IS IT TOO LATE ?

This is the only phrase that is going through my mind at the moment after receiving the news about the Danish parliamentary decision. OK it has been mooted…….for now and will be reviewed in March. Great ! We now have about 6 weeks to pull ourselves together and try to do something – but what ?

How in heavens name did we as Boerboel breeders allow things to get this far? The answer is simple - we just didn’t think ! Didn’t think further than the length of our noses, didn’t think outside of the box , just carried on doing our own thing without really thinking of the future of the breed.

Can we really just blame ourselves as breeders ? Can’t we turn around and pass the buck onto the breed societies ? Shouldn’t they have done more ? We could try , unfortunately the truth of the matter is that the breed societies don’t actually breed and sell puppies. That “ right” is ours, the breeders.

The boerboel’s lot is and always has been in our hands , it us up to us as breeders to make sure the puppies we produce are healthy and of the correct steady character that typifies the Boerboel . We should not be making excuses such as ‘ the boerboel should be wary of strangers’ when our own Boerboels are shy , bordering on down right fearful, or perhaps the one so often heard “ he/she is a guard dog that’s why he is so ferocious “ We should be reading and understanding the following line from the breed standard

The protective character of the Boerboel is today still evident and is much sought after, as is the calm, stable and confident composure of the breed.

The words protective character do not mean “raving lunatic that growls and barks at everything that comes anywhere near it”. Neither does it mean that while your dog is with you he/she does not allow strangers to make a fuss of it by stroking it.

I have been lucky enough to visit South Africa twice annually for the last 13 years ,during which I have seen more boerboels than I can count ! In all that time I have only ever come across two that I could not make a fuss of. The rest were good watch dogs that loved having a fuss made of them by me, a stranger,
when their owners were there These are the true boerboels from their land of origin. So can anyone explain to me how the breed has landed on the Dangerous Dogs Lists in Europe?

The time for asking why is over and the time for trying to mend the harm we, as breeders , have brought upon the breed, has broken.

Let’s try and work together with the various breed societies to find a solution to this problem.

Today it’s Denmark , tomorrow could be your country.

Sonia Morgan
Siglensal Boerboels