How we Became Hovawart People
Our journey began when we decided to get a dog. There were two of us and an otherwise quiet and empty house (my how times change -- when the puppies are born we're expecting four humans, eight dogs, and an annoyed cat). We wanted an intelligent, energetic, healthy dog as a jogging buddy and a guardian. Phil liked Great Pyrs ... Inga not so much. Inga liked boxers but their reputation for health problems made that a non-starter. We both know how painful it is to loose a pet, and sadly that day comes all too soon.
So we flipped through the Ultimate Guide to Dog Breeds
And found a page on hovawarts that seemed to indicate they would be a great match for us
We did some more research online and decided that the dog fit us better than anything else. So we decided to go find a breeder and get a dog. No problem, right? Wrong! Little did we know that the Hovi is rare in the United States. Really rare. This was surprising but both of us are stubborn and we thought the Hovi really was the best fit for us. We eventually got in contact with Susan Garka www.geocities.com/hovawartdogs/index.html and had several long discussions about our experience with dogs, training methods, natural health, immunization, if we thought we might like to breed, and more. Susan was and remains extremely conscientious and we've taken her approach as a model for how to behave as responsible breeders. We were so impressed (and had so few other alternatives, none as appealing) that we waited. For about a year and a half, but it was worth it! Dam Aminah v. Sonnenschein and Ch. Vitis von Gaudihof had a litter of puppies
Aminah v. Sonnenschein and A-Litter (left) Ch. Vitis von Gaudihof (right)
One of which was our Addy (aka Adara vom Treuen Freund) who was already eating the raw natural diet she would continue with to this day.
She was already playful as a puppy
And Susan was sad to see Addy go, but we are grateful she placed her with us.
time passed ...
We taught Addy to swim
Tango was more difficult
We quickly became a clan
Into every life some snow must fall ... but that's great if you happen to be a Hovi
About Our Name
We thought for quite some time about our kennel name. In the end, we decided to look back; Inga was born in Latvia as were Phil's mother and grandparents. Latvia is the Amber Coast because literally Amber washes up on shore after strong storms and has for thousands of years. The Amber color reminded us of our heritage and the color of the dogs (blonde and black/gold) reminded us of amber; hence the name.
Copyright 2010 Philip Long except for images from The Ultimate Guide to Dog Breeds used under fair use provisions of the United States Code. All rights reserved.