Gary and Jacque had a Hovawart before, without them knowing it!
Thank you for participating in the Hovawart School of Witchcraft & Wizardry!
Hovawart: Our latest addition to our family is Amber, an 8 weeks Hovawart puppy and growing fast! We hope to start a blog or website about Amber soon. She was bred by Val Shone from Surrey.
We had many rescue Golden Retrievers so far, and the one we loved best we called our "huge" Golden. He sadly passed away in July due to a heart attack. Later we found out, he was not a Golden at all, but a Hovawart.
Our daily life so far consists of poo & wee chasing and constantly being nibbled upon. In other words, fantastic fun. We are looking forward to puppy class that will start in a couple of weeks. Other than that we do a lot of reading and getting good suggestions and advice from Val Shone, the breeder.
When she meets other dogs, she wants to be friendly, and even at such a young age, she can already be overwhelming to other dogs like only a Hovawart can. Thankfully, she has a great playing nanny, our 13-year old Golden Retriever.
We don't have a lot of advice to Muggles and other Wizards yet. We are still learning the spells, potions and are absorbing all the magic.
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Hovawart Wizards, like Gary and Jacque, 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.
- Do you have a Hovawart? Congratulations! Then you are officially a Hovawart Wizard too and you are invited to join the Hovawart School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. Read more on how to participate here.
- Meet more Hovawart Wizards here.
- More general information about the Hovawart breed is here.
Hi, Our new Hovawart is nearly 5 months. She is great and everything we had hoped.
ReplyDeleteWe always were thinking of having two but would appreciate your thoughts/experience when we should introduce a second puppy e.g. now or when she is older?
Thanks/ Jacque
I myself waited until Kenzo was 3 years old, they can be quite a handful through puppyhood and adolesence, and I wanted to keep my focus on him. But than again, Viva was already mature when she joined as the 2nd dog/Hovawart.
DeleteI asked the helpful people in the Hovawart family Facebook group, if they would like to leave some suggestions for you.
2 pups can be more then a hand full :) i would suggest to wait until the age between 3 and 6 years old. That way the older dog will help you out a lot in potty training etc .. don't forget, he/ she will pass on the good behavior, but also the bad behavior now and then ..
ReplyDeleteI also would wait until your dog is around three. A five month hovawart is still a puppy, and you still have adolescence to go through!! River is now two and a half and I still see much adolescent behaviour, although she is now exhibiting some more calm, adult times. I second what Cyberdrone says, too, about an older dog helping to teach a pup - any pups I have had have always learned a lot from the older dogs. Also, if you have a well behaved adult, you can rely on them to be good and steady when you are dealing with puppy stuff, and not adding to the trouble.
ReplyDeleteI have had hovawart for moore than 30 years and i always advice my puppybuyers to wait. Wait until your first dog is 3-4 years old until you have a new one. Hovawart needs time to grow and develope and mature. And don't have to males in the same home..not a good ideá at all.
ReplyDeleteSame here, I waited until my first dog was 3 years old and I bred her. I kept one of her puppies from her first litter and now they are best friends. Two hovawart puppies would be too much. I also recommend my puppy buyers to wait. Besides being a handful, if you put two puppies together, they would only want to play with each other and you would be out of the picture. If you want to bond well with your dogs, you need a lot of one-on-one interaction that with two pups might be difficult
ReplyDelete4 years is proven to be the best time space between dogs, but everything depends on circumstances and what owner can and wants to cope with. I also advice puppy buyers to wait and not have 2 pups at the same time. In the last 30 years I have had everything; females together, males together, mixed pack, perfect time space between dogs, no time space between dogs. Having more than 1 dog is very hard work (time wise). Important thing when you have more dogs is that they all get individual time, training and walks. My greatest Hovawart experience and my golden years with Hovies is when I reared 2 pups together (against all advice). So if you want something and can cope with it go for it.
ReplyDeleteJust want to add that I never sell 2 pups together (although people occasionally ask for 2, it's always a no no)
DeleteLoved that you mentioned your greatest Hovawart experience was when you went against all advice :)
DeletePerhaps because more effort was made to do things separate, those 2 dogs were the most socialised, confident and balanced dogs we have had. No seriously, I think dogs, as pack animals, do need to live with their own kind as well as with people. I find having 1 dog boring. The interaction between dogs in a pack is wonderful to live with. The nicest, most natural and best combination is of course, an entire dog and entire bitch, ……. you will live with and witness nothing else but pure natural behaviour, which I love. Just separate them when the bitch is fertile, thats all!
DeleteI would recommend you, when you get a second Hovawart, to walk him allways, or at least as often as humanly possible, separately. With that i don't mean a quick round for a quick pee, but to the forrest or anywhere where you can encounter other dogs etc. Unfortunately i didn't know that and now i have a one year old hovawart male that is really wild with other dogs. They really have to learn their own lessons with other dogs without the older brother/sister present.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I also waited until our oldest Hovi was 3 years old.
Thank you for all your comments. We HAVE taken the plunge and our second dog joins us in a few weeks. We have prepared the garden and house with separate areas if necessary in the introductory phase. We have lots of help and hope you all will continue with your advice as necessary. Let the adventure begin....
ReplyDelete