I am very excited to introduce you to some very exotic Hovawart Wizards, Marc and Cheryl!
I first met them through Facebook as they stood out from the "usual" Hovawart crowd, because of the place they live: Bangkok, Thailand. Truly a Hovawart family in paradise.
Thank you for participating in the
Hovawart School of Witchcraft & Wizardry!
Hovawart Wizards: We are Marc and Cheryl, and live with our three boys, Andrew, Jonathan and Matt, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Hovawart: Kaspar is our Hovawart, and luckily for Kaspar our family lives
just outside Bangkok in an area where there is plenty of space for him to run
free. There are birds to chase, other dogs to play with and various sized
monitor lizards from 2 feet to 8 feet! It is very hot
in Bangok, but Kaspar finds cool places in the crosswind, and can usually be
found in any air conditioned room. Kaspar was born
in May 2009 and is an unneutered male.
Marc spends
lots of time through his job visiting farms around the world. While in Germany
a few times, he came across farms with Hovawarts and really liked these dogs.
he mentioned this to one of his German colleagues and due to German efficiency,
the next thing we knew Kaspar was in Frankfurt waiting for his flight to
Bangkok. He arrived when he was 5 months old. He is now 35kg and very active.
Kaspar is an
excellent family dog. He likes being around us. Although he is quite big, he is
very quiet. He only barks if someone is at the front gate or walking too close
to the front gate. We have a swimming pool but he prefers the dirty canal and
has only jumped into the pool once. Sometimes he will sit on the step at the
edge of the pool so only his feet are wet.
He likes to
wrestle with Marc and loves being brushed and tickled by Andrew. Although Kaspar is rarely leashed, he keeps
close to us during his walks and will generally listen to our calls to
heel. We notice that as Kaspar gets
older he is more interested in being with us and less interested in chasing
other animals around.
Kaspar has been
on holiday with us to the beach. We
enjoy having him with us, but it is a challenge because there are many stray
dogs in Thailand, and the culture of having pets inside is not present. However we have found some hotels that allow
us to have him with us. At the beach
Kaspar likes to sit at the edge of the water. He finds spots under shady trees and most of all he likes being with us.
If we go away
and leave Kaspar with someone he does not know, he will not eat until we get
back. Recently we went on a trip to a
national park and only realized once we got there that a new regulation meant
no pets were allowed in the national park (which was an island about 2 hours
away by speedboat). We had to leave
Kaspar on the mainland with someone he did not know at all. The carer told us that on the first day when
she took him for his walk, he broke free and found a spot near our car. He did not move for 2 days, did not drink
water or eat any food. At the other end
we were also worried and cut our island holiday short so we could retrieve him.
That was an
eventful holiday – we drove down the road to Phuket (about 3 hours) and the
next day we were on the top of the mountain waiting out the tsunami
warning. Kaspar met another Hovawart at
the top of that mountain. He was a black
dog about 10 years old. His owner was a
German long-time resident of Phuket. We
heard that during the Tsunami recovery in 1996, Hovawarts were flown in to find
people in the debris. I would really like to know if somebody reading this could confirm if that was the case?
We like Kaspar because
he is intelligent, loyal and protective. He treats each member of the family
different, based on their age. We figure
that on his list we rank in this order: Marc, Cheryl, Andrew because he spends
lots of time with Kaspar, Sita (our maid) because she looks after him a lot,
then Matthew the littlest and Jonathan. Marc
encourages Kaspar to jump up and kiss up, but Kaspar never jumps up on little
Matt and is always calm and gentle with him.
Kaspar's daily routine looks like this: he wakes up
around 5am and goes for a 5 - 7 km run with Cheryl. It is cooler in the early
morning while it is still dark. On his run Kaspar greets his other friends,
sometimes has a play and is home about 40 minutes later. He runs free without a
leash because the compound is enclosed and there is not very much traffic. There
are many fields and little canals that he gambols through. The rest of the day
is meant for relaxation.
Kaspar eats some breakfast (dry dog food) and then
spends most of his day sitting near Cheryl (or in any aircon room if
available!) or catching the crosswind by the front door. He gets another walk
in the mid afternoon after 3:00. The children come home from school starting at
3:30 and Kaspar is there for a jump, pat and a lick. Kaspar has dinner after
the family at 6:30 pm. For dinner he has meat with carrots, greens and rice
specially prepared for him. Between 7 and 9 he goes for his last walk of the
day. Our house has
quite a big garden, so he is free to roam around during the day. Sometimes if
he is eager to see his friend he will jump over the back wall (only about 2
feet) and sneak out. But he is soon back and waits patiently for someone to
open the front gate.
***
Hovawart
Wizards, like Marc and Cheryl, try to provide real life information for Muggles -
those not yet touched by the Hovawart's magic - to learn more about
Hovawarts in the
Hovawart School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.
A place where Muggles can read how we play, what kind of training and
activities we undertake. What makes Hovawarts special to us, and how
they made us into Wizards. The role they came to play in our lives. And
the hard times we shared. Helping Muggles to make the best choice
possible if a Hovawart could be the Magical Creature for them, or at
least what to expect.
