Hovawart

The Hovawart is a big working dog from Germany, bred to mind farms and estates. The name comes from old German words for "yard guardian", which tells you plainly what the breed was kept for. Adults stand tall and carry a medium-long coat, usually black, black and gold, or blonde. The build is powerful without being heavy, the sort of frame a dog needs if it is expected to patrol and work away for long stretches.

Temperament is steady and self-assured. A Hovawart attaches itself to the whole household rather than picking out one person, and it keeps an eye on the place as a matter of course. It is watchful by nature and holds back with strangers. That reserve is what makes it useful as a guard dog, and it is also the reason the breed needs early socialisation and consistent handling. A well-reared Hovawart is quiet in the house and only switches on when something is genuinely out of place.

This breed is slow to mature. Plenty of Hovawarts are not right in the head until about three years of age, so anyone taking one on should plan for a long adolescence. The dog is clever and picks things up quickly, though it has a mind of its own and will try the boundaries where it is not given fair, steady leadership.

Who the breed suits

The Hovawart wants an active household that can give it daily exercise, training and a job of work. It goes best with owners who have kept a working or guarding breed before and who can put the time into socialisation right through that long adolescence. It is a poor match for a first-time owner, for an apartment with no outdoor access, or for a house that sits empty most of the day.

The Hovawart goes back to the farm dogs of medieval Germany. German texts from the period mention a guarding dog called the "hovawart", a dog kept to mind the yard and whatever was in it. Whether those early dogs were one distinct type, or simply a job done by whatever farm dogs were to hand, was never settled. The name and the guarding work carried on either way.

By the nineteenth century the old farm guardian had more or less gone as a recognisable type, pushed aside by other working and herding breeds. The dog you see today came out of a deliberate rebuilding effort started in the early twentieth century.

From about 1915 onwards, German breeders under Kurt Friedrich König set about putting the breed back together. They gathered farm dogs out of the Black Forest and the Harz mountains that still had the old guarding stamp about them, then crossed them with several established breeds to settle size, coat and temperament. The programme was organised and written up as it went along.

Germany recognised the Hovawart in 1937. As happened with many European breeds, numbers fell away badly during and after the Second World War, and breeders had to start again in the middle of the century. The breed is well settled in Germany now and is kept in other countries as well, both as a family guardian and as a working dog.

The Hovawart is a strongly built dog, a little longer than it is tall. The overall impression is power and balance with no heaviness about it. The head is broad with a rounded forehead, the ears hang down and are set high and wide, and the tail is bushy and falls below the hock. Dogs are noticeably bigger and heavier than bitches, and the difference in build between the sexes is easy enough to spot.

Coat and colours

The coat runs medium to long, lies close to the body and has a slight wave through it. It is thickest on the chest, belly, the back of the legs and the tail, and shorter over the head and the front of the legs. Three colours are recognised. The black variety is solid black with a metallic sheen off it. The black and gold variety carries a black base with clear tan or gold markings on the chest, legs, muzzle and over the eyes. The blonde variety runs light to medium gold. The coat sheds rain well and stands up to a wet Irish winter, so a dog worked in bad weather dries out and comes right without much fuss.

The Hovawart is even tempered and sure of itself. With its own family it is affectionate and loyal, and it tends to bond with the whole household rather than one handler. The protective drive is high, and the dog will mind its home and its people, so it needs to be taught the difference between a real threat and the ordinary comings and goings of the day.

With strangers the Hovawart is reserved rather than snappy. A well socialised dog is mannerly and under control when visitors are brought in, while still keeping watch. Where a pup gets too little early exposure to people and places, that protective instinct can harden into wariness or over-guarding, so socialisation from puppyhood matters.

With children the breed is patient and forgiving when reared alongside them, though the size of it means young children should never be left unsupervised with the dog. With other dogs and pets, the outcome comes down to socialisation and the individual animal. Some Hovawarts are sociable, others are choosy. The breed is clever and forms close bonds, and it does not settle when left on its own for long stretches.

Grooming

• Brush the coat once or twice a week to lift out loose hair and stop tangles forming, particularly behind the ears and through the feathering on the legs and tail.
• Expect a heavier moult in spring and autumn, when more frequent brushing earns its keep.
• Bathe only when the dog is properly dirty. The coat is weatherproof and washing it too often does no good.
• Check the hanging ears regularly and clean them out, and trim the nails every few weeks.
• After a walk through wet fields or forestry, dry the dog off and check the coat for ticks and muck.

