Quick Links: Table of Contents
- Boerboel Breed Overview
- History of the Boerboel Breed. Where Boerboels came from
- What the Boerboel Looks Like
- How Much is the Boerboel Puppy?
- Best Boerboel Breeders
- Adopting or Rescuing the Boerboel
- What Colors do Boerboels Have?
- How Long Boerboels Live
- How Fast Boerboels Can Run
- Good Names for Boerboels
- How Popular are Boerboels with New Dog Owners?
- Health Problems in Boerboels and How to Prevent Them
- Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Boerboels
- Other Things to Know About Boerboels
Boerboel Breed Overview
The Boerboel is a giant-sized dog.
The adult Boerboel stands 22 to 28 inches.
The Boerboel belongs to the Working Dogs group.
Dogs in the Working Dogs group, like the Boerboel, were developed to assist humans in some capacity – including pulling sleds and carts, guarding flocks, guarding homes, and protecting their families.
Breeds in the Working Group are known for their imposing stature, strength, intelligence, and fearless.
Because of their size and strength, working dogs require a structured home life and firm, fair, consistent training by someone who can provide leadership without resorting to anger or physical force.
The fact that Boerboels belong to the Working Dogs group is one of the reasons why Boerboels have the personality and temperament that they have.
The temperament of the Boerboel is generally described as:
- Confident
- Dominant
- Intelligent
- Loyal
- Obedient
- Territorial
History of the Boerboel Breed. Where Boerboels came from
Because “boer” is Afrikaans for the farmer and “bul” is big, it is thought that the term Boerboel originated from these two words.
To put it another way, the name merely means “farm dog.
” Although little is known about the early development of this breed, it is thought that it originated from dogs that British, French, and Dutch settlers brought to South Africa.
It has been shown that Dutchman Jan van Riebeeck brought a bullenbijter, a breed of dog resembling a mastiff, to the Cape.
When additional immigrants began arriving in 1820, they also brought the Bulldog and the Mastiff, as well as other canines.
In 1938, the De Beer mining business brought in a Bullmastiff to protect the diamond mines.
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What the Boerboel Looks Like
The Boerboel is a large dog with strong, well-developed muscles and buoyant movement.
The male dog is larger and more proportionately balanced throughout, whilst the female shows a more feminine aspect.
With a small, square, muscular face that is broad and flat at the top, this breed`s head reveals its personality.
There is a black mask on the face of this breed occasionally, but not always.
Beautiful, horizontally set, brown eyes with well-pigmented eyelids that are frequently darker than the color of the coat.
The body is joined high on the short tail.
The dog`s forehead exhibits light crow`s feet while vigilant.
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How Much is the Boerboel Puppy?
The average price of a Boerboel puppy is $2660. The price of a Boerboel puppy ranges from $2225 to $3000.
A lot of factors determine the price of the Boerboel. These factors include what health records the Boerboel puppy has, the lineage of the Boerboel puppy, the US state the breeder is located in, etc.
To estimate how much you can expect to pay for a puppy Boerboel based on the many factors that determine the price of the Boerboel puppy, check out our calculator that lets you estimate how much you should expect to pay for the Boerboel puppy based on what you want in the puppy.
When looking to buy a puppy, look at buying a puppy only from well-established breeders that breed puppies primarily for the love of the Boerboel breed, and secondarily for profit. Do not buy a puppy from a puppy mill. Puppy mills mass-produce puppies in bad living conditions for maximum profit.
You may also consider adopting instead of buying a puppy. Adoption costs are very low compared to the price of a puppy.
Best Boerboel Breeders
We have researched reputable Boerboel breeders that you can buy a puppy.
Go to this page for our complete list of reputable Boerboel breeders in various states in the United States.
On this page, you will see how much these breeders sell their puppies for, and how many puppies they have available.
A few of these breeders are listed below.
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Robinson Family Boerboel
Puppy Price: $2500.00
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Statheru00f3s Boerboels
Puppy Price: $Contact for Details
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Indian Creek Boerboels
Puppy Price: $3000
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Kristina McKenty
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
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Coomore Boerboels
Puppy Price: $2500.00
Adopting or Rescuing the Boerboel
You may consider adopting a dog instead of buying a puppy. Many dogs, Boerboels included, are currently available for adoption in your local dog shelters.
