In its modern form, the earliest written record of the Kuvasz dates back to the 1600s, the oldest illustration of one having appeared in 1815. In reality, the breed dates back thousands of years. The breed’s ancestors most probably arrived in Hungary with migrant shepherds from Turkey in the 12th century.
As NPDD readers know, we’re big fans of Livestock Guardian Dogs, and the Kuvasz served an important role in the protection of livestock from both wolves and marauders. It’s white color made it hard to distinguish from sheep, particularly in dim light when the breed became most active in its duties. Increasingly, farmers and ranchers are catching on to the environmentally friendly, cost effective use of LGDs, and as the world becomes figuratively smaller, more breed options are becoming available. We expect that the Kuvasz will take its rightful place among those choices and people recognize this intelligent, loyal breed that nearly became extinct during the First World War. We admit to being “Hungarian Homers,” so if you have a Kuvasz, let’s see some pictures!
This image was found on an auction site with the following description: “The print was issued 55 years ago by Berliner Morgenpost (Berlin Morning Post). This beautiful print is from a set of 53 prints entitled “Unser Freund – der Hund” (Our Friend – the Dog) to put in an album that was available at the time. The print was given as a free premium and was inserted into the newspaper each week, for a year and one week. The front of the print shows an artist drawn picture of the Komondor and the Kuvasz by the famous artist R. S. Scholz, while the back of the card has a detailed description of this breed (in German).” The link goes to the page where it can be purchased: http://www.atlasdogs.com/