Exercise

• Give the dog one to two hours of activity a day at least, spread across walks, free running and play.
• Work in jobs that use the head, such as tracking, obedience or scent work, which suit the breed's working background.
• Change the routine about a bit, because a bored Hovawart gets restless or starts inventing guarding duties.
• Build exercise up gradually in young dogs to protect growing joints.
• Keep the dog on a lead near livestock. This is a large guarding breed and farmers in Ireland take a dim view of loose dogs in among sheep.

Environment

The Hovawart does best in a house with a securely fenced garden and ready access to the outdoors, though it should live indoors with the family rather than being put out in a kennel on its own. The damp and the cold of an Irish winter bother it very little, thanks to that coat. It is not a dog to be left alone for long hours, and an under-occupied Hovawart with a strong guarding drive will become a nuisance to neighbours and callers to the door.

The Hovawart does well on a complete, balanced feed made up for large active dogs. Match the food and the portion to the dog's age, weight and workload. This is a slow-maturing large breed, so pups do better on a large-breed puppy formula that supports steady, controlled growth instead of quick weight gain, which protects the joints while they are still developing. Keep adults lean, because every extra kilo tells on the hips and elbows.

Treats and supplements

Keep treats to roughly a tenth of the daily calories and count them into the overall ration, or the weight will creep up. Set aside part of the day's food for training rewards instead of adding extra. Most Hovawarts on a complete diet need nothing else, so talk to your vet before starting joint support or any other addition. Fresh water should be there at all times.

The Hovawart is reckoned a fairly healthy large breed, helped along by a breeding history that put working ability and sound structure first. Most live 10 to 14 years. As with any big dog, the joints are the main worry, and responsible breeders screen their stock for it. Buying from a breeder who health tests is the surest way to shorten the odds, and a breeder registered with the Irish Kennel Club should be able to show you the paperwork for both parents.

Preventive care

• Keep vaccinations and parasite control up to date, with tick cover for a dog walked in long grass or forestry.
• Hold the dog at a lean body weight to take the strain off the joints.
• Book an annual check with the vet, and go more often once the dog is into old age.
• Keep the teeth clean by brushing or other dental care.
• Take pups from health-screened parents.

The Hovawart learns fast and likes working with its handler, but it thinks for itself and will question any command it sees no sense in. It goes best with consistent, patient training from an owner who sets clear boundaries and follows through on them. Because the breed matures slowly and stays a teenager for a few years, training is an ongoing job rather than something finished off at the end of puppy classes. Heavy-handed methods damage the bond and can turn a confident guarding dog defensive, so firm and fair is the way to go.

The basics

1. Start socialisation early and get the pup out to a wide range of people, dogs, places and sounds.
2. Teach the core cues: sit, down, recall and walking on a loose lead.
3. Set house rules and have everyone in the household apply the same ones.
4. Practise controlled greetings so the dog learns to take visitors calmly.
5. Add head work such as tracking or scent games to give the working drive somewhere to go.
6. Keep sessions short, regular and positive right through adolescence.

The Hovawart is slow to mature, and responsible breeders hold off until dogs are physically and mentally grown before breeding them, later than is usual with most breeds. Bitches come into season about twice a year. Breeding stock should be screened for hip and elbow dysplasia and assessed for sound temperament, since structure and steady character both sit at the centre of this breed.

Gestation in dogs runs to about 63 days. Litters are moderate to large for a dog of this size. Newborn pups depend entirely on the dam for warmth and feeding through the first weeks, and the breeder's job is to keep the litter warm, clean and well fed while she does most of the early work. Handling the pups early and letting them meet the noise and traffic of a normal house helps them settle as adults.

Because this is a guarding breed with a strong protective drive, selecting for temperament counts every bit as much as physical soundness. Buyers should look for a breeder who health tests, rears the litter indoors and has socialisation well under way before the pups go to their new homes.

How to register a Hovawart in Ireland

Irish law has required every dog to be chipped and registered since the 2015 Regulations came in, and it expects the details behind the chip to stay current, not gather dust. A free United Pet Club profile does that for your Hovawart, for life. Registering your dog is a few minutes' work and costs nothing at all.

The implant is the vet's job; the record is down to you, and the 2015 rules assume you'll keep it current. Register the microchip free on the lifetime plan: whatever brand the vet reached for is grand, a house move costs nothing to record, and the number stays searchable day and night. Create your free account and have the pair of jobs done before the tea goes cold.