When a breed has a sudden rise in popularity like the Boerboel, there are bound to be scammers and backyard breeders coming out of the woodwork. I stumbled upon a PuppyFind ad by a breeder of Boerboels in Alabama. Their PuppyFind listing claims the puppies have Show Potential and Champion Bloodlines.
When I contacted the breeder to inquire where the pups were registered, they responded that they were registered with ICR (International Canine Registry). I had never heard of ICR, so I tried to find some information. It turns out that ICR is one of those bogus registries that just issues papers on any dog. You can't do anything with these papers, and they are not recognized by any US registries or international registries. They don't have any shows like AKC or UKC, so there is nowhere to show these show potential pups. Minor detail I guess.
So my next question was about the bloodlines of the sire and dam. The breeder would not disclose this information. The ad states the pups have Champion Bloodlines, but yet there is no way to confirm this. Minor detail I guess. As an fyi, the Boerboel breed obtained full recognition with AKC in January 2015, and there are only a handful of Boerboels that are conformation show champions. UKC gave the Boerboel full recognition effective January 1, 2016, and no Boerboels have been shown to date with UKC.
The worst part about this breeder is that they are allowing puppies to go to their new homes at 4 - 5 weeks old! Everyone knows that a puppy needs to be with its mother and siblings at least until it is 8 weeks old, preferably longer. This is proudly displayed on their Facebook page:
Here is a link to an excellent article by Dr. Becker that outlines the reasons puppies should stay with their litter until at least two months of age.
According to the article, research showed some serious behavioral issues with pups that were separated from their litters at too young an age:
- 68 percent of the dogs were attention seekers – they nuzzled, pawed or jumped up on family members looking for attention and physical contact
- 60 percent showed signs of fear when exposed to loud noises
It is important for puppy buyers to thoroughly research breeders and bloodlines before they make a decision on bringing that new Boerboel puppy into your home. Boerboels are a dominant breed, and it is crucial that you find a breeder who is breeding for health and temperament. Tip-offs that you are talking to a backyard breeder include:
- pushes puppies out the door when they are under two months old
- won't disclose the bloodlines of the dogs
- makes outlandish claims that cannot be true (champion bloodlines from pups that are not registered with either AKC or UKC)
- doesn't health test or can't show results of health tests (check the OFA database)
- doesn't show proof of working abilities and/or results of temperament tests.
Knowledge of the bloodlines of a pup are also crucial. Certain bloodlines are more dominant and territorial (not a good fit for a suburban home), some are dog aggressive (not good for a family that has other pets), some are good in packs, some are good with children, and some are not. If a breeder is unwilling to discuss the bloodlines of their dogs, run don't walk! If they don't know the difference between Mizpah and Grasland, or Cabaret and Nostras, or Dopper and Baden, then they really either don't know anything about the breed or they just want to make a sale. Cha-ching!
Most importantly, beware of breeders willing to rehome underage puppies. Alabama does not currently have a law against selling underage puppies, but good sense would dictate that a responsible would not release puppies until they are at least 2 months old, and preferably longer.
Good luck!
