I was born and brought up in South Africa so I grew up with Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Boerboels – both South African dogs bred for working use on farms. Here are some pics. The Boerboels are the enormous ones (click the link below each picture to get to my article about each dog) and the Ridgebacks are the ones with the ridge down their backs. Ridgebacks weigh about 80lbs and Boerboels can be 150 to 210lbs. For a complete index of my Boerboel posts, please click here. If you click on the links under or above each photo below you will get to articles about each dog.
Avalonia Waldor
Crazy Wolf of Blygedacht
Makulu Laanie Warrior
Veiligplek Crespo
Voorslag Tau
Linga Longa (Yvonne du Randt)
Other
And here are two videos:
and even though I don’t think there were black boerboels originally (mainly because I never saw one growing up and neither did anyone I know), even I can see the stunning beauty in Janieka Swartkat – 90.7% (Spitsvuur Ramkat 94.7% x Caberet Elra). Find complete pedigree here. Janieka dogs are beautiful!
Hey just wondering if you know whether Veiligplek Crespo’ had any litters and if there are any of her bloodline left, if so do you know where I’d be able to locate someone breeding with her genetics, kind regards
Crespo did have litters – for example this one https://thisbugslife.com/2014/08/06/my-beloved-crespos-babies/ -and he also had beautiful siblings such as Veiligplek Cuba and Veiligplek Cay Cay. You can contact Diogo Lichtenstein on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/diogo.lichtenstein
Wow the Boerboels are such beautiful and impressive looking dogs!
Hi, I would like to find a breeder that crosses the Boerboel with thé Ridgeback, can anyone help?
I only know breeders who breed pure Ridgebacks and Boerboels. You’d have to watch the bloodlines if you do find one, because it could potentially be very very dangerous.
Janet, I have owned a RR but never a Boerboel (currently own a Neapolitan Mastiff), and loved Rastus my RR. was very surprised by your statement about that that mix could be (very very dangerous). I have just purchased several acres of land and would like to add additional dogs to the family. I was thinking of the exact mix mentioned by Nicolas, but I do not want a dangerous animal around my children.
I actually had 2 litters of Ridgeback , Boerboel crosses. I had got my dad a male Boerboel and when my partner and I moved to be closer to my family , the Boerboel mated with my Ridgeback (he demolished a door to get to her whilst we were out). This resulted in 11 beautiful pups. We were worried about finding good homes for these pups and did our best to find owners who had suitable experience. We rehomed them all except for one male , who we kept. Over the next 18 months, we were continuously received inquires from people asking if we had anymore litters planned. After a few months of these inquiries, from all over the U.K. , we started to compile a list of interested people. We stopped when it reached 63 and decided to have another litter. This time we had 13 beautiful pups, although 1 sadly died.This time we rehomed them all, but due to one of the owners moving back to London, one of the females came back to us. We were going to contact one of the people who had inquired about pups h , but decided to keep her . All our pups had perfect ridges , except 1 who had a triple crown. All were definitely more chunkier than a Ridgeback , and all had bigger heads too. The strange thing was that whilst some had the Boerboels mastiffy look , some had a Ridgeback type head, just BIGGER.
As for temperament, all the feedback we got was that they were pretty well balanced dogs. Not sure if this was due to the to the time and effort we took in vetting potential owners, to make sure that these pups went to good homes , or if they were genuinely good well balanced dogs. The male we kept was the most gentle , loving , massive lapdog , anybody could ever have the pleasure of sharing their home with. We did have dog aggression issues with the female at first , but within a couple of months of getting her back , she to turned into a well balanced girl. This was 18 years ago and unfortunately they are all gone now ( ours lived to 14 and 15 years old). We could have had more litters , but decided that due to work and family we didn’t have the time that was needed to do things properly again.
We have recently got another female Boerboel and have moved back to Northern Ireland . I have been thinking of getting another Ridgeback to keep her company and to have another litter.
I love both breeds and after the positive experience years ago, thought I would try again, but after your post , I am having second thoughts. Maybe it was just luck that we had such great pups all those years ago.
Really love your website by the way, thanks for all the great info.
