Puppies have arrived!

during the night of 25th to 26th January Ciccia just didn't want to wait any longer and gave birth to 5 girls and 4 boys

blonde male "Abaco"

Ayko 6 Monate alt

Antonio ("Amigo") 4 Monate alt

Antonio ("Amigo") 6 Monate alt

Arosa 3 Monate alt

Arosa 6 Monate alt

Ava 3 Monate alt

Ava 6 Monate alt

Anoushka ("Rani") 3 Monate alt

Anoushka ("Rani") 6 Monate alt

Anouk 3 Monate alt

Anouk 6 Monate alt

Aro 3 Monate alt

Aro 6 Monate alt

Amarena 3 Monate alt

Amarena 6 Monate alt

Abaco 4 Monate alt

Abaco 6 Monate alt

Ciccia & Degna

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I've seen dogs with more style than men
Charles Bukowski

Our team:

Ciccia vom Melsterberg

born on April 22, 2021

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Aiwa Bel-Vinc aka: Degna

born on August 8th, 2022

Why Scarista?

Many years ago I was once standing in Portree harbor on the Isle of Skye and watched the ferry to the Outer Hebrides leave. But I also wanted to go to Ireland and therefore didn't have enough time, but I've desired to travel there ever since. On the islands in the North Atlantic you come across many beaches that can easily rival the beauty of the Aegean or the Caribbean except they are almost deserted. After Ciccia had passed her breeding suitability test with flying colors in June 2023, we (1 human, 2 female dogs) set off on a trip to the island of Harris in August, where we found a small dog-friendly hotel.

We mostly had Scarista Beach to ourselves and enjoyed it, the two Hovawart girls play wildly on long walks.
That and the fact that we will definitely be returning there again solidified the decision to choose the kennel name “Scarista”.

About me and my dogs

My name is Gerhard Hampel

For a quarter of a century, I have repeatedly traveled to Lapland with my children and a pack of Siberian Huskies, as well as to the Canadian Barrengrounds, the coast of Baffin Island, and also Yakutia and across the Arctic Ocean to the New Siberian Islands for three times .
After my last huskies were too old for such adventures, I started looking for a kind of dog with whom I could go on trips less spectacular , but feasible all year round. However, it had to be a dog with a lot of personality, self-confidence and enthusiasm - similar to the lead dogs of my huskies, but in its own specific way that would challenge me again.
That's how I came across the Hovawart and, after talking to about a dozen breeders and looking at a few litters, I finally decided on the pretty Ciccia vom Melsterberg in early summer 2021. She quickly turned out to be an exuberantly friendly, extroverted and eager-to-learn bundle of energy with a penchant for dominance over other dogs. Two-legged members of the family were immediately welcomed into “her” new pack with a lot of love. Just like the little black beauty who came to us about a year and a half later: Aiwa Bel-Vinc, whom we gave the nickname “Degna” because of her elegant fur coat and somewhat reserved manner.

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what is a Hovawart like?

There is a lot of literature about this on the Internet and in bookstores. That's why I don't want to repeat it here.

Just this much: The Hovawart is first and foremost - like most people - a social creature. The close bond with “his” human family is of outstanding importance to him. Mutual bonding - and only this is positive and meaningful - arises through joint undertakings, not through the subordination of one person to the other. The term “Subordination” should be deleted when dealing with Hovawarts. Subordination creates subjects or simple command recipients. Hovawarts are actually too good for that.

Regardless of their relationship with their humans, every dog also needs frequent contact with other two- and four-legged friends. A Hovawart would not only play with Saint Bernards or miniature dachshunds but also quite happily play with a goat, cat or hedgehog without any problem, if only they would understand him better.

Despite all his friendliness, even a very extroverted Hovawart retains an impressive personality and strength of character. He likes to be petted by anyone who treats him in a friendly manner and earns his trust. Everyone else is rejected unequivocally. The decision as to who can touch him is made by the Hovawart!

None of this changes the fact that, in addition to impulse control, a young Hovawart also has to learn some rules of etiquette that will make it easier for him to live with the other members of the human-dog family and also when meeting strangers. When it comes to training, it's the "how" that determines success:

Let grow – don’t possess

Protect – don't dominate.
Lead – don’t exploit.
This is the secret of true power!

