Living with Kuvaszok



I must admit, living with Kuvaszok is a different experience. I don't think that I have ever met a dog with such a silly personality. They seem to enjoy a good joke just as much as a human. In fact, recently when my husband was out playing with the dogs, Brandy ran up behind him and bumped his butt with her nose and turned and trotted off, looking back at him like with the most arrogant look on her face like "I got you!" My oldest Kuvasz Christy, is probably the biggest puppy I have ever had. At 9 years old she is still a puppy. In fact, when we got our recent GSD puppy, Christy is the one that became her best friend. Those two will play outside forever.

When you have 4 kuvasz is when it really gets fun. They seem to have a game that we have named Gazelle and wild dog. One dog is it (and "it" changes, they seem to change who has to be it with each game, although some seem to have to be it more than others) the others chase the dog down. When they finally catch the one playing "it" that one will throw itself to the ground at which point, all the other dogs will pounce and start ripping the animal to shreds (play shreds). One will grab the throat and try to rip it out, another has a rear leg that they are ripping off, etc, etc.

Everyone always asks if they shed. Shedding is an under- statement, especially with 4. You learn to live with little balls of white fur blowing across the floor. You learn to live, sleep, and eat dog hair.

People will tell you too that they are not lap dogs. I tend to disagree with this, as all of mine would much rather be in my lap than anywhere else. They are very loving with their family and love to be hugged and kissed, but, at the same time, they are very indepen- dent and also must have time to themselves.

I have found too that what you read is also very true, the breed has a very soft disposition, as in, they are very sensitive to praise and to reprimands. You can not be unfairly hard on a Kuvasz, they will not forget, they might forgive you, but they will not ever trust you again.

I have also found, that at least with my dogs, that they tend to get along well with other animals. I have never had any problems with my dogs getting along with other dogs or animals in general. Especially my male, he adores babies, especially baby kittens and puppies. Plus, he absolutely adores birds. Unfortunately we lost our last bird, and we have finally decided that we must get another bird for Frosty. If he sees the empty cage he still goes up and looks for his bird.

I would say that the biggest minus about owning Kuvasz is their territorialism, especially in an intact male. I have found with my girls, they tend to act like they are going to tear up any stranger that comes near their fence, but it's all an act, an intact male on the other hand, it might not be an act. A good Kuvasz should act nasty toward strangers, but, I feel it should be an act. Once the stranger is introduced, the dogs should be fine with them entering their territory. Plus, the dog should just bark, it should not escalate to anything more unless there is a direct threat, you want a dog to scare off intruders, not to be a liability. Talking about barking, another downfall of the breed, they LOVE to bark. They bark at your neighbor, they bark at your neighbor's dog, they bark at the cows next door, they bark at our donkeys, they bark at anyone who DARES walk down THEIR street. Also, their barking tends to vary per individual. Christy and Brandy can NOT spend the night outside, you won't get any sleep. Christy tends to walk around and just bark every once in awhile, a single bark. I assume it's to let the coyotes know that she's on duty. While her daughter Dreamer and Frosty can stay out all night and you'd never know they were outside. They only bark when they absolutely have to.

I admit, I am very proud of my dogs, I think they have wonderful temperaments. Recently a woman came by to see some in person. I let them out when she pulled into the driveway. They ran to the fence barking and acting very vicious. I went out, I welcomed her, at which point, everyone acted like she was a welcomed guest, even my intact male who stood against the fence wagging his tail. She and her daughter entered the yard, at which point Christy ran to go get a ball and brought it over for the woman's daughter to throw for her. The two of them played, with Brandy and Dreamer trying to join in, until they left.  What was really cute was that the girl originally was ignoring Christy's advances.  But Christy wasn't about to take no for an answer, she continued getting in the girls face and shaking her toy to get her attention.  When the girl would reach for the toy, Christy would play tug gently then let the girl have have the toy.

A lot of a Kuvaszok disposition is genetic, but, you do need to spend a lot of time with them while they are young socializing them so that they do grow up knowing that strangers are not something to be feared. But, if you get a dog with good breeding, and take the time to teach and train them, you will end up with an absolutely marvelous friend.