Remy and Moe puppies born 11-27-11

South African Boerboel puppies are a joy to have in the house. They are a handfull to care for but the reward is watching them grow. I am temtpted to keep all of them because I would just love to watch them grow from little puppies into full grown dogs. But that definately will not happen!! I am just determined to find great owners for them that will allow me to share the joy of seeing these puppies become great representatives of the South African Boerboel breed.

Here are the pics of the latest puppies from Remy and Moe. Pictured above is the number one puppy also know as Forrest, he is a very wary and alert puppy her is going to be a very big dog one day. I love the form on this puppy.

This is male puppy number 2 better known as Bubkis he is very outgoing and always the first one up. This is my personal favorite.

This is the only girl puppy in this litter but have no fear she can hold her own with her brothers, she is most often found side by side with Bubkis.  We just call her Girl!!!!!

 This is Big Six he is the one that is kinda in the middle amongst all the puppies he is not the most active but he is far from lazy nor is he timid. I really like his laid back manner.

Caring for Boerboel puppies.....

  As I mentioned in the previous post Remy just had a litter of four puppies. I thought now would be a good time to relate my tips for caring for new born Boerboel puppies.
 As of today the puppies are two weeks old this week and so now they are becoming significantly more active.Up until now I have been leaving the care of the pups up to Remy, after all she is a very good mama. The best thing I for me to do up to this point is to make sure Remy and her pups are kept warm and semi secluded. We used a closet in an unused room for a whelping box, it provides Remy and the puppies a place to relax without disruption from our normal household activities, while at the same time it is still close enough that Remy knows we are not far and have not forgotten about her.
  It is very important to remember that Boerboels are very protective dogs, taking this into consideration we selected a space in our home that is not in a frequently traveled part of out home, so that  Remy is not disturbed by guests that come over to visit. Remy's protective nature is understandably elevated since now she is now looking after her human and k9 family. Keeping Remy calm is imperative for the safety of her puppies. In a fit of excitement Remy could possibly trample a pup or drag one or two who may be feeding. Those puppies have an iron grip when feeding.
  For the first two weeks our primary responsibility was to make sure Remy had enough water and food. It is very important to make sure there is plenty of water available so that she will be able to produce the milk to feed the pups, since they are entirely dependent upon mom for nutrients. As followers of this blog know Remy is normally fed raw meat and bone. Since the puppies have arrived I have switched her to Puppy Chow supplemented with chicken gizzards and beef liver. I switched from raw feeding because I did not want to risk not provided enough of anything that was necessary for the puppies. Finally I have also made sure that Remy always has fresh water and food close by, so she can have her needs met while staying close to the puppies.
  For the first couple of days it is normal for Remy not to want to leave the puppies alone at all, in fact she is not too thrilled when we came by to check on the puppies. You should see the look on her face.
  The decision to cut or not cut the tails should be made before the pups arrive so that you are prepared to have it done in the first five days. You do not want to hurt the puppies so it is best to do it early before the cartilage hardens. We cut the puppies tails at 6 days. If you have a Boerboel, or any dog for that matter take her far enough away so she does not hear the puppies cry out. 
As week two approaches it is time for the puppies to be wormed, wal mart has a good dewormer, but these pups will be wormed by our vet since Remy is do for a post delivery check-up.
I will continue to update the whelping process as the puppies grow so please follow me to receive all updates.

Remy Pups are on the ground 11-27-11

Well the time finally arrived on Sun November 27, 2011. I was watching the Cleveland Browns throw another game away to the Cincinnati Bengals. Definitely not how I hoped the day would go. Thankfully Remy was able to bring a little joy to my Sunday. I was dozing off at about halftime when I heard some whining in the closet. I got up to take a look and lo and behold there were four tiny little Boerboel puppies in there with Remy. I did not hear a thing to indicate she was in labor or delivery. Maybe she heard me yelling at the T.V. and decided to keep it quite. In any event when I made it over to the closet there were three boys and only one girl. The crying that caught my attention was from one of the males my son calls Forrest. It was a turning out to be a pretty good day spite of the Cleveland Clowns loss.

