Dogs' breeding is not an activity for everybody. To raise dogs as well as is possible, you have to
love them implicitly and don't treat a breeding like a source of maintenance. It is obvious you can't give your dogs
back for a proverbial dollar, because a lot of people appreciate more and have better respect to such things which
require being paid. Additionally the cover of a very good foreign dog and assurance of excellent maintenance for puppies
are expensive. Therefore a good dog has to cost.
Dogs are live creatures which should be fully fledged members of a family. Each breeder should release of it
because just he is responsible for a puppies' psyche development from the first days till a puppy's arrival to a new house.
These first 8 weeks that a puppy spends in a breeder's house and the future owner doesn't have any influence on this time,
are the most important moments in a right medical and psychic development of our dog (so-called socialization process).
None of dogs, the same like people, aren't perfect. Responsible breeding looks for such association where disadvantages
and parents' diseases won't be vertical. It is to minimize diseases' passing down to next generation.
- health,
- psyche,
- exterier.
Very important is an order of mentioning
features. The most essential fact is to grow hovawart which
would be able psychically and mentally. Its appearance has a
secondary meaning. We can't be happy when we have a good-looking
dog but with dysplasia of the hip or aggressive one.
Health
Responsible grower during a choice of
a dog for cover, pays his attention to diseases passing down
to next generations of parents' ancestors.
Because hovawart is a big race, it can very often meet one of
the heaviest disease: dysplasia of the hip. According to the
authors of a book " Cynology, the knowledge about a dog", when
both parents are free of dysplasia, possibility of appearing
this disease equals 17,5% ( in this place there are very important
so-called environmental factors which can cause dysplasia: too
big body mass or overloaded joints in the growing period). This
rate is growing up till 28,4% when the bitch has a dysplasia
and even till 46,2% when both parents are overloaded by dysplasia.
For this reason, it is very essential to pick out parents free
of dysplasia.
In Poland hovawart can be admitted to the breeding when it has
done explorations about dysplasia. And it should be like that.
It is a pity there are dogs admitted to the breeding with an
explorations result of A, B and C, so virtually also these ones
with dysplasia.
Such inherited diseases we can very often meet as far as hovawarts
are concerned: hypothyroidism, abnormal development of liver
vessels, cataract, heart diseases or lacks of teeth. When you
choose a dog for cover you have to pay your attention to occurrence
of these diseases for its ancestors and ancestors of the bitch.
Simultaneously we always have to compare pedigree of future
parents in order to estimate a degree of relationship between
them (so-called inbreed). Too high degree of relationship through
current development of a race is not necessary and should be
avoided.
Psyche
Hovawart is a use race which loves
each kind of work with the owner. It is a quite large constructed
dog with big mass and strong temperament. Therefore to avoid
problems, it has to have healthy psyche.
It is a feature partly heritable and partly shaped in a process
of socialization. According to Willis, hereditament such features
of character like: temperament, nervousness or utility for working
as a guide of blind people equals even till 50%. And these like
hunting passion from 10 till 30%. Therefore unbalanced dogs
or these with too big nervousness or timidity should be eliminated
from the breeding. However distinguished working dogs should
be promoted as often as possible.
An estimation of the inborn psyche of a dog takes place by means
of psychic tests. Unfortunately there are no psychic, obligatory
tests for hovawarts and unionized tests don't exactly detect
anything besides reaction on a shot.
Besides genetics, a breeder, the environment where a puppy raises
up and a future owner have very important influence on a dog's
psyche.
Exterier
Hovawart looks like everybody can see.
For each of us our hovawart is the most beautiful in the world.
It is important they should have a proper construction and only
dogs compliant with a pattern should be allowed to be bred,
because according to Willis, hereditament of a body construction
is different, different parts of a dog' s body are 35% till
80%.
In Poland there are dogs which are allowed to be raised after
completing 15 months on three exhibitions (included one international
or club) with excellent appraisals from at least two different
referees. Beaches have to, after completing 15 months on three
shows (included one international or club) be given excellent
appraisals or very good ones from at least two different referees.
On international and national exhibitions these requirements
are not too high, particularly in a situation when excellent
appraisal is a norm and is given for dogs which can't meet the
pattern and which should be eliminated from the breeding.
Our breeding
We have already started the adventure
with hovawarts. D'Arsy is our first bitch and just with it we
want to create the best breeding. Since we have been the owners
of hovawart and D'Arsy has been given breeding rights we have
constantly been observing the hovawarts' world we are surrounded
by.
Since we have been the owners of hovawart and D'Arsy has been
given breeding rights we have constantly been observing the
hovawarts' world we are surrounded by. We peep at others who
deal with the breeding, which dogs are associated with others,
which puppies are born. We are interested in these things in
order not to repeat others' failures, to find the best way for
hovawarts breeding. We are not experienced breeders (such breeders
we will become in a few years), but we want to be self-conscious
ones. We won't produce next litters without thinking over the
consequences of our actions.
D'Arsy is a bitch that fulfill all primary breeding requirements.
In our work with it we tried to check if it is indeed worth
being breeding. Besides examinations for dysplasia (with a result
HDA- free from dysplasia) we checked its eyes against emerging
eyed-genetic diseases.Besides unionized psychic tests, D'Arsy
passed special tests for young hovawarts with an appraisal recommended
to be raised and special tests for grownup dogs (in age of only
18 months) with an appraisal of admitting to the breeding Its
very good psyche certifies the fact that it passed PT exam in
very young age with an excellent appraisal and we hope it will
pass IPO I exam soon
Our breeding is a family breeding, puppies are growing up at
home and have stable contact with all members of the family.
Additionally since the fourth week of puppies' life, each our
familiar and the future owner as well, can visit them. Particularly
important for us is the fact that children should play with
puppies as quick as possible. Puppies spend a lot of time outside
where they have special playground at their disposal. Thanks
to that they can meet different substrates, new different voices
and have fun from playing. If you want to read more about playground,
visit a webpage
A Club of Hovawart in Poland where you find our article.
This article was also printed out in ZKwP newspaper "A dog"
nr 5/2005.
We try to keep as close as possible contact with owners of our
puppies. Exactly all owners constantly inform us what is going
on with their puppies and send us pictures. We have organized
a kindergarten for dogs for all hovawarts from Warsaw. In this
kindergarten the owners were learning how to make a conversation
with their dogs. At this moment the kindergarten group will
be preparing themselves to PT exam.
For us a dog is the best friend of people. During the whole
life it has to listen and accompany us in all events. We would
like all puppies with a nickname of von Suagra be resistant
to all people' s problems and children' ideas like our lovely
D'Arsy. We hope our toil will make each future puppies' owners
from our breeding happy. We hope hovawarts "von Suagra" will
be loved because of their excellent character and will live
being healthy through long years
