"It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness."

Full Time Livestock Guardian, or Family Companionship:
One Breeder's Point of View

By Valerie Eastman
email: ghosthill@comcast.net

(reprinted from The Candle Volume 22, The international forum for Kuvasz Fanciers of America with the author's permission)

Like all Livestock Protection Dogs, the Kuvasz is an ancient and purportedly "original" breed fostered by the Hungarians for thousands of years. The Kuvasz was and still is used in tandem with the Komondor as a ferocious flock guard, intolerant of both animal and human predators. But, there was something different about the Kuvasz. After hundreds of years, a remarkable event occurred: the Kuvasz came off the plains of Hungary and into the cities and favor of fifteenth-century nobility. How could something like this happen to such a fierce, rugged, independent dog?

There are many reasons; reasons which make the Kuvasz a Kuvasz instead of an Akbash, Maremma, or other livestock guardian. The Kuvasz showed an affinity for human companionship, forming an unbreakable bond with those it loved, extending to self-sacrifice if necessary. It was beautiful. It was odorless. It was clean. It thrived on very little food. It needed no particular grooming or training in protection duties, for it did this naturally. And it was smart, damn smart, almost uncannily smart. It could guard. It could wash a newborn lamb. It could hunt. It could kill game for dinner. It liked to swim. And it was very, very fast. It could pull a cart. It could carry a pack. It could baby-sit the children. It was viciously aggressive. It was heartbreakingly gentle, sensitive, affectionate, and devoted. But best of all, the Kuvasz could do it all: in one moment, it played quietly with the children in the house; in the next, it tore outside to chase away a stray dog near the sheep. Its only specialty was a determination that nothing should disturb the peace and well being of its family, its animals, or its property. It gloried in its foremost quality: versatility.

All of us who love our flockguards know that good and bad breeders exist in our dogs; but let's focus on the good ones; working against the odds to preserve the true, correct Hungarian type Kuvasz. Let's respect these people, and work to learn more about how they place their puppies.

I am proud to say that I breed to preserve the true Kuvasz. And yes, I am one of the many Kuvasz breeders who have reservations about placing puppies as full-time flockguards which never are invited to share their owners' indoor family life. Many Kuvaszok can be happy as full-time flockguards, and some will choose to do this if they are given a choice, but the heritage of this breed includes the human bond. I like to give my Kuvaszok the opportunity to experience their heritage.

Why? First of all, livestock protection dog fanciers should understand that the Kuvasz came out of World War II with about twelve individuals left. Let's put breed legends and happy stories aside and look at the complete devastation of the Kuvasz during the war. Rent yourself a copy of Brady's Escape and watch the vignette about the Kuvasz. You will see these loyal, protective, beloved dogs shot by German soldiers. Unfortunately, this is no legend, but hard fact. If the Kuvasz wasn't shot so that soldiers could pass, it starved due to food shortages. So today, you see the legacy of twelve survivors when you see a Kuvasz. We, as good Kuvasz breeders, are the caretakers of these survivors. We strive to carry on with acknowledgment to and respect for the Hungarians who sacrificed and suffered so much in a postwar regime to salvage the unique and ancient Kuvasz. We are still dealing with the genetic aftermath of this holocaust, which virtually exterminated the Kuvasz in Hungary. There was no question of picking and choosing in a breeding program using twelve dogs. So we still deal with the problems and work to eliminate them. And we cherish every puppy. We cherish these puppies and their heritage so much that we are reluctant to place puppies in an environment, which diminishes the human bond in favor of a life, spent solely with livestock. We don't coddle our dogs, but we do acknowledge their history. Personally, I advise people who want a full-time livestock dog to contact the Maremma breeders, because these breeders want their dogs to fulfill their purpose in that way, and more power to them!

The Kuvasz is no less effective as a livestock guardian dog if it protects and loves its human family as well. Many Kuvaszok do work full-time with a flock, but these dogs are no more useful or correct than a Kuvasz who protects in other situations. So many people today live in fear for their possessions and family, and for the people who own one, the ancient Kuvasz is a godsend. Yes, the Kuvasz is a supreme flockguard, but it is also an unparalleled family protector and companion. The instinct is there and thriving: the purpose for which it is used is purely discretionary and always valuable.

