Hovawart TV: Need For Speed

The scenery of the Swiss Alps might be distracting as they flash by.



If your dog had a bucket list, would this be on it?

Viva Sunday #2: Shark Bait

On a normal day, my wife would make herself an "ostemad" for breakfast, the Danish version of a cheese sandwich, with cheese on rye-bread. She would sit down, eat it together with a cup of coffee, and try to wake up. Both Kenzo and Viva would beg, as she occasionally would drop something "by accident". It is as uneventful as it sounds.

We also have a tornado version. When my wife wakes up to a busy schedule ahead, she hits the ground running right out of bed. While I am downstairs waiting with coffee, we can hear her dash down the stairs, already talking, and giving orders suggestions.

Viva immediately spots the upcoming opportunity and makes herself ready. I turn my chair, to ensure an unobstructed view of the spectacle to come, although I have seen it many times before, how Viva earned her nickname, the Shark.

A woman in full multitasking mode is an impressive sight. While holding the cheese sandwich in one hand, she uses her free hand to pick up bags, open cupboards, scramble with papers, you name it. In the mean time, her temper is rising, as I fall behind more and more and are unable to guess what she wants me to do next. Her arms join in on the talking, and start pointing the cheese sandwich in all kind of directions in a rapid pace.

Viva is following the movements of the cheese sandwich with every fiber in her body. Waiting for the moment in which it is being pointed in her direction. Or, when my wife bends over to reach something in a low cupboard and the sandwich is on eye height. Or, when she needs both hands and temporarily lays the sandwich down on the edge of the kitchen counter. Or, when ...

It just took a fraction of a second. Viva always wins. With two bruised fingers, my wife shouts, tramps angry on the floor, and just before I expect all hell to break loose this time, she sits down, exhales, and starts laughing.

Viva never let my wife start a day in stress.

Hovawart TV: Water Slide

Something to look forward to, with summer on the way.

Kenzo's Trash Talking

Trash Talking? Moi?

We ended up scouting the new area we stranded in, Kenzo and me. The car had to get fixed. Again. Thankfully Kenzo was with me, and a walk beats the repair shop's waiting room and bad coffee any day. It was mostly a business park area so I didn't expect to experience any thrilling sights. When you have seen one, you have seen them all. But for Kenzo, a sniff is a sniff. It's good everywhere.

Passing a fenced-in area, I got a shock when a dog on the other side of the fence suddenly started barking. They always do that right at the moment you least expect it and when you go around in your own thoughts. Kenzo pretended he didn't noticed the disturbance, continued with his sniffing like nothing happened and only changed his stance to a little more low and calm, while keeping an eye on the other dog only from the corner of his eyes.

Excellent, I thought. That was an awesome display of calming dog body language, and gave Kenzo a treat for that. It seemed to have a soothing effect on the "guard" dog, so I threw a treat over to him as well - old habits die hard. He followed us all the way down to the end of the fence. And it was a long fence. He was still barking, but the alarm sound in it was missing. Kenzo remained stoic.

On the way back I thought it was better to pass on the other side of the street to avoid all the commotion. No reason to tease the dog after all. This side of the street had a long line of two-feet high boulders along the pavement, and it gave Kenzo plenty of opportunity to do some additional sniffing. Still, the routine repeated itself. When we reached the end of the fence, the dog stopped barking and now he was up for one very rude answer.

Like in slow-motion, Kenzo seemed to use every muscle in his body to make himself as tall as possible. His tail went high up into the air, and he took one step to the closest boulder, lifted his leg facing the dog, looked straight at him with his mouth closed, and released some water. The dog answered with a tail wag.

I just witnessed Kenzo "giving the Finger" in dog language, and I started laughing out loud, while Kenzo already was parading further down the road, celebrating his "victory". Studying all that dog body language is getting more and more fun, now I have opened my eyes for it.

Hovawart TV: The Housekeeper

You're gonna love this.



And? Was I wrong?

