Boerboel Farm Dogs: Mizpah Pups for Sale

Boerboel Farm Dogs: Mizpah Pups for Sale: I wanted to post this very cute photo of a pup nicknamed River from the authentic Mizpah Boerboels in South Africa.  As of December 3rd,...

This beautiful Boerboel puppy was posted on  http://boerboelfarmdog.blogspot.com/. I hope he finds a great home he is a beautiful pup. Follow the link for contact info

  Unfortunately River has  risen a little early for me. 

 As a side note and update: Remy's last pregnancy was a false call. I am currently looking for a prime mate for Remy's last breeding attempt.  If you are a Boerboel owner with such a male I am willing to travel and pay for the breeding. 

South African Boerboel in the news

This video is from Cleveland Ohio's local Fox affiliate Fox8. 

The story was about Ohio's push to get tough on puppy mills. The video features Jordan Pittman with Boogaloo a South African Boerboel male. Jordan is my brother and breeder of Remy. 

Remy is due to come into heat very soon and Boogaloo is the Chosen One Come...drift with me, while I dream of the beautiful puppies Remy and Boogaloo will produce. It seems like this is a match made in heaven, as this may likely be Remy's last litter,and Boogaloo is a dynamite stud. 

Time to get to know the puppies : The girl

Remy's boerboel puppies are now 6 weeks old.....,

Finally, only two more weeks to go so now I thought it would be a good time to introduce you to the pups on a one by one basis. I will start with the girl since she is the only lady of the litter. We really do not call her anything except girl since she is unique in that way. She is a vibrant and outgoing female. She is very alert and active. She likes to get out and explore. So far her favorite spot is under my bed. She is cautious in her movements choosing instead to inspect before she moves.
The girl puppy is paper trained and has been for about two weeks now. It amazes me how smart South African Boerboels are!!! Girl likes to have her belly rubbed and will lay there all day for you.

She is going to be just as amazing and fun to watch grow up as Remy I am sure.

My Remy is back

Remy was in Cleveland to have her puppies at my brothers house, she has been back home for awhile now and is pretty much returning to the old Remy. When she was dropped off she had a look on her face like she was being abandoned, fortunately she has returned and taken up her place around the house. I have noticed that she is a little bit more laid back but she is also more protective of our space if that makes any sense. As usual Remy gets a lot of exercise the boys keep her going, so her body is really snapping back into shape, snapping is not the right word but she is definitely returning to her old form

S.A.B.T. Appraisal schedule

S.A.B.T. Appraisal Schedule
Date Event Type Location Start Time Appraiser
10/10/2009 Appraisal Harrisburg, NC 1:00 PM Johan van Wyk
10/10/2009 Appraisal Burton, MI 3:00 PM Thys von Solms
10/11/2009 Appraisal Outside Hamilton, ON 12:00 PM Thys von Solms
10/11/2009 Breeders Course Concord, NC 8:00 AM Johan van Wyk
10/12/2009 Appraisal Bensalem, PA 1:00 PM Thys von Solms
10/12/2009 Breeders Course Concord, NC 8:00 AM Johan van Wyk
10/13/2009 Appraisal Clearbrook, VA 10:00 AM Johan van Wyk
10/14/2009 Appraisal Redmond, WA 10:00 AM Thys von Solms
10/15/2009 Appraisal Westerville, OH 9:00 AM Johan van Wyk
10/15/2009 Appraisal Los Gatos, CA 12:00 PM Thys von Solms
10/16/2009 Appraisal Collinsville, IL 12:00 PM Johan van Wyk
10/18/2009 Appraisal Tempe, AZ 10:00 AM Johan & Thys
10/20/2009 Appraisal New Orleans, LA 8:00 AM Johan & Thys
10/21/2009 Appraisal Live Oak, FL 9:00 AM Johan & Thys

Photos of my Boerboels

Why the S.A.B.T appraisal is important to me

   Many people attend the appraisals for many different reasons, here I will detail my own.
The number 1 most important reason to for me to attend the Borboel Appraisal is the opportunity to see other Boerboels. The South African Boerboel is what is known as a rare breed, here in the states, it is so rare that very few people have even heard of the breed let alone seen one.  I really like Boerboels and I would like to see more of them around. I think more Boerboel specific events should be planned. I n fact heeding my own advice I am going to start looking into something for the spring '10. So be on the look out for Borboelpalooza
    The appraisal are a very intregal part of the plan for anyone who breeds or is thinking about breeding South African Boerboels. It is the only way U.S. breeders can see how their dogs measure up against dogs bred in S. Africa. My dogs have made the commitment to come in in the best shape of their lives.

