Mention the term, “night watchman” in relation to a breed, and more often than not, the Bullmastiff’s name will come up. 

Depending upon the translator, there’s another “night watchman” in the community of purebred dogs, and that is the Hovawart whose name comes from the Middle High German for “night watchman.” As we said, this is subject to translation since other sources maintain that the name of the breed means “farm watcher” from the Middle High German words Hova = Hof (= yard, farm) and wart = Wächter (= watchman) . A third version holds that Hovawart is derived from the German word “Hotwart” which means guardian of property or caretaker of the homestead, and yet another interpretation is that in older forms of German, the name means, “yard-water.”

In the end, any of the translations describes the breed’s occupation as a watchdog and guardian. Described by Heinrich Mynsinger in 1947 as one of the “Five Noble Breeds,” the modern day “Hovie” (as it’s affectionately known) still lives up to the reputation of its ancestors with its natural protective instinct. 

In 1964, the German Kennel Club recognized the Hovawart as the country’s seventh working breed.

Image: “Hundefamilien mit altem Gaul” by Benno Adams from 1869