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Date Posted: 08:56:35 06/28/04 Mon
Author: Jerry
Subject: SA Boerboel

THE HISTORICAL BOERBOEL IN SOUTH AFRICA:
There are still areas in South Africa where you find boerboels on the farms that still do what they were originally bred for,,,,,'work, work as they were intended ', not as we say they should. There are no fancy titles, no obedience class on Thursday evenings. No string of commands to impress the folks at the next 'class, no discussion about the decades they've been doing what they've been doing. Just farmers with farm dogs, doing what they need to do to run their farm. I will say this though, when the farmer says to get in the truck,,,,that dog knows he/she needs to get in the truck,,,,,,if the farmer indicates that some scallywag or that some critter shouldn't be where it is,,,,,the boerboel needs to understand this and act accordingly, the ones I seen did.

In these areas, where the closest civilization may be 100 miles way, they still have what the Afrikaans refer to as roaming Gypsies. The Gypsies only possessions are their donkeys, donkey carts and what can be stored in the back of the cart.

I can't say whether the Gypsies' lifestyle is their choice or this is where they have been forced to be. But, their place today is that of a wandering nomad. Their home is where they end up that evening. Their food, their life's sustenance is gathered for the moment,,,,, the work they do is for the moment,,,,, tomorrow will be dealt with when tomorrow arrives. They will take a tarp or piece of plastic and drape it between the fence or bush or tree and their cart. This plastic cover will become their shelter from the elements, from the rain, the wind,,,,,,,,,the heat or the cold. Their donkey will feed on the roadside grass. That's where the Gypsy will likely stay,,,,,,,,until the grass runs out for the donkey,,,,,,,,,or the odd jobs run out that brings 'that days' meal. That is the Gypsies life, day in, day out. It is said, 'The gypsy's only desire in life is to be free and stay alive by doing the odd job(s) that brings that day's meal.'

The boerboels found on every farm in the area are part of daily farming life. They accompany their owners wherever and everywhere their owner goes. It may appear as if this boerboel is climbing into the back of the truck. Actually I took the picture as she was in mid jump, she was jumping into the back of the pickup with tailgate closed, (the other one in the truck had already jumped in).

In this semi dessert area when farmers do their work in the veldt (field to us), the boerboels go roaming, hunting porcupines, rabbits, snakes, mongoose, rock rabbits and keeping baboons at bay. (This is the farm where I said the farmer seemed more proud of his boerboel's teeth than anything else about his dog. They were the largest canine teeth I've ever seen on a 'tame' animal). They have a lot of baboons in the area and the boerboel 'did' keep the baboons out of the crops. Often when farmers have finished their work, their boerboels are still out on their excursions and left to return home themselves, often times the return home may be many miles away. This, I'm told, is a regular occurrence. This photos show what some of these boerboels look like. The muscle development that accompanies daily hard work is evident.

The boerboels' you see in these pics, their daily diet consists of mealy meal (cooked cornmeal)with milk and only get game offal and bones when it is available. This farmer said that mealy meal and milk is all he has ever fed his dogs, , (I don't know if I spelled mealy the way it is spelled over there. As I said offal and bones are a treat and not a way of life for his dogs. Unbelievably they are in excellent condition and certainly some of the best conditioned boerboels I have seen in Africa.

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