recognition of teh black dog. The problem remains that people are always skeptical of something that they are not a part of.
Since I started with registed Boerboels I went thoughout South Africa to find real black Boerboels. I ahve brought eighteen so called black Boerboels, either unseen or as puppies, before I got the first one that was a real Boerboel.
At the 2003 AGM of the HBSA two black dogs were brought up for discussion and appraisal. They were owned by Mr. Dirk van der Merwe from Hoopstd and his son inlaw Jaco Claassens. Because they weere not members of any breed organiztion, the dogs were entered inthe developement register of the HBSA under the name of a friend Mr. Jan Muller. From there the prefix "Muller" Mr. van der Merwe later gave me these two dogs. Muller Lady and Muller Poppie. At a leter stage the HBSA apperently decided to discontine the development register. I have now written them a letter to request the reopening of this register.
The board of the SABT will shortly again discuss a formal request of teh black Boerboel. If they react positively the balck genes will be saved and the proper development of the black boerboel could take place. There are a few registration organizations worldwide that do register the black Boerboel.
Quality
The quality of the black Boerboel compares very favorably with the rest of the Boerboel population. Because the black dogs I know of this moment are still 100% farm dogs, they tend to look more like the working dogs of 20 years ago. That usally means an athelic dog slighty higher onteh leg and less muscled thatn the presesnt day high scoring Boerboel. It is my opinion that They will fit into the top 40% of the Boerboel population. Iam only familiar with theh black dogs in the free state and eastern cape. I know there ar eothers that I have not seen.
From time to time I get calls from people that had black pups later in a litter. These pups were never registered before and were lost to the breed. In The future thaty will hopefully be registerd and will help to perpetuate the black Boerboel. They will off course represent the current breeding trends in the breed. Because all the black dogs to my knowledge so far has always had at least one brown parent there is really no noteworthy difference between the black dogs and the rest.
Positives and Negatives
The overwhelming advantage of The black dog is of course the fact that you could nto see him at night. The advantage of the great fear that some people have of balck dogs was mentioned as well. What has not been mentioned is the beautiful shiny black coat. There are few dogs that could really look as beautiful as a healthy activeblack dog with short shiny hair.
In the African sun, pigmentation is very important. Breeders are always trying to improve the skin pigmentation of their dogs to prevent sunburn onthe nose and other places. Inthe black dog that is of course no ta problem. The skin is totally pigmented except where you find a white spot the sometimes goes as deep as the skin itself.
Some peopl are concerned that the black dog will absorb too much heat from teh sun. Research was done by society breeding cattler with black hair coloring, and it was found thathte short shiny hair was more important than the color of the hair. It is logical to assume that the heat absorbsion of a dark brindle or brown dog will differ very litte form that of a black dog.
Conclusion
Whether any Boerboel breeder intends breeding with the black dogs or not, it is very important that we unite our efforts to get the black dog recognized and registered and therby assuring the future of the black Boerboel. Thismatter is inthe hands of the presentactive Boerboel breeders, and it is our responsibility to preserve that which is within our power to preserve. We still have the the last few individuals available of the black dogs that were nearly lost forever due to a mistake in 1983. We now have the opportunity to rectify our past mistakes and preserve the wonderful black Boerboel for generations to come.
MAGNUM
KEDAR
10 MONTHS
125 POUNDS
KEDAR
10 MONTHS
125 POUNDS
