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Date Posted: 11:47:52 05/07/09 Thu
Author: Norman Epstein
Subject: Not good enough

This is a copy of a reply of mine that was going to disappear.

Regarding temperament, when I began writing on this and other boards dedicated to the Boerboel I had no idea how pathetic the breed had become. When respected breeders wrote that they culled 75-90 percent of the dogs they got from South Africa I assumed they must be exaggerating, they weren’t. At an appraisal I attended in Kansas some time ago I asked if any of those in attendance wanted their dogs tested. About 5 out of around 25 brave souls came forward. I had them put their dogs on a long line and I then advanced on the dog from some distance in a threatening manner. Not one dog had an aggressive reaction in fact they were looking for a way out, but most all of the handlers said they were surprised at their dog’s reaction or lack thereof because they said “ they sure barked at strangers behind their fence”. The others attendees after seeing this decided not to step forward. Even then I believed this to be an anomaly based on what I had been reading regarding the typical temperament of this breed on many of these boards and web sites. Therefore when I responded in my posts of the importance of breeding only dogs that exhibited all of the traits assigned to this breed including but not limited to correct temperament and the want to protect, I had no idea then how few balanced exampled of them existed and more important when choosing a breeding partner for you dog, which other critical traits were absent. Of course they all do protect now (g). Once I absorbed the reality of the Boerboel, i.e., an rare breed that is lacking in uniformity in both form and temperament, I found it necessary to again read the following article “Bad Genes, Babies and Bath Water” taken from the Mastiff Rreporter Archive http://devinefarm.net/rp/bathw.htm , a portion of which is quoted below.

“Breeders routinely evaluate breeding stock by studying conformation and/or performance attributes in minute detail. Virtues are weighed against faults, then compared to the virtues and faults of prospective mates. If the *overall* analysis is positive, the breeder will proceed. Hereditary diseases and defects need to be given the same kind of consideration, in and of themselves and in combination with all the dog's other traits”.

Boerboels are as Dan G pointed out are a rare breed and as such there are today very few having all of the traits assigned to it, therefore your only option is to balance as much as possible the two dogs in breeding in hopes that the trait or traits lacking in one is supplied by the other. That is what Tashi attempted to accomplish, and by doing so maybe producing pups better than the parents. Was she successful only the pups know for sure but so far most of them turned out damn good. I incorrectly assumed that like the GSD breed, temperament was the trait mainly lacking in this breed. First of all everyone in this community has their own definition of temperament and what this breed should and should not be able to accomplish. I had no idea temperament for the Boerboel was just the tip of the iceberg. Biddability while under stress, movement, agility, work ethic and lacking the will to engage whether caused by a behavior trigger or by training, working conformation, health issues caused by a rush to favorite sires in an effort to mirror a standard, (I guess those health issues don't count) ,are all lacking in greater or lesser degree in the preponderance of our breed stock. How do I know because the effort in their selection has been diminishing ever since this breed stopped working and by working I don’t mean just being a guard dogs, hell I could go to the pound and get one of those or better yet choose a large guardian breed that does have a better history of uniformity in behavior. It's always good to remember you get what you select for, and we have. Therefore I didn’t realize it was and is far too early in our selection process to make the same demands on our breed stock, having all of the traits assigned to it, as it is for the GSD breed stock that has defined working lines and 100 years of quantifiable testing. That again was my mistake. Another of my mistakes was believing that many of our breeders had the same or at least close to the same selection process as DKH. Boy was I wrong. It is indeed stunning that after 40 years this working breed does not yet have an identifiable working line.
Greeks had a saying that said it best when it comes to deselecting breed stock for any one trait given that one trait is not egregious. The whole is more than the sum of its parts "more than" does not mean that the whole is "greater" than the sum of its parts but that it is more than merely the sum of its parts, and some parts are more important than others. For example , does anyone believe that a dog like Gordo that has some environmental issues, should be equated equally to a dog that tries to backs out of his leash refusing to engage when a threat advances or refuses to perform a given task or can’t stand up to rigorous training over a long time frame. Gordo has risen to all of these tests and not in just his back yard. That said all of the above are temperament issues but in various degrees, but that’s about all they have in common, yet for the purpose of this dialog, some on this board seem to view them all equally. There is no bitch no matter how strong that can make decent pups from a dog that is so afraid that it backs out of his leash when a threat advances or can’t stand up to rigorous training, yet these Boerboels are bred with impunity, assuming a requisite appraisal score, with pats on the back from some of the same people that find Gordo unsuitable. The reason this is so, is because these folks do not train dogs or if they do it is for simple obedience, hence are simplistic in their conclusions regarding what they have at the end of their leash. Unlike some I have not hidden any of Gordo’s defects that I found by training him, in fact the traits in which he is lacking and his health issues were told to this community, by me. It is good to remember that no breed has been brought to its knees by a breeding partner having demodex, but EVERY BREED that has selected breed stock as we are now is less than it was and in some cases they are because of this selection process, mental and physical cripples, if that selection process continues for any length of time. Why that fact seems for some to slip through the cracks of their reasoning process is indeed astounding.

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