The Exotic bloodline is built on three South African families of Boerboels.

Ysterberg · Baden · Dopper — the foundation families whose blood is expressed in every generation of our dogs to this day.

3foundation families 14breeds behind the Ysterberg Mastiff 2016the breed split four ways Meet the families
World-class producing families

We are talking world-class Boerboel producing families — a heavy concentration of the same stud dogs expressed in every generation of our dogs.

The goal of the program is simple: take the bloodline's inherited strengths — drive and athleticism — and add them to unrelated or distantly related males, consistently producing and maintaining hybrid vigor.

The foundation stock of the Exotic bloodline is tight and heavily concentrated. If you know how to use a pedigree database, look for yourself — almost every new line traces back to some of these names.

Prominent sires

Ysterberg Vegter 3 Corma Buks Cabaret Klein Buks Dopper Oubaas Piona Oubaas Donkerhoek Kaalpoot Roenard Martiens

Old-school dams

Dopper Nina Waaksaam Mitzie Ysterberg Mollie 2 Ysterberg Maggie 2 Ysterberg Maggie 1 Piona Zola Roenard Mitz Dopper Nandi Dopper Marna
The three founding families

Where the blood comes from

Three South African families set the type, the drive and the size behind every Exotic Boerboel — each represented today by one foundation dog.

The original imports

Three foundation dogs

Two foundation females and the foundation male the whole program is built from — and one playbook repeated three ways: concentrate the blood of a single great ancestor until it stamps every litter. The heatmap below tints every ancestor by how many times it recurs — the hotter the colour, the heavier the line breeding.

A breed in motion

From the farm to four registries

The story of the bloodline is also the story of the breed itself — and, in 2016, of a split that still defines it.

Origins

The farm guardian of South Africa

On isolated South African farms, the Boerboel is shaped as a working guardian — a mastiff bred for nerve, loyalty and the strength to stand alone.

Foundation

Klaas Van Waveren builds the Ysterberg Mastiff

Said to combine as many as fourteen breeds, the Ysterberg Mastiff is engineered to be bigger, more functional and more robust — carrying wide genetic variation that a breeder can use to add flavour while holding size and drive.

Concentration

Three families set the type

Baden, Dopper and Mouzer · Ysterberg lines concentrate the prepotent producers — Ysterberg Vegter 3, Corma Buks, Cabaret Klein Buks, Dopper Oubaas — into a tight, repeatable foundation.

2016

The breed splits into four classifications

Politics fractures the Boerboel into four registries. History records that the Ysterberg Mastiffs were folded into the original standard — though larger, more agile and free of its health problems.

Today

Two breeds, one inheritance

Stoffel Bloom, the modern conductor of the Ysterberg line, maintains the Ysterberg Mastiff is a separate breed living inside the Boerboel's makeup. Exotic carries that concentrated inheritance forward — adding drive and athleticism to unrelated males for consistent hybrid vigor.

The Ysterberg Mastiffs are not Boerboels. The Boerboel has the Ysterberg Mastiff in its makeup — they are two different breeds.

Stoffel Bloom, modern conductor of the Ysterberg Mastiff line

Created by South African farmer Klaas Van Waveren, the Ysterberg Mastiff was said to combine fourteen breeds — bigger, more functional and more robust, with the genetic variation a breeder can use to add flavour while holding size and drive.

Research the line yourself

Trace these names through the pedigree database

See for yourself how many famous Boerboels date back to Ysterberg Vegter 3, Corma Buks, Dopper Oubaas and the rest of the foundation stock.