Hovawart TV: Don't Try This With Your Hovawart

Could you do this without the vacuum cleaner getting hurt?



I am impressed.

Hovawart TV: Wrestlemania

If you have a Hovawart you know this picture, wrestle time has arrived!

Hovawart TV: Hovie Zoomies

Heban gives an excellent display of the Hovie Zoomies. Ready? Set. Go!



Heban is a Hovawart with a blog, and although he writes mostly in Polish, you'll find a lot more fun video's of him. Have a look.

Christmas Tree Confession

It was a while ago since Kenzo joined me at work in our Danish office. As I had no appointments that day, and only boring paper work to look forward to, I imagined it would be a perfect opportunity to bring Kenzo with me once again. We could take some breaks playing in the snow and add some fun to a day that otherwise had a very pale outlook.

The reception area of the office building was ornamented with a Christmas tree, positioned right by the entrance door in an attempt to add some seasonal inspiration to the armies of office workers passing through each day.

While wrestling with two computer bags over my shoulders and Kenzo's leash in one hand, I opened the front door. Two people approached, and in an empathic moment, I stood still and kept the door open for them, while we exchanged good morning hello's with a smile. Love that about Denmark, where people are so polite, and you even greet complete strangers in the mornings and afternoons. It gives such a good start of the day.

Continuing into the hall, the leash suddenly tensed. I looked back in surprise, as Kenzo usually just follows me, and what I saw next made my heart skip a beat. Kenzo stood by the Christmas tree, with one leg lifted, his sprinkler system already in the "on" position. I jerked the leash in some kind of automatic emergency response my brain fired into my right arm - sorry Kenzo - to interrupt the image that now is imprinted in my memory forever.

Nobody else was in the entrance hall, which softened the total embarrassment of the moment a little. I quickly dropped off Kenzo in our office and returned with some cleaning agents. My mind was working overtime. He never did that before. It was so easy to teach him as a pup that a Christmas tree in the house doesn't mean he just acquired an inside potty service. I was baffled.

When we went for our first walk, I kept Kenzo on my side that was opposite to the Christmas tree just in case. I knew that for a dog, no cleaning agent in the world could have covered up the odor, and it would have been a magnet to Kenzo despite my cleaning attempts. Two men were standing beside the Christmas tree, looking at two small puddles. That can't be, I thought, I just cleaned it.

"Some bastard just let his dog pee on the tree", one of the men said. "Really?", I replied cowardly, realizing that other office dogs had of course picked up the smell, and every male dog now passing by the tree, went on a mission to drop off their own business card. "You couldn't do that, could you?" the man said smiling to Kenzo. "Eh ... no ... nee", I stuttered. I felt a glow rushing up to my cheeks, something I hadn't felt since high-school. I am such a bad liar.

The man, still looking at Kenzo, concluded, "You are a good boy". We really had to move on now, as this was becoming too embarrassing, but that meant making a risky pass of the Christmas tree. This time with a full bladder. And the men would also see the letters G.U.I.L.T.Y. that someone must have painted on my back in the meanwhile. Taking a deep breath, a leap of faith, and three steps later, we made it passed the tree. Kenzo The Merciful didn't punish my dishonesty. "You are, you absolutely are, a good boy", I whispered to my partner in crime.

Hovawart TV: Sand Paintings

This Hovawart can draw sand paintings, zig zag style:

Hovawart TV: Rescue Bloopers

Hovawart Kim is a rescue dog in Slovenia, and she has her own promotion film - with a wink:



Fearless, courageous, excellent smell ... and foremost, a healthy sense of humor.

Hovawart TV: Blonds Have More Jump

Diamond is a blond Hovie with a slight energy surplus:



Red Bull gives you wings?

Hovawart TV: Run Keiler Run

Imagine a 9 year old Hovawart. A former puppy mill dog. A retired therapy dog. Have an artificial hip due to hip dysplasia (HD). In short, a Hovawart like Keiler. And Keiler still loves a run with dad for charity. Now that is priceless ... although sometimes priceless can be expensive too, which is entirely not Keiler's fault:



Visit Keiler's dad's blog here for more about how the video came about: "World Run Day Mastercard Spoof".