Moe's visit

Recently Moe a two year old male Boerboel from Exotic Boerboels came to spend some time with my family on his way to his new home. I was asked to help Moe with some basic obedience. Well I found out Moe has a pretty good grasp of obedience commands so we are just refreshing a few things. While I was working with Moe I learned a few things about Remy. This is the first time we have had another Boerboel in the house. I took Remy and Moe out for a romp when Moe arrived, they are pretty familiar with one another since my brother is their breeder and they have spent time together, so I did not anticipate any problems with them getting along and I have not had any. I did notice that when the kids came out to play with Moe, that Remy did everything in her power to stay between Moe and the kids. Is she acting jealous or is she just being protective. Moe was pretty tolerant of Remy's protests but occasionally he would let her know he could do whatever he wanted to. I found Remy's behavior very interesting she knows she could not stop Moe but that did not stop her from giving it her all to protect her family. My cousin was also over that night with his 5 month old pit mix whom Remy is quite fond of so it was interesting to see how she was looking over him as well. All in all we are having a good time and and I will be sad to see Moe move on to his new home but he will be close enough for us to visit any time we want to.

I am learning and Remy is growing

It has been awhile, but since my last post not much has been going on, Remy is now 8 1/2 months old and things are starting to happen.
First I would like to congratulate Pluto, Remy's father for achieving the Shutzhund AD, I believe there is some video posted at superbreeds.biz. Look for Remy to give it a try next year.
Well lets see Remy has continued her training and is very responsive she has learned, how to heel, sit, auto sit, sit stay, down and down stay. I am very proud of her progress so far and I am looking forward to furthering her education.
Last week Remy began her first heat, I have been expecting it but I must admit that I was still caught a little surprised. As far as her socialization Remy has continued to due very well so my earlier concerns about her behavior has been put to rest. Remy is very protective at home but she is extremely passive when we are out around town.
The above picture was taken a few weeks back at Boerboel family day at the park, every so often my brother gets as many of the puppies as he can together for a day at the park, it is a good time for all of the owners to get together and compare notes.

Remy is now six months old

A couple of weeks ago Remy reached her sixth month, Feb 28. It seems like she has been around a lot longer but it also seems like she just got here. Since Remy joined our family she has marked several milestones. I am very proud of my Boerboel. I am not sure if she is exceptional for a South African Boerboel but she is exceptional to me. She has learned the rules of the house so far and has not made potty in the house in over 3 weeks. I attribute this milestone to several things, first and foremost being that my big Boerboel baby is now sleeping thru the night and secondly to vigilintly sticking to the regular routine of taking trips outside.
Remy has also gained a great deal of confidence and is taking to friendly strangers met on our daily walks that would make not only any Boerboel owner but dog owner in general extremely proud. Remy has only showed aggression on two occasions both of which I found to be very appropriate. In one instance I sent a friend to my truck thinking Remy would allow him in with no problem, but I forgot, she had never met him, image my surprise when a minute or so later him came in and told me how fiercely Remy had protected the truck and prevented him from even opening the door. On the other occasion we were visiting family and someone approached me from the rear and she took a defensive position to my suprise.
Early on we decided to limit Remy's training to the most basic commands but as she has reached six months expectations are being raised and he training is going to intensify. I plan to work regularly on obediance and physical training. My goal is to train Remy to be a family orientated dog with an emphasis on family protection. I know that the Boerboel has these capabilitys and I believe that these goals are well within Remy's reach.
At this point I must thank my brother the breeder at Exotic Boerboels for Remy she is a wonderful puppy and has a beautiful temperament, she is full of energy but very manageble inside the house. She is also wonderful around children making even the most hesitant and cautious youngsters feel comfortable under her watchful eye.
I am not going to comment too much on Remy's growth as I plan to post some picture soon and I would like to know what you think. I for one must say that when I take her around other Boerboels her age I am pleasantly pleased and surprised at how much she has grown.