Lao Tzu

genetic imprint

The Hovawart is a so-called “working dog”. The breed was refined in the early 20th century, mainly from those dogs that were still found as guard and working dogs on farms in the German low mountain ranges, where their ancestors had not only guarded their human owners and their belongings for many hundreds of years but also had to work hard helping on the farms.

It is therefore logical to think that a Hovawart should not need be "trained" as a protection dog - but should do the "protecting" instinctively based on its genetic makeup after it has independently grasped and classified the situation.

Hovawarts are not only quick to learn but very eager to learn! Today, of course, the Hovawart no longer needs to pull the cart through the village, but he still loves nothing more than helping his people with their work. Be it gardening, carrying shopping bags into the house, putting the garbage can on the side of the road, shouldering their own luggage on a hike, etc. Even if not everything is always straightforward, it is always admirable and endearing to observe. The Hovawart has an irrepressible desire to be a partner to his human and wants to be recognized as such.

But it wasn't one of those things that can be told to people. It was something that required living with a dog and smoking and thinking and turning round and round watched by the unquestioning friendship of a dog's eyes.

Juan Carlos Onetti

Degna the day after she arrived at her new home

Foto: Jens Böse

Judge's report for Ciccia from June 11, 2023:

2 year old, ideally sized, excellently stretched bitch of the desired type and with a lot of charisma. Excellently placed flaming markings. Correctly proportioned head with a feminine appearance, dark eyes and excellent hair in every respect. Complete scissor bite. Lips close together. Well developed chest. Harmonious top and bottom lines. Rod base and length according to standard. Perfect rod position. Straight, perfect fore and hindquarters. Shiny, well-groomed, simple long hair. Impeccable nutritional status. A classy bitch!

MOST BEAUTIFUL BITCH! BOS

Judge: Denise Gaudy

You may, you don't have to! This means that if you plan to breed at some point, the kennel club usually requires at least two exhibition results with a grade of "excellent" or "very good". In addition, the dog in question must have passed youth assessments and a breeding suitability test.

But even if you don't have such goals, it's worth taking part in such an event at least once. You usually meet parents and siblings of your own dog, can exchange ideas with breeders and other Hovawart fans and feel happy about what an interesting and beautiful breed your dog belongs to.

Of course: Judges are only human and are not immune to subjectivity in their decisions. Ciccia has been best in group twice and was even named “most beautiful bitch” at an exhibition last summer. Four weeks later she was disqualified at an exhibition elsewhere! The judge, without aiming for any prior contact, leaned over the dog from behind attempting to open her muzzle to assess the teeth. Ciccia responded to this with an angry hiss and a quick threatening turn of the head! That produced a premature end of this exhibition for us! However I didn't hold it against my Hovawart lady. On the contrary: I thought that the dog - in keeping with Charles Bukowski - had shown more style in the situation than the judge! OK, you should practice opening the muzzle with your dog beforehand! Only: I can easily do this with Ciccia a dozen times in a row. That doesn't mean that she will tolerate this even once by a complete stranger acting not in a very friendly way. After all: Hovawarts are also watchdogs!

At the age of 10 months, Degna received an “excellent 2” at the exhibition in Kehl

Should you present your Hovawart at exhibitions?

Foto: Jens Böse

Puppies

On November 26, 2023, Ciccia was mated by the black-and-gold stud dog Don't stop me now Ghipinaldo (aka: Lishi).

He is not only a very beautiful male, but among the 84 on the list https://en.hovawart.cz/database/stud-dogs.php he appears as stud dog with the second best result in the character test (97 out of 100 points).

On December 28th, the vet was able to find at least 8 puppies in an ultrasound. In order to look for more, she would have had to shave some of the fur on her stomach and we decided not to do that for Ciccia's sake. So there can be 10 in total.

The expected birth date is January 29, 2024!

Now it's time to assemble the whelping box, set it up and get Ciccia interested in it

Well in the end it started three days earlier than expected, i.e. during the early hours of January 26th between 1 am and 8 am Ciccia gave birth to 5 girls and 4 boys. The average weight for each puppy

was 521 g