This morning someone and not pointing fingers or blaming anyone (granny) left the gate open. Brock our adopted runaway took the gap and went on a neighborhood patrol. We had a courier delivery earlier this morning and the gate had not been shut so I was unaware and so was everyone else. Brock was the only one aware and took his chances and must have been out for a good hour.
This must be the 4th or 5th time now he has got out and the other times we have had to chase him and catch him lol. He goes for a walk at least 5 times per week around the block and knows where the other dogs are. Brock is not aggressive and he just wants to play and seeing these photographs placed on our WhatsApp community group it shows how friendly he is and means no harm.
Some of the community comments were quite funny and yes we had no idea he was taking an unaccompanied stroll.
We have had Brock for a good two years now and is now part of the family and he has been a pleasure to have. When we first heard about his plight having been found as a stray in Durban and with no one coming forward to claim him we put our hands up. You can get good and bad Boerboel's due to inbreeding and luckily he is pure and a decent pedigree.
The problem with a larger breed dog they can be intimidating and once they have passed the puppy stage people will be reluctant to adopt one this size. We gave it the 3 weeks which is the window for someone to claim their lost dog and had him transported up to Johannesburg.
The chances are he would have been euthanized with no adoption forthcoming and that is rather sad to think such a soft loving friendly dog would be put down. At the time when we adopted Brock we had no idea what we were getting as we had no idea what temperament he had and with young grand kids around we were on the fence. Having a 70kg dog who crunches bones for fun is not something you can take lightly and he needed work with regard to training.
The first few months were touch and go whether we would be able to keep him as he was rather boisterous and his rough playing would often end up drawing blood on your hands and arms. We had no choice but to have him castrated which would calm him down and thankfully this did help.
The adoption process took about 6 months for him to calm down and be the dog he is today. There was a some training required which was fairly straightforward and being a stray the biggest issue was his eating habits. having been starving on the run as a stray he knows how to tip over the big wheelie bins and find the rubbish bags. His dog biscuit bin is a no hot ash black dustbin and he knows how to take the lid off and many times we found him head first in the biscuits.
We had one scare when we took him to the vets as he tried to do a runner and managed to hold on to his leash whilst being dragged along the ground. His walks in the evening around the block have calmed him down these days and he is not looking to escape as much like when he first arrived. He will always want to be out the gate like he did today so we have to be vigilant and careful.
Today he did not get too far and was within the secure community and could not leave the guarded perimeter. The couple that returned him to the gate live about 100m away and they found him playing with their Labrador. When he plays he tends to squeak which is excitement and his temperament is probably the best we have experienced with our dogs past and present. I enjoy big dogs because they become so protective when on their home ground as that is their patch. He may be friendly on the run, but will not let anyone onto the property which is what you want to see. Sadly we had him snipped as he is a great specimen and would be good for breeding.