Excerpted from Volume 21, January, 1996 of THE CANDLE
with permission of Valerie Eastman, editor. Email: ghosthill@comcast.net

By --Valerie Eastman, editor

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THESE KUVASZ DOGS THAT INTRIGUES US SO? Why do we admire, forgive, and even love these dogs more than we tolerate most people? Could it be that we sometimes see ourselves, or the selves we wish we could be, in our dogs?

We're an independent, stubborn, opinionated, and even dangerous bunch, we Kuvasz fanciers. Arrogant, perhaps, in our devotion to a dog unlike any other dog, a dog with no other canine ancestor, a dog with a fierce and royal heritage. Yearning, perhaps, while sharing our ordinary lives with a beautiful, shining white dog, the white of arcane and sacred ritual, the symbolic white of purification and transformation, the white of brilliant stars in an infinity which terrifies and beckons us in turn.

We keep these primitive Kuvasz dogs because we like what they are. We are so often guilty of delighting in their indiscretions. Why is easy: oh how we wish we could do just what we really want to do, just as our Kuvasz do. How we envy their honesty! How we marvel at their courage! How we crave their freedom! They inspire us. They frighten us. They teach us. They break our hearts. We see fire, flood, dust, death, and dance within their silent eyes. Children of millennium, they will be here, long after we are gone.

From Lisa and Carey Ingram, Harpers, Ferry, WV: "Our three Kuvaszok are all having a great summer. We have three acres enclosed in an invisible fence system and are surrounded by twenty acres of woods before our nearest neighbors. Thus, in the heavy foliage of summer we generally cheat with our Kuvs as they live to keep others out of their space rather than to roam. They can't see the various enticements that present themselves on the nearest road where an occasional pedestrian with canine may pass. They spend leisurely days with me (a schoolteacher, off) in summer, waiting for walks, brushings, treats, attention birds (prey)an errant lost car to come down to their boundary to bark atI often wish I was one of them."

Laszlo was a young rescue Kuvasz who became a Hurricane Andrew of his new owners' life. He took life to the limit and explored every nook and cranny of his family's resolve. Resistance was futile! Fortunately, they all survived the firestorm of adolescence, and Laszlo's energy level has finally mellowed to major cloudburst intensity. He barks savagely at anyone disturbing his fenceline, and growls menacingly at those who darken his open doorway. But the sunshine and warmth of his temperament prevail, and soon he brings you a peace offering: one of his favorite toys. Oh welcome, guest, in this, his palace of security, understanding, and love! Would you like to play?

From Ivonne and Tom Lukaszczyk, Bakersfield CA, on their Kuvasz Matthius and his newly arrived sister: "Little Bijou is doing terrific--they have not had one scuffle and are inseparable. She is such a wonderful addition to our family, we cannot imagine being without her now. Although I must tell you that we were almost ready to disown both of them last week. Tom and I went out of town overnight and left them with my parents. When I called my mom on our way home and asked how the babies were doing she laughed and suggested stopping by the market and buying some tomato juice. Yes, they encountered a skunk and by the smell of them, the skunk won! Poor Matthius got the brunt of it and he still stinks!"

Bijou was born to be mild, and to love livestock (but not skunks!). She craves sheep, any sheep, and she must, MUST, kiss all sheep in the pasture. Sheep hate this and woe to them, for the more they strive to avoid Bijou, the more IMPERATIVE it is that she MUST KISS them. By the time the love-in is over, Bijou is exhausted, and so is the audience from laughing so hard.

Seven-month-old Evangelina is the baby Kuvasz in our household, and for the moment she has chosen me as her best friend. If Gary leaves for work early, Evangelina has her chance to join me in bed. But it is not enough to rest beside me. Her love is so great that it can only be fully expressed by lying on top of me, preferably on my head, pressed as close as possible to her most beloved human. This doesn't last long as I begin to suffocate but I get the message and it is sweet.

