When was the Boerboel Alliance™ created? Can you tell us more about the association?

Boerboel Alliance™ was conceived and founded October 2016. The group stemmed out of the need to have a proper forward-looking organization to truly represent the Boerboel dog breed in West Africa. In doing that we needed to be directly affiliated to Studbook, the official registry in South Africa, the origin of the Boerboel dog breed. By affiliation Boerboel Alliance would have the privilege to organize appraisals, training, and registration and also help with the ennoblement of the Boerboel breed in Africa.

It’s been a tedious journey but we are happy to announce that we would be holding our inaugural breed appraisals here in Nigeria and Ghana inclusive. The vision is for Africa as a whole but we have always thought we would start from West Africa then take the gospel Africa wide.

Can any dog lover join the Boerboel Alliance™? What are the major requirements to be a part of the association?

Boerboel Alliance™ is a breed specific organization, the breed being the Boerboel Dog breed, otherwise known as the South African Mastiff dog. We are open to anyone be it a breeder, fancier or just a Boerboel lover who wants to help take the Boerboel dog breed forward in Africa. Our requirements for joining are pretty less tedious and we have different levels and categories of association as it fits the individual. We even have a free membership option which offers pretty much a lot of benefits for fancier.

What would you say is the importance of being a member of the Boerboel Alliance?

As earlier mentioned, Boerboel Alliance™ is a registered stand-alone organization who is solely committed to the forward ennoblement of the Boerboel dog breed in Africa. Benefits include the direct affiliation to Studbook, which automatically gives our member the opportunity to have their dogs directly registered with studbook through our affiliation. We also from time to time organize appraisals and shows to further help breeders see the extent of their work compared to the breed standard. Training, Seminars and local benefits which include discounted prices on microchip, DNA profiling & parentage Verification, dog food manufacturers [Local & Foreign], vet accessories, Canine Photography, Veterinary treatments are just some of the many benefits that are open to our members and fanciers.

We have recently just concluded plans on an onsite Sperm bank facility where members can have semen of desired males stored to further enlarge the gene pool of the Boerboel breed locally. With Boerboel Alliance you are sure of a dynamic organization with no strict hierarchy of order but a collective team striving hard to put the locally bred Boerboel at the forefront of its counterparts elsewhere.

There is another Boerboel association called the Boerboel Dog Breeders Association of Nigeria BDBAN, what’s the difference between that group and the Boerboel Alliance?

With due respect, BDBAN was the first Boerboel club that organized the first Boerboel appraisals in Nigeria I think in 2013. They are a local representative of SABBS (South African Boerboel Breed Society). Boerboel Alliance™ is a full-fledged organization [breed registry] rooted with its own constitution and devoid of all external influences.

What are your dreams and goals for the Alliance in the next few years?

The Crust of Boerboel Alliance™ has always been hinged on promotion and development of the locally bred Boerboel. Over the past couple of years, due to lack of education, awareness and more so the non-availability of a structured organization we have imported a lot of dogs who are either undocumented or sold with false documents to unsuspecting buyers. With BA, we have embarked on a mop-up exercise via proper education about the Boerboel breed, and also empowering fancier and breeders with ways to authenticate status of a locally bred Boerboel via our portal www.boerboelalliance.org.

We would be working extensively with breeders across the globe to facilitate training, seminars and also real-time online tutorials on breeding practices, continuous support from the secretariat and a common pool of breeding quality dogs to help improve the structural integrity of the locally bred Boerboel Part of our exercise is to get all dogs micro-chipped and DNA done on all Boerboel, regardless of their pedigree status, it is our belief that identification and preservation is the first call for development of the breed. We have commissioned a team amongst our members whose main function is to ensure that every dog that enters our registry is properly identified.

The Boerboel Alliance is carrying out a Boerboel appraisal from the 25th to the 30th of April in Lagos,Nigeria, Ibadan,Nigeria and Accra, Ghana, the event is open to all Boerboel owners and dog lovers. Book here http://www.boerboels.com.ng/appraisals