P.S: We are guest blogging today over at Cindy Lu's Muse about puppy mills in Europe: Wake-Up Call For Western Europe. 

Hovawart TV: Guarding Dutiezzz

It can be tough to be on guard duty. Even for a Hovawart:



There goes a rep as ultimate watch dog out of the window.

Hovawart TV: Scratch Me Up

Welcome to the kick-off of Hovawart TV, a new series on this blog with videos featuring Hovawarts! I couldn't think of a better way to start this new series than with a Hovawart's best friend. A cat with an attitude:



When you dare to play with a Hovawart like this, it must be comforting to know you have 9 lives.

A Perfect Moment

Start rubbing your eyes because .... this is Viva swimming in the ocean, not Kenzo:

When you have seen our video Postcard from Kijkduin, it seemed like Kenzo was having all the beach fun, rumping around with his pals.

See how Viva is taking the opportunity to pretend she has no issues with her back, and it is merely a matter of re-discovering the "on" switch for full-throttle:

What is it that makes a beach magic for a Hovie, or any dog for that matter? Between runs, Viva found ample opportunity to harass wrestle a little with Kenzo in the freezing cool water:

We played a lot of fetch with her fav toy. Kenzo wouldn't dare to swim for that toy, it's Viva's:

And we had breaks, so Viva wouldn't overdo it, and have a sore-back-hangover the next day - which we unfortunately couldn't prevent completely:

Usually we don't take Viva with us to the beach due to all the off leash dogs. But I have to rectify the postcard. As evenings were getting longer while at the same time it was still cold, the beach was almost empty just before sundown at 9:30 pm. And since Viva is starting to behave better around dogs, I worry less if she will only meet one or two.

So there I sat. With both my wet Hovies on the beach at sundown. Their joy is contagious. What a pair they make. It made me glad Viva could join Kenzo's beach trips. It made me even more glad she joined in the way she did. A perfect moment.

Postcard from Kijkduin

We are back at the beach in Kijkduin, Holland. Kenzo is having a blast. Jumping waves, swimming, fetching, taking muddy baths and enjoying his pal Joska. Viva is not on the video - too many dogs for her on the beach - but she is doing great too. Lots of walks, and she behaves well with the occasional dog she meets. Greetings from Holland!

Hovawart Crazy Face

Did you already joined the Facebook group Hovawart Crazy Face ?
In short, it is all about pictures like this:

Nina Carlborg's Hovawart "Boss", courtesy of carlborg.blogspot.se

As "Boss" might leave you with the impression this might be a group for hunting dogs that are training Indian style, one other example just to be sure the purpose of the group comes across:

Katka Houšková's Hovawart "Attis Villa Rivvis",
courtesy of www.katcinasmecka.cz

Of course, since Kenzo sniffed the group, he is very occupied exploring his crazy side to the fullest:

Zig-zag face

Squirrel face

Over-achiever!

How Many Hovawarts Fit In a Car?

No, not three, that would be too easy. The trailing picture of the video is misleading. Have a look, and let's acknowledge that is one fearless toddler opening the hatch.



I have to hide this video very carefully, as it spoils my whole argument for the need of a bigger car for Kenzo & Viva.

Hovawart on the Hunt

Viva faced with the problem of choice. What would it be? Duck? Or stick? She couldn't make up her mind:

Kenzo - coming in from the right - steals the stick. What was a dilemma before, just became an easy choice. Duck vs. Kenzo-with-Stick is a no-brainer:

The stick is gaining more importance quickly, Viva goes into full pursuit mode:

And we have a winner, Kenzo returns to shore in retreat:

Some decisions are not so difficult after all for a - former? - resource guarder. But hey, those ducks are still there, maybe Viva could have it all?