ABOUT | Mysite

Our love for this magnificent breed began in 2005 with our first Boerboel
Gabriella Sunshine (Gabby) yes she was named by a child, our oldest daughter, who
was 6 at the time :). She was everything we wanted in a companion and protector of
us and especially our three young children. We have always owned dogs and prior
to Gabby, a love for hunting provided us an opportunity to raise a few quality litters
of proven hunting German wire-haired pointers and English pointers. We loved
Gabby so much that we began the long process of health testing to see if beside
temperament she was also structurally sound to breed. Unfortunately a vet,
inexperienced with boerboels told us that Gabby’s hips (with X-rays) weren’t good
and he wouldn’t bother sending them to OFA for evaluation. We later found out that
this was a mistake but we didn’t know any better and had her spayed. Experience is
sometimes the best teacher. However, I believe things happen for a reason because
shortly after that our daughter who was heavily involved in 4H and then FFA headed the
family down the road of raising show pigs and competing in shows and jackpots.
She would spend hours in the barn; sometimes late at night and Gabby never left
her. It’s a peaceful feeling knowing your children are protected! Gabby will always
hold a special place in our hearts!
We have now owned several boerboels, including a rescue that was a
complete health disaster. Our youngest daughter loved her unconditionally and I
think that’s what kept her going for almost 7 years, which is an eternity for a
boerboel needing to make frequent vet visits. This, in part, inspired us to want to
produce boerboels that get back to the basics of functional structure, temperament
and health. After our three children graduated from high school, we felt we had
more time to dedicate to having a small successful program that produces the type
of boerboel we love. All of our dogs are raised as part of our family, which means
we have high expectations of them and that takes time, dedication and a lot of love.
A dog’s temperament has a lot to do with breeding but it is extremely important that
training accompanies that to have a dog who understands their role in the family.
Boerboels without boundaries can be trouble.

When we were searching for dogs that we wanted for our breeding program
we decided to go to where they originated and that was South Africa. We imported Middelpos Rowdy and Middelpos Theia in 2019. They exceeded our expectations with amazing personalities and great appraisal scores at a young age.
They also passed all of their other health testing, which is a very important part of our program. All of our dogs go through rigorous testing which includes OFA hips (PennHip), elbows, heart (most have echo-cardiograms) and Embark DNA.

While no dog is perfect, our foundation male Rowdy is the powerful, confident, lovable, structurally sound male that we had exhaustedly searched for. Now that we have some of his offspring in our program, we are seeing that he is not just producing but is bettering himself, which is exactly what you are looking for in a stud!
We believe the dogs that we’ve begun and grown our program with are
precisely the type of boerboel we can be proud to breed and share with other
families. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us by call or text. Jerry
(530) 218-8762 or email riversedgeboerboels@gmail.com