Teething chapt. II

Yesterday my youngest son was playing with Remy and all of a sudden stopped with a pained look upon his face, I thought maybe he got nipped or something, no surprise since they like to wrestle, but imagine my surprise when he bent down and picked up what he said was a tooth. My wife who was at the computer at the time got really upset she thought the baby knocked the dogs tooth out.
She said in a very excited voice " oh my the dogs tooth came out do dogs loose teeth!!!", of course I found this amusing because my wife is not your typical dog person but she loves Remy. I told her since she was at the computer to look it up, meanwhile my son who was still in a state of amazement, said very quickly I will go downstairs and look it up (he is 8 years old). While he was in the basement my wife was examining Remy's mouth, and I pulled up a website and let her see that this does in fact happen it is just uncommon for the tooth to fall out on the ground. She was soooo relieved and a few moments later a relaxed 8 year old emerged from the basement with the exact same expression of relief on his face. You should have been there it was such a sweet scene.

When Remy met Reno

Well we have had quite a few experiences the last couple of days, first of all Remy and my wife found a new friend in the neighborhood a male Boerboel named Reno who is also 4 months old. Before I met Reno and Hollie (Reno's human)I walked around so proud to be the only boerboel owner in the neighborhood.
When we were out on walks people driving by would slow down and stare, other dog owners would ask what is she? so imagine my surprise when my wife came home from a walk and said she met another boerboel owner.
She said as her and Remy were walking a car pulled next to her and slowed down as usual but this time she said she felt a little uncomfortable because they lingered a little longer than normal. She stopped and down came a window and the passenger asked about the dog, When she told them Remy was a South African Boerboel, Hollie shrieked "no way we just got one too", as it turns out they live only 4 houses away from us. So now Remy has her first doggie friend.
Remy and Reno get along famously and it is so good to see her romping around with another boerboel. And these are my wife words not mine "they look sooo cute together!!!"

Now on to teething

Remy just turned 4 months old on the 28 of Dec. and she is obviously teething. I have noticed her appetite has diminished a bit and she wants to chew anything and everything. She is also sleeping a lot.
As for the chewing I am very fortunate that my wife is so excited to have and care for Remy, because she purchased almost every kind of chew toy Petsmart had from teething rings to chew sticks.
Since Remy is teething I have added alot more chicken leg quarters to her diet so that she can have the bones to chew on I am also giving her apples and carrots out of the freezer, so far Remy seems to be dealing with the teething well be sleeping quite a bit. As you see in the picture she still loves play time it just seems she loses interest a little sooner.
Remy is my first Boerboel and I have been doing a lot of reading on the breed mostly courtesy of the Boerboel forum , thanks to Casper the board moderator and the rest of the Boerboel community I have been very well prepared for Remy's teething behavior, and we are getting thru it together.

House training

Wow!! It seems like things are happening so fast.
We have been working on housebreaking Remy using the crate method as I mentioned before, things were going well then not so well but that is what I expected but I blame us (the family) because when she started doing so well we got away from our program of taking her out at scheduled times and did not pay enough attention to the signals she was sending at potty time. So I should rename my previous entry people and puppy training. I now know it is just as important to develop and stick to expectations for everyone in the house. i have not noticed anymore of the involuntary leaking around the house and my assumption is that Remy has become more comfortable and confident in her own environment and the people she shares it with.
To clean up the spots where Remy used the potty in the house we have been using a product called Urine Off and I think it has help prevent her from marking and peeing in the house. That along with the praise when she performs her business properly has made things begin to roll along smoothly again. Hopefully things will continue and we can call the housebreaking a success.
Remy has been spending more time outside of the crate as a result of her good manners and last night as I was laying down on the couch to watch t.v. she seemed to be tired and automatically went to her crate. I am going to leave the crate in the house for a few more weeks and then I am going to remove it and leave her bedding so hopefully she will know that is her spot.