I saw one of these magnificent dogs for the first time today in a home improvement store of all places! He was quite impressive – a beautiful brindle and the most massive dog I had ever seen! I absolutely adore dogs so I could not help (after asking owner, of course) kneeling down and petting him. He was surprisingly calm and gentle, giving my cheek a littl kiss. I had to go home and look this amazing breed up! Pics truly do not do justice but yours come close!
They are beautiful aren’t they?
I think the Boerboel (or even the Bullmastiff) bred with the Rhodesian Ridgeback would make a wonderful animal….
Love both breeds too. Had 2 Ridgebacks for 11years and now 2 BB in the age of 28 and 18 months. The youngest one is a daughter of Pancer Mandolino.
I love Pancer Mandolino! And Ridgebacks have the most amazing natures, don’t they?
He is great… And mine too 😀😀. Yes I love the nature of the RR but also the BB.
Sorry its allen.oseko1@gmail.com
Hi, me again…. incase you have options for me please contact me on my email,… allen.oseko@gmail.com ….that would be awesome ,… looking forward to your reply ,….thank you 🙂
preferably the Mastiff/Bulldog ones,
And I love your blog ,…. really cool 👍👍👍
You’re welcome! I don’t know any good breeders in Kenya but would you import from South Africa?
i definately would ,… if you can link me up please do ,
Hi,
my name is Allen , from kenya and I’m a big boerboel lover …,could you please hook me up
,… please?
Janet Carr these breeds are amazing how can i get one am in Zambia
Hi Janet, I came across your website and had to comment. I have a Ridgeback we call Ruger. He is 4 years old and my best buddy. His ridge is not as prominent as others but he has everything you look for in a Ridgeback. I absolutely love this dog and this breed. We live in a cold region of Colorado in the U.S. so he is an inside boy and loves to get close and sleep with me on the bed. He is very gentle with my grandkids and follows my grandson every where. We have a very large back yard to play in and wrestle around and to just hang out with each other. I would highly recommend a Ridgeback as a family dog and a close friend.
I love them to bits! I have written a longer article about them on my blog as well. I now live in Sweden and I am so happy to say they are very popular here too 🙂
hi sister am from uganda i what boer boel female puppy
Hello Janet.
My name is Sixolile and I’m from Port Elizabeth in South Africa. I consider myself as a huge Boerboel fanatic. I’ve been exposed to view these dogs and my dad had one but I wasn’t close with it since I didn’t grow up with him. This year I told myself that I’m gonna get dogs preferably Boerboels. I always found them to be adorably cute and intelligent. it’s going to be my first time raising this kind of dog which I’m getting month end. please furnish me with all the necessary info for beginners. also want to know whether is it wise for me to have both sexes in this particular breed of dogs? Another thing I wanted to find out is that wont there be any problems with these dogs seeing that my yard is small?
If you buy from a reputable breeder (and for Boerboels you really should) they will do a home inspection and also check that you have the ability to take care for a dog of this breed. If you do not fulfill these criteria they will not sell you a puppy.
Boerboels are very often same-sex aggressive and are also bred to be working dogs so small yards are not suitable unless you are in a position to give the dog much exercise somewhere else. They need to be with their family, which they have an instinct to protect.
Please take care not to buy from a backyard breeder because incorrectly bred Boerboels can be extremely problematic.
Good luck!
Janet do you breed boerbols. I’m looking for a pup out of something big. Male pup. Could you help me
I would like to know how do you get to grow your boerboels so big they really massive boerboels you have. I have a boerbull female and I admire the size of yours.she is now almost a year and was advised not to breed her after her third heat is this true to get good growth in my dog?
Yes I like the big ones which is not viewed so positively by breed purists. Even I admit it does take the breed away from its working origins. If you look at my post about the different body shapes of Boerboels (just do a search of my blog for it) you will see that there are four main body types. The Mastiff/Bulldog ones (which I favor) will always be bigger and have much larger heads than a terrier/hound type. Nowadays they are often bred to be too big I think. Waldor (the big pic fourth from the top) was about 80kg lean so that pic is just taken from an angle that makes him look big. I have posts on him (search for Waldor) that show him at his true size and he was big (second biggest Boerboel in Australia at one time) but not huge. Dandaloo Mack was another big one – have a look for him on the blog as well. Odi is huge but then again, more a Mastiff/Bulldog type.
Hey we’re did u get ur boerboels and do u export to the states