Breed Standards

Temperament & Character

• The Boerboel is manageable, reliable, obedient, and intelligent, with strong protective instincts.
• The Boerboel is self-confident and fearless. Uncontrollably aggressive and fearful Boerboels are unacceptable.

General Appearance

• The Boerboel has prominent and well-developed musculature over the entire body with buoyant movement – an impressive and imposing figure of strength.
• Males are distinctly masculine, while bitches are clearly feminine.
• The ideal size of a male dog is 66cm – lower than 60cm is unacceptable.
• The ideal height of a bitch is 61cm – lower than 55cm is unacceptable.

Important Body Proportions

• The Boerboel is a perfectly balanced dog with all body parts being in proportion with one another.
• The head is large and typically Boerboel. The head is short, broad, deep, square, muscular, and has well-filled cheeks.
• The plateau is wide and flat with prominent musculature.
• The face gradually blends with the skull, and may be with or without a black mask.
• The stop is visible but not prominent.
• The section between the eyes is well-filled.
• The nose is completely black with large, widely spaced nostrils.
• The nasal bone is straight and parallel to the line of the cranial roof.
• The nasal bone is deep, broad, and tapers slightly towards the front.
• The nasal bone is between 8 and 10cm long and is in proportion to the head.
• The top lip is loose and fleshy and does not hang past the bottom jaw.
• The top lip (under the nose) covers the bottom lip.
• The bottom lip is not too loose and fleshy, with no excessive lip.
• The jaws are strong, deep, broad, and taper slightly towards the front.
• The teeth are white, well-developed, correctly spaced, and complete, with an obvious scissor bite.
• An obvious excessive under or overbite is unacceptable.
• The color of the eyes can be any shade of brown.
• The eyes are set on the same horizontal level.
• The eyes are widely spaced.
• The eyelids are firm, well pigmented, and have no structural deviations.
• The earflaps are medium-sized, obviously V-shaped and in proportion to the head.
• The earflaps are set quite high and wide. When attentive, the top of the earflaps must form a straight line with the plateau.
• The bottom edge of the earflap is in line with the dentition.
• The neck forms a noticeable muscular arch with a high attachment at the shoulders.
• The neck is of average length and in proportion to the rest of the dog.
• The neck forms a unit with the head and shoulders.
• The neck is strong and muscular with a firm attachment at the head. This attachment gradually broadens towards the shoulders.
• The dewlap is loose from under the chin and becomes taut between the forelegs.
• Bitches appear more feminine due to supple musculature.
• The forequarter is strong and muscular.
• The shoulders are well attached, with well-defined musculature and correct angulation.
• The chest is strong and muscular.
• The chest is broad and placed deep between the forelegs.
• The upper arms are muscular.
• The elbows are parallel with the body.
• The forelegs are thick and strong, with well-defined musculature, and are perfectly vertical as seen from the front and the side.
• The front pasterns are short, thick, strong, and are in proportion to the length of the forelegs.
• The front pasterns are a vertical extension of the forelegs as seen from the front and the side.
• The forepaws are large, well-padded, and ball-shaped, with strong, curved, black toenails.
• The forepaws point straight forward.

The Center Piece

• The body of the Boerboel narrows slightly in the loin area.
• The top line is straight without deviations.
• The back is straight, broad, and has prominent back muscles.
• The loin is short and strong.
• The ribcage is well-sprung and well-filled behind the shoulder blades.
• The hindquarter is strong, sturdy, and muscular; it is in proportion with the rest of the dog and has the ability to propel movement effectively.
• The croup is broad, strong, and has well-defined musculature. Seen from the side, it drops slightly.
• The tail is set high.
• It is straight and preferably short (three segments).
• Long tails are permissible.
• The upper thighs are broad, deep, well-shaped, and muscular as seen from the side and from behind.
• The secondary thighs are well-developed with prominent musculature.
• The stifles (knees) are strong and firm, with the correct angulation as seen from the side.
• The hock joints are strong and firm.
• Straight hind legs are unacceptable.
• The hind pasterns are relatively short, strong, thick, and are parallel with one another as seen from behind.
• Seen from the side, the hind pasterns are vertical.
• The front of the hind pastern is in line with the back of the haunch.
• Dewclaws may be removed.
• The hind paws are slightly smaller than the forepaws.
• They are well-padded, well-shaped, and point straight to the front.
• The toenails are strong, curved, and black.
• The skin is thick, loose, and well-pigmented, with moderate wrinkles on the brow when the dog is attentive.
• The coat is short and sleek with dense hair coverage. The recognized colors are all shades of yellow, brown, or brindle.

Pigmentation

• The Boerboel is well-pigmented, especially on the lips, palate, skin, footpads, toenails, the anus, hair around the eyes, and the skin and hair around the genitals.

General Health

• The general health of the Boerboel is of a high standard.
• The reproductive organs are well-developed.
• Male dogs have two well-developed testicles, each in their scrotum.
• Bitches have at least 8 teats.
• The vulva is firm.

Movement

• The movement of the Boerboel is easy, smooth, strong, and purposeful, with good propulsion by the hindquarters, and parallel movement of the legs.
• During movement the straight top line remains fixed.