2008, A momentous year for us and our Boerboels

In a matter of hours, 2008 will roll by and a new year should roll in. As I reveiew the outgoing year and ponder on those things that we achieved and those thing that we didnt, I cannot but share what our experiences have been and in a nut shell, as far as the boerboels are concerned, 2008 has been a momentous year.

We started the year with some of our very dear BBs, Roenard Shumba, Grasland Vrystaat, Grasland Ojuolape who was nursing a litter of 9 pups from Shumba, Bundu Valley Zeta (Morenike), Asiwaju Adaeze, Asiwaju Ebube... A total of 10 boerboels. And our latest boy arrived from South Africa, Marvell Buddi Bhusasa from my friends at Bundu Valley Boerboels... He was such a stunner and we were quite sure he was going to help our breeding having seen some of his offsping in South Africa.

Ojuolape's litter from Shumba was such a delightful one. And I dare say that we had the privilege of having great dog people who opened their homes to them. I recall Simba at the Onanuga's residence, Sasha with Ayo Otuyalo, Tega with Emmanuel in Eket, and of course Charlie's Kike. 

With the kind of results we saw with these pups, we actually looked forward to repeat combinations in the immediate future between Shumba and Ojuolape and Shumba and Morire, the litter preceeding that. However, those were not be...

The 2 armed robbery attacks in transit on my person in february 2008 which pushed and shook us to the point where we concluded plans to relocate from Nigeria and then when we were trying to come to terms that for our boerboels' sake, Nigeria was again worth giving a trial and of course with the deluge of appeals from well meaning friends and family both home and abroad and the entire boerboel community world over, we decided to stay but then something else happened...

Our darling Roenard Shumba passed on. It was in the wee hours of the  morning of 1st of May 2008, I strolled to the kennel area of our property and I saw all the dogs calling me and greeting me but Shumba was on the floor in his kennel. A very unusual sight. My heart skipped some beats and was wondering what could be worng with Shumba. I may have to call the vet immediately.Shumba has never been sick in his over 2 years with us... Is he moving? Yes he is... No I can seem to notice any movement... I think he is breathig... Upon moving closer, I was confronted by the unthinkable...Shumba is stone cold! He has been dead for about 6hrs minimum. What could have happened.I examined his body for any signs of bites ...maybe it was a snake but nothing... My world came crashing and it appeared at that time that it was over. I havent been able to discuss or write about it as Shumba was our Shumba. Our real flagship boerboel. The one who has redefined Boerboels in looks, temprament and quality of progenies as far as breeding is concerened. I recollect the hullabaloo that greeted his arrival in Nigeria...to some he was the south African reject that was sold to us...of course the only reason they would sell such a dog was becuse he was sterile etc but whatever he it was, we were just happy to have him with us. He was good with the whole family and particularly the children....

I sat with Shumba's body in his kennel and one after the other, members of my family came around having heard my nerve wracking sobs and the quietness of the other dogs which was unusual. Nobody beleieved what had just happened, then everybody including our house keepers joined in the mourning of our dear departed Shumba. Oh Shumba!

The death of Shumba took away the desire to continue breeding, coming soon after we were just coming back after the experience with the armed robbers. But we were consoled that the only way we could finish the owrk we had started and to which Shumba had contributed greatly was to continue with what is left and see how we can use the Shumba lines that we had for consolidation of his good attributes while we minimise the faults. We have our own Adaeze and Erelu who are both Shumba's daughters from Morenike (Zeta) and Lexus Erelu respectively.

(To be Continued)