Evangelina has not come to terms yet with her tail. Does it belong to her or is it an alien? Is it removable? Sitting on her tail with the eel-like parasite lying limp and helpless before her, she seizes it with merciless jaws as she leaps forward for the kill. Don't try this at home.

Mariah was our dear, beautiful, first homebred Kuvasz. She passed away recently at thirteen years old and our hearts are still numb, for she was in many ways our child and our future. She was better known as Binky in honor of her pet blanket, but she earned a new name one Christmas. We had decorated our tree with shiny red-glazed Styrofoam apples, indeed a merry holiday sight. When we awoke the next morning, very few apples remained on the tree. Hmmm. Where were the apples? Let's see, one white Kuvasz, another white Kuvasz, yet another white Kuvasz, a pink Kuvasz, one more white KuvaszAHA! She swore she didn't do it, as will any self-respecting thieving Kuvasz, but from that moment on she was Pinky Binky!

Kuvasz Moonshine is two years old. She's never had puppies, but two months after every heat, she makes her nest and has a puppy--always a yellow squeaky toy. The model doesn't matter, but it has to be yellow. She's in the dog crate now, digging another nest and growling. Any hapless dog who approaches the bedroom is viciously attacked. She wanders around the house, carrying her plastic puppy and crying softly, and often drops it at my feet. I've taken her puppy away and hidden it; then she wanders around the house, searching, and crying softly. And why is it that I feel guilty? Might as well give it back, and hope she weans it soon.

From Nancy Brock and Jack Swalwell, Miami, FL on their two Kuvasz: "Both Sophie and Whitney adore children, but we are still always cautious with the dogs around kids. I find that the dogs' size is not really a concern as much as how they react to the quick and unpredictable movements of kids. In addition to that, kids seem to carry things in their hands that the dogs often find quite curious. (Sophie doesn't care for those little GI Joe guys!) So, we always have a little education session in which we try to set some ground rules for both the kids and the dogs. It's funny, but the dogs seem to understand better that the kids!"

From Stephen Budiansky in U.S. News & World Report: "It's very unlikely that a dog actually understands the words its owner speaks to it--not in the way we usually mean by understand.

[Whisper, "candy bar," in the presence of Kuvasz Tessie {The Candy Bar Kid}, and hang on tight, very tight, to that Snickers]

"Experiments show that it is often not a specific word at all that an animal is responding to, but rather the tone of voice in which it is uttered.

[Choose a tone of voice, any tone of voice, and ask your Kuvasz if it would like to have a bath?]

"Even when animals learn to associate specific words spoken in a neutral tone with specific actions or events, it is the overall pitch pattern of the sound that their animal seems to be cueing in on--not the patters of human speech.

[BATH?]

"A dog that 'knows' its name, has probably simply learned that that sound means 'It's time for me to turn and look where that sound is coming from'--rather than 'Hey, that's me he's calling.'

[You're not calling me for that bath, are you?]

"Some sophisticated experiments have shown that dogs do not have a concept of self the way humans and some higher apes do. A chimpanzee looking in the mirror quickly understands that it is seeing an image of itself: put on as chimp's forehead and let it look in a mirror, and it will wipe the dot off. A dog fails all similar tests."

When our kindly old rescued Collie, Guy, was still with us, he was the outcast of our dog society. A handsome, tri-colored fellow, he was both shunned and persecuted by his white, chauvinistic, Kuvasz kennel mates. When we go to dog shows, our Kuvaszok are transfixed by the sudden appearance of themselves or? They stop and stare at other Kuvaszok, stunned, knowing that they are seeing themselves.

From Barbara Worthington, her beautiful Kuvasz poem, Adam, copyright 1993, is reprinted with the kind permission of the Kuvasz club of Canada Newsletter:

Sweet companion, trusted friend;
Satisfied.
You come and lean against me,
wanting the closeness.
Together we sniff the moist air,
eyes searching chiaroscuro shadows,
and listening,
become one with the night.

Later, as you drowse by my chair,
feet twitching and making little groanings
in your sleep
I wonder,
if in your dreamscape
you are fighting the wolves
to protect your flock
or running with them.

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