Once Upon a Time There Was a Mutt

The modern Hovawart

You probably remember the BBC show Pedigree Dogs Exposed. In 2009, it revealed how breeders prefer exterior characteristics above health. Crippled and sick dogs became the winners of dog shows and were used in breeding. The end of the pedigree dog as we know it was predicted.

What about the Hovawart?
During Kenzo's "passing the genes" project - interrupted by his neutering - we did a lot of research and soul-searching if it would be an ethical thing to pursue. And we decided to dig a little deeper into the history of the Hovawart.

Most breeder and Kennel Club websites paint a romantic picture of the Hovawart as a robust dog breed that has been around since medieval times. If you believe in fairy tales, stop reading.

The tale of the Hovawart starts in the Germany of 1922, when a group of German Shepherd dog breeders in the "Härzen" province (in former East-Germany) were disappointed by the decision of their club to stop breeding long-haired German Shepherds.

They decided to "create" their own long-haired breed and found a text in the Schwabenspiegel, the oldest Code of Law to survive from medieval Germany, referring to a type of dogs called "Hovawart". They were mentioned because they were valued dogs and stealing such a dog meant harsh punishment.

The author of the text that eventually led to the "Schwabenspiegel", Eike von Repgow, was saved himself as a little boy by one of those dogs, explaining why he valued them.

Courtesy of www.hovawarte-becker.de

"Hovawart" is old-German for "estate guard dog" and it is more likely the law text was referring to a type of dogs, instead of one particular breed. It attracted the group of breeders nonetheless, also because they found more records describing "estate guard dogs" saving human lifes.

A problem for the group was the texts did not describe how the dogs looked like, and they assumed the breed must have looked something like the dog on one of Albrecht Dürer's drawings (see picture to the left).

The group, led by the German zoologist Kurt F. König, started roaming the country-side for dogs resembling the image they already had created in their minds and crossed them with German shepherds, Newfoundlands, Kuvaczs, Leonbergers and African wild dogs.

König was the mind behind the blond colored Hovawart as well. As he worked on this during the years 1934-1945, and was later accused of "neo-darwinistic" views, we can make a good guess of where he found his inspiration for a blond Hovawart.

Castor Meyer-Busch, courtesy of www.working-dog.eu

In 1932, they created their image of the perfect Hovawart with "Castor Meyer-Busch" and this dog would set his fingerprints on the future generations. He was 45% "type" dog, 12% Newfoundland, 15% Kuvacz and 28% German Shepherd.

I do not know what the effect of all this crossing was on the gene pool for the Hovawart. A lot of breeds contributed to the first Hovawarts. The use of the "type" dog - basically a mutt? - must have added a lot of diversity. But like with all breeding, which individuals were predominantly used? They would have had the biggest effect on the gene pool for later generations.

What also affected the gene pool was the 2nd World War, which decimated the ranks, as Hovawarts were working dogs and were conscripted by the army to die on the fronts. After the war, the Iron Curtain divided the remaining gene pool in two as well. Even today it reflects in the Hovawart. Dogs bred in the West were predominantly working dogs and pets. Which made them more compact and almost loose their undercoat. In the East they where still used as estate guarding dogs living outside, and this made a robust dog with a lot of undercoat.

As with most working dog breeds during the 60-ties and 70-ties, the Hovawart was plagued by hip-dysplasia (HD) and breeding was restricted on dogs with a form of HD in their ancestry. This meant roughly half of the population could not be used in breeding. And although it solved the HD threat concerning the Hovawart, the side-effect of an ever diminishing gene pool soon was revealed. Some lines now had dogs which acted more aggressive than before.

This was counter-measured as well with mandatory mental-testing, but it revealed the dilemma of the pedigree dog once more. Each restriction is made to make the breed healthier, but also shrinks the gene pool and thereby increases the inbreeding factor and future risks.

How the Hovawart will evolve will depend on that inbreeding factor. Seen in that light it is positive the Hovawart show world is not solely focused on external characteristics. You see that when you go to a Hovawart show. They differ in size, coat structure and coloring, and the local "champs" do not resemble each other as perfected clones, even for the untrained eyes.

Is that enough? Or does it only buy time and is the Hovawart already destinated to share its faith with all other "breeds" that are the result of a hundred years of mankind trying to mess with nature? Hovawart breeders face a difficult task. Wrong decisions will shrink the gene pool even more. And good decisions are not rewarded, as the gene pool is never widened.