All four of the puppies looked pretty good and I could tell there would be more to come. I made sure Remy had plenty of water and let nature take it's course. Unfortunately the next four pups did not make it, they were all still born as far as I could tell. Sorry Remy!!!

The puppies are doing very well and are growing rapidly I noticed yesterday that all four had their eyes open and they have been crawling around a lot, almost since day one, which is why it has taken me so long to post this birth announcement.

These puppies are from big Moe so I am anticipate to see some very big things from them. I expect these pups will be very sought after, so if you are interested please let me know as soon as possible. They will not be ready to go home until late Jan. so you still have time to get everything prepared for your puppies arrival. The puppies are doing very well and are growing rapidly I noticed yesterday that all four had their eyes open and they have been crawling around a lot, almost since day one, which is why it has taken me so long to post this birth announcement.

Are South African Boerboels good Hog n Dogs

   I have asked myself this off and on since our Boerboel Remy came into our family. It looks like it would be big fun even if we do not catch anything, as many of you know the thrill of the hunt is in the chase.
   Hog hunting  has been on my mind with the recent premier of hog hunting shows on television. I did some research and it seems that some breeds have what it takes while with Boerboels, like many other breeds, it depends on the animal.
     I think Remy would be a pretty good bay dog, which is the dog that is specially trained to find, chase, and "bay" hogs. Remy is very houndy, and is always sniffing for something. She always sniffs out groudhogs and deer around my neighborhood. I do not know is she would be a good catch dog, which is a dog that physically takes hold of the hog, typically seizing the base of the hog's ear. Once the catch dog has physical control of the hog, they will hold it down by the head indefinitely until the hunter arrives. Remy likes to sniff out and corner whatever she is after and bark like hell at it, which is what I have read is the duty of the bay dog.
    Boerboels seems to have a wide range of characteristics that make it difficult to say whether or not they are good for hog hunting. I would say based upon my research that the primary factor that would exclude a Boerboel has nothing at all to do with it's ability to hunt but the very high risk of injury or death for your Boerboel, that is in always present when hunting hogs. From what I understand there are much less expensive dogs that are generally better suited for hog hunting. 
    Remy would probably do very well as a hog dog, but I think we will stick with the local groundhogs, squirrels and the occasional deer around here.

Remy is having Puppies!!!!!!!! AGAIN

Yeah, I say,......... but I am not sure I really mean it. Remy is having more puppies!!!! She is due sometime around November 27, 2011. I cannot believe I am doing it agian. This will be her third litter. I have always  wanted a boerboel boy puppy,  from Remy, but I could not resist keeping lil Remy (Candy) from her last litter. It was a small litter of only three, but the puppies were soooo beautiful. Well, I decided that this time, the last time, I am going to keep a little boy pup.  I use the term little very liberally, because as all Boerboel owners and readers of this blog know there is no such thing as a little boerboel. 

Watching Remy grow has been so fun!!!!!!

I cannot believe it has been 3 years since Remy has been part of our family. As I look back it has been an absolute priviledge to raise Remy. South African Boerboels as a breed are known to be very intelligent and Remy is no exception.  She has a very good memory, she remembers extended family members even after long absences, and greets them with exhuberant jubilation, often times to the sheer delight and relief of everyone.  My mother-in-law, who has been scared of dogs all of her life loves Remy and in fact they have thier own special relationship. Of course Remy loves Grandma, after all she is a true grandmother, always ready to spoil the "baby".  Remy is now 3 years old and has had a few litters, but to us she will always be "the puppy".  I only wish that I had been more vigilant with my posts so that everyone could marvel at the experiences and adventures we have had. We recently decided to welcome one of Remy's pups into our home as a permanent member of our family. Candy is now 4 months old and is growing like a weed. Candy looks  a lot like Remy but definately has her own personality. I think having Candy around has made everyone reminisce a little about how fun and tiresome it was to have a boerboel puppy in the house. I promise to make a better effort to post some of our adventures for your enjoyment.