These helpless but adorable dogs are waiting in dog shelters hoping that someday someone will rescue them. Dog adoption costs are lesser than the cost of a new puppy. Dog adoption costs are usually around $300 or even less.
In addition to your local dog shelter, another good place to find dogs that are available for adoption is petfinder.com.
Below is an adorable Male Boerboel named Thor *Special Case* that is currently available for adoption on Petfinder.com. You can find other lovely Boerboels like Thor *Special Case* on pefinder.com.
You can find more Boerboels that are available for adoption on petfinder.
What Colors do Boerboels Have?
Boerboels come in the following beautiful primary colors:
- Black
- Apricot / Beige
- Brindle
- Yellow / Tan / Blond / Fawn
- Golden
- Brown / Chocolate
How Long Boerboels Live
The lifespan of the Boerboel is typically from 10 to 12 years.
Boerboels live long if they eat well, drink well, exercise well, and visit the veterinarian regularly.
How Fast Boerboels Can Run
How fast a dog breed can run is a good measure of how athletic the dog breed is.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) regularly conducts dog running competitions. The AKC records the running speed of competing dogs in these competitions. These competitions are open to all dog breeds.
Based on our analysis of the speeds of 22 different Boerboels, the average speed of the Boerboel is 22.7 mph (36.6 kmph).
The fastest speed on AKC record that the Boerboel ran in a race is 26.02 mph (41.9 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a Boerboel is 16.11 mph (25.9 kmph).
Click here to see how the speed of the Boerboel compares to the speed of other dogs and other mammals such as cats, horses, humans, etc.
Good Names for Boerboels
Here are some really good names that are typical for the Boerboel ranked by popularity:
- Hank
- Smokey
- Toby
- Absolutely
- Percy
- Bain
- Jabbar
- Ajax
- Moon
- Tawny
How Popular are Boerboels with New Dog Owners?
Every year, the American Kennel Club (AKC) publishes information on how popular a dog breed is in that particular year. The AKC gets the popularity information of a breed from how many dogs of that breed the owners register with the AKC every year. The AKC collects this data for about 200 dog breeds.
The graph below shows the popularity trend of the Boerboel.
The popularity of the Boerboel averaged over the years is Number 116 out of about 200 dog breeds.
Do not get a dog breed just because it is a popular dog breed. And do not reject a dog breed just because it is an unpopular breed.
Health Problems in Boerboels and How to Prevent Them
Every dog breed has its own set of health problems that it tends to develop. There is nothing like a perfect dog breed.
The Boerboel is prone to certain genetic health conditions. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is an organization that keeps track of genetic health problems in dog breeds.
From the extensive records that the OFA keeps, the OFA knows what health problems each dog breed is naturally prone to develop.
Hence, the OFA recommends which health screening breeders should perform on a dog breed to make sure that the breeders won`t breed `defective` dog parents that can pass down defective genes to their puppy offspring.
If you want a Boerboel puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your Boerboel breeder screens your puppy or your puppy`s parents for the health problems that the OFA recommends for your puppy`s breed. This will increase the chances that your puppy is free from genetic defects.
The following are the health tests that Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) recommends that breeders should screen Boerboels for:
You can find out more about OFA`s recommended tests for Boerboels here.
Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Boerboels
If you have not made up your mind on which dog breed to get, you may also want to consider some other dogs similar to the Boerboel.
We crunched the numbers and found that the following dog breeds that have similar behavior and temperament as the Boerboel:
- Dogo Argentino (77 percent match with Boerboel). Learn more about the Dogo Argentino here.
- Fila Brasileiro (78 percent match with Boerboel). Learn more about the Fila Brasileiro here.
- Hovawart (77 percent match with Boerboel). Learn more about the Hovawart here.
Other Things to Know About Boerboels
Here are some of the very important characteristics of the Boerboel that you need to know about the Boerboel breed:
