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Hovawart breeders

The Hovawart is a German guarding breed in The Royal Kennel Club’s Working group.

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Advertise your Hovawart puppies, litters and stud dogs

Do you breed Hovawarts? List your kennel on caninebreeder.co.uk so buyers searching for Hovawart puppies for sale, and owners looking for a Hovawart stud dog, can find you. You can advertise Hovawart puppies for sale, planned litters and stud dogs, and show your hip scores, thyroid results and DM tests. A basic listing shows your kennel name, location, website, social media and categories. Paid plans unlock more showcase features. Add your listing or see pricing.

No breeders are listed here yet, so the first profiles get the page to themselves.

  • Free basic profile: your breeder or company name, website, social media, location, breeds and industries.
  • Litters and stud dogs advertised in their own sections, never mixed with puppies for sale.
  • Premium showcase for your services and prices, previous customers, awards, video, gallery and health certificates, with your phone and email shown to buyers.
  • Sponsored articles about your breed or industry, written and published by our team.
  • Featured placement at the top of this page, labelled as sponsored.

Create your free breeder profile Advertise a litter Advertise a stud dog

Is it free to advertise here?

Yes. A breeder profile and your litter and stud dog adverts are free. Premium profiles, featured placement and sponsored articles are optional paid extras; see pricing.

Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?

In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.

Is my listing already here?

We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.

About the Hovawart

The Hovawart is a German guarding breed in The Royal Kennel Club's Working group. The RKC breed page explains that the name joins the German words for a farm or homestead and for guarding, and that German chronicles mention it from the Middle Ages. Having almost died out by the early 20th century, it was revived by Kurt König from dogs surviving in isolated areas, and the German Kennel Club recognised it in 1936. The Hovawart Club of Great Britain reports on its origins page that the early stud books point to German Shepherds, local farm dogs and some Newfoundland in the foundation stock. The club's UK history says the breed's story here really starts with two dogs imported from the Netherlands in 1980, which produced the first British litter in 1981. Compare the German Shepherd Dog and Newfoundland, or browse all Working breed breeders.

Size and build. The RKC puts the breed in its large size category, while the breed standard describes a powerful, medium-sized dog, a little longer than it is tall and without exaggeration. Dogs stand 63 to 70 cm and weigh 30 to 40 kg; bitches stand 58 to 65 cm and weigh 25 to 35 kg. The sexes should look clearly different.

Coat and grooming. The coat is fairly long, dense and close-fitting, straight or slightly wavy, over a thin undercoat. Three colours are accepted: black, blonde, and black and gold. The RKC advises grooming more than once a week and notes that the breed sheds. The club's care guide says mats tend to form behind the ears, around the elbows and in the hind-leg feathering.

Exercise. The RKC recommends more than two hours a day for an adult, and a large house and garden. The club advises limiting exercise while puppies grow and suggests scent games and puzzles. Its website covers working trials, canicross, hoopers, scentwork and mantrailing.

Temperament and suitability. The standard asks for a kind, steady and loyal dog that is self-assured and brave, with no nervousness or aggression. The club's breed introduction says Hovawarts should be family dogs or working companions and are