Slovak Cuvac

He is boundlessly faithful and courageous, always ready to fight off any intruder, be it even bears and wolves. In order to distinguish him from wild beasts in the night, he is, according to ancient tradition, only bred in white.

The breed group of white mountain dogs is derived from Arctic wolves, whose remains from pre-ice age have been preserved in the mountainous regions of Europe to the edge of the glaciers. These are the north slopes of the Caucasus, the Balkans, specially the Rodope mountains, the Carpathians, specially the Tatra, the northern slopes of the Abruzzi and Alps and finally the Pyrenees. In these colder and damper areas, the alleged type of mountain dog is also accompanied by remains of flora and fauna whose nearest location were still found in Scandinavia by the Swedish explorer Wahlenberg. A similar connection with Nordic domestic animals we can, for example, find in the Tatra and Carpathian region with the Huzul horse, whose nearest relation is the Gudbrandstal horse. So it is with the Tatra Chuvach, whose Nordic analogy is the Pomeranian Shepherd dog (Pommernscher Hütehund) and others.

Slovak alpine farming has a very ancient tradition. The Tatra Chuvach, together with the mountain sheep, the Huzul horse and the typical mountain inhabitants, form the basis for an economy which assumes the utilization of the pastures through animal husbandry.

The Slovak mountain people were largely free people, not suppressed by medieval forced labour, which protected the frontiers and paid its dues merely in the form of ?sheep?s cheese?. Their organization was called ?Wallachischer Bund (Union)? (Valasski Opasek), whose centre (until the repeal of forced labour) was in Kaschau. The members of this, basically, herding and military organization, carried out their service on the mountain meadows, always together with their typical dogs, the watch dogs of the Tatra and they were always depicted with them.

As a good guard, watch dog and companion as well as guide for the shepherds, the Tatra Chuvach has also proved his worth in the guarding of cattle, driving poultry and other domestic animals to pasture, as well as guarding different objects. Holiday makers visiting the mountain farmers to buy cheese and other products found pleasure in the thickly coated puppies and so transferred the breed to the low-lands, where they were not seldom regarded as a luxury breed because of their unusual appearance.

On the Polish side of the Tatra, where a similar breed, the Goral Dogs (Mountain Dogs), are kept, specially powerful animals are called ?Liptauer? by the people which points to the Slovak origin. So the breeding region of the Tatra Chuvach has a topographic boundary.

The Stud Book of the Tatra Chuvach in Czechoslovakia was founded more than thirty years ago by Professor Anton Hruza of the Brno Veterinary College. The basic material stemmed from the area of the places Liptovska Luzna, Kokava, Vychodna v. Tatrach and the neighbourhood of Rachovo in the Carpathians. The first breeding establishment had the name ?Ze zlaté studny? (of the Golden Fountain) and was founded in Svitavy and Brno. The Carpathian kennel had the prefix ?Z Hoverla? (Of Hoverla). Since then the club for Tatra Chuvach breeders, with its headquarters in Bratislava, has kept exact records and held exhibitions, assessments, competitions and shows in all regions of the republic. Further old blood lines stem from the places Liptovské Hole, Velky Choc, Zakopané, Martin, Jedlova and Jeseniky.

The widest spread lines are those of Topas, Uran, Simba, Hrdos, Ibro, Cuvo, Bundas, Dinar, Samko, Bojar, Olaf and others.

Genetically, the Tatra Chuvach can be characterised as a ?leucistic? Mountain Dog with black muzzle and to a lesser part as ?flavistic? dog with brown muzzle and paler eye. From the combination of the mentioned genetic types, of which the former is dominant, stems a certain difference in the shading of colour, of the pigmentation of the eyelids, eyes, muzzle, lips and membranes.

Through strict selection favouring the first type, the judges and breeders achieved the type required by the following standard and its stabilising by breeders.

The number of club members with breeding stock and kennels has recently been counted as towards 200. Living registered dogs, at present in the republic, number nearly 800.

The quality of our breeding of the Tatra Chuvach is confirmed by favourable assessment at international shows (Prague, Brno, Liberec, Bratislava, Leipzig and others) and this with strong foreign competition.