Updated October, 20
The complete series as it turned out with the the contributions of Africa, Jan Wolfe, Evelyn B., Peggy S., Yvonne B.,
Anna N., Katja K., Sascha L., Björn S., Loes K., Flora B., Verena S.,
Heini A., Dave H., Maria E., Judith L., Lone A., Mary A., Hester O., Ine
C., Min I., Silvia I., Karina J., Ellen G.
Thank you so much!
A Hovawart's Guarding Instincts
A Hovawart has a huge guarding instinct. Like all dog breeds that were
bred for a purpose, either herding, hunting, or guarding, it is that
genetic baggage they take with them in our modern society.With the Hovawart, it is guarding instinct.
Not A Retriever, Still A Family Dog
Being
part of a family is as essential for them as breathing air. Only
being with you and your family can really make them thrive. You'll have
to earn it first. They bond with anybody who will treat them
fair and invests time and effort in play, exercise and fun training.
Personality
Whether your Hovawart's personality is to be the clown of the house, the
placid matriarch, the work-a-holic, or the clever manipulator, they all
have something in common when it comes down to Personality.
Traning and Exercise
Dog
training and exercise are god's gift to Hovawart owners. Without it,
things tend to explode in your face. But when you train and exercise,
you are set up for success.
Socialization with Dogs
Puppies have a “critical period” that spans roughly from 8 – 16 weeks of
age. This period marks the time when your puppy is most impressionable,
and they learn best.
More Socialization
Next to dogs, we also need to socialize our puppy with all the things we
do in our daily life, so they can become a full-fledged member of our
family.
Before You Buy
You are officially armed to meet some real Hovawarts in real life,
although .... be prepared to find out we hardly even scratched the
surface!
Original post:
When I was invited by "Dyrenes Beskyttelse" to
speak to the families that adopted the Hovawarts rescued from the puppy mill in March this year, I gladly accepted the invitation. The idea was to inform them as good as possible what they could expect, as many of them became first-time Hovawart owners.
It was a great way to meet new people - and Hovawarts of course - and it shouldn't be too difficult, as I could pick most of it from the blog I guessed. Browsing through the blog I realized it was not as easy as it seemed. I missed some very important topics - i.e only one piece on socialization and one, incomplete, on health. Other information was hard to find in the first place in the chronological format of the blog.
The presentation I gave went well nonetheless and was well received, but I promised myself to re-visit the blog at a later time. One of our main goals is exactly to be of help and interest for people familiarizing with the Hovawart, and I was doing a disservice to future Hovawart parents.
I am very aware a lot of you that read this blog, are already quite educated Hovawart parents, and I would really appreciate your help in selecting the subjects that need attention.
So. If it was up to you, what is the most important subject(s) to write and discuss about if you had to chose? What should every first-time Hovawart owner know?
