At nearly 400 words, the largest section in the Boerboel’s AKC standard is devoted to the description of the head alone.

Why?

Aside from the obvious importance of what’s inside that head, it might be the most distinguishing aspect of a breed whose body type is so similar to several other Molosser breeds that judges can be stumped if asked to pick a Boerboel out of a line-up of Molosser bodies, many of which have a comparable body size, shape and color. Some fanciers would go so far as to say that the head is the most important feature of the Boerboel because it not only represents the breed’s total character, but because it is unlike that of any other breed of dog.

We paraphrase one fancier’s vivid descriptive of how to look at the Boerboel head: If one were to chisel away at a block of concrete or stone to create, say, a Bullmastiff head, one could do it without removing too much stone. If one were to try and chisel out a Boerboel head from that same stone, one would realize that there is already too much of the stone missing to chisel out a Boerboel head correctly.

This isn’t to suggest that the Boerboel is a “head breed,” but it is extremely important for Boerboel type. This is a muscular head with cheeks that are well-filled, but the top of the skull is square, flat and equally muscular.  If the top of the head were rounded, it would look more like a Bullmastiff head. If it was too muscled, it would resemble a Staffordshire Bull Terrier head.

If the stop – that transition point where the forehead blends into the bridge of the dog’s nose – was too prominent, we would have a Pointer profile. The Boerboel’s stop is definite, but slight. It is gradually sloping and well filled between the eyes, and that’s important, too, because it’s the difference between the Boerboel looking like a Boerboel, or something else. If the eyes are spaced too closely together relative to the back of the head, we now have a wedge shaped head. Correct dentition and jaw placement are also critical, and without either, we’re back to a wedge shaped head.

The standard reads, “The muzzle is broad, deep and narrows slightly towards the nose, straight and almost on a parallel plane with the skull. The muzzle measures slightly more than a third of the total length of the head.” Some prefer to think of the muzzle as “thick,” and the dog can’t have this desired “broadness” or “thickness” if the eyes are too close together. Muzzle length is important, too, because if the muzzle is too short, the head will look more like a Bullmastiff head.

There are far more components to a Boerboel’s head, and not to put too fine a point on it, but we’ve offered a highly general overview of this all important aspect to breed type. If we take nothing else away from this, we should always remember: “Blocky” short, broad, deep, square, muscular with eyes well spaced and well filled between.

Image: ID 158958115 © Elena Lemekhova | Dreamstime.com