Oklahoma Boerboels

Oklahoma Boerboels is part of "Our Wildflower Fields". We started out with a Doberman Pinscher a few chickens and 5 ADGA registered dairy goats. We opened our home dairy and kennel in 1982 at about the same time on our 1 acre micro farm in Fredericksburg, VA. We acquired a show quality Doberman Pinscher dam that we named "Pepper". We got her for free in response to a newspaper add. She had been hit by a car after stealing a ham and being chased from the mess hall on the Quantico Marine base. She proved to be marvelous around our five children, always displaying a calm attitude, friendly and yet very protective. We enjoyed assisting her, in honor, with nearly twenty puppies throughout her 12 years as our close friend, family and goat herd protector.

We sold all the dairy goats after Lindy had several operations and was at that time unable to continue to milk the herd twice per day and keep up with the herd maintenance and chores.

Years later after we sold Pepper’s last puppies and she died we were without a family pet for a while. When all our children were grown and on their own, we found ourselves growing a little bored and lonely. Our silent "empty nest" took some time to get use to. All the fun and frolic of children and animals were now just quiet loving memories.

On a visit to the Midwest to see our first grandson, we stayed at a friends home who was watching after another friend's Chihuahua while they were traveling. Until that time we had never considered such a small dog as being a useful pet. All of our experiences were with large breed dogs. After two days of visiting and seeing this female Chihuahua named Gigit play and react to different events, we reconsidered and had a change of mind set concerning this breed.

About six months later we decided to select a female Chihuahua puppy. She was so playful and demanded our attention so much it was hard to tell her no. So about a year later we looked for a playmate (also with stud in mind) for our newly acquired chihuahua female, "Samantha" aka Sam. We found a Chi breeder only a few miles from our home. We bartered for “Belshazzar” aka Bell when the breeder found out we operated a furniture restoration business The Masters Touch.

Since then Sam and Bell as they are known, have been quite companionable and have gradually learned about 25 tricks and commands including a very cute "praise the Lord" for treats and a series of "roll overs" and "find the treat game", that has us and visiting friends laughing and playing. Bell on his own would "sit pretty" to beg for a treat. Our home was once again filled with the sounds of life and excitement. We decided to start up our kennel operation again trading as "Happy Trail Chihuahuas" and had decided on the Chihuahua as our only breed.

When retirement was approaching we decided to relocate in the Midwest. Some of our children and grandchildren were there and we had many Christian friends there also. Land was also much less expensive. It took four years to find what we wanted, more land (we only had one acre in Virigina) with trees as well as open fields.

Living in Oklahoma has been a learning experience. The wind, the heat, the soil, the predators and limited rainfall is vastly different than beautiful Virginia. It took almost four years to build our home. We would make 1-3 trips per year from Fredericksburg to Luther. Sometimes we would stay a few weeks other times several months. We worked the land also during this time. It was bare, raw and undeveloped. We cut in a road, opened and leveled a pad for a house/shop and started fencing. The ticks and chiggers are much worse here in Oklahoma. Why did God create chiggers!?

We had a very sad, heart braking experance about two years into our build. One night we lost 6 males and 1 female Chihuahua to a pack of coyotes. We had them all in the shop with the garage door open about 8 inches so they could get out to potty. What we think happended is that the coyotes sent in a femail that was in heat to draw all the males out. Before going to bed for the night all 22 Chis rushed out twice into the feild to bark at the tree line some 100 yards across the feild. Later that night around 11-12 PM, I heard some of them yelping. My thought was "now they are fussing with each other". The next morning we were shocked and heart broken to find so many missing.

As a result of that terrible experiance we purchased 2 Boerboels (South African Mastiff) dogs. Boerboel translates to "farm dog". They stand 25–27 inches tall and weigh in at 150 to 190 pounds. The females are typicly a little smaller than the males. These imposing dogs are excellent livestock guardians while also possessing a loving and calm personality toward their owner family, especially children. Boerboel are a smart and verry trainable breed, and their devotion to their family makes them an excelent dog for protection from both 2 and 4 leged predators. We now have 1 male "Roy" and 2 females "Jewel" and "Gaila".

We have acquired and reared many new animals and have built shelters for them. We are expanding the garden each year. Clearing land, planting fruit trees, grapes and roses. We have installed running water and electric lines all over the place. Fencing and crossing fencing many paddocks with woven wire and electric to keep all the animals in and the predators out. There is still barns and a pond to build. Who would have thought retirement would be so much hard work. Yes, we bought a cab tractor with lots of implements and a Polaris Ranger to help with the bigger jobs around our new farm life.

We enjoy meeting and sharing with new like minded folks and our brothers and sisters in Christ. If you would like to come for a visit, thats great, we would love to meet you, but please call us first so we can put up the Livestock Guardian and Boerboel dogs before you arrive.


PS: Childern of all ages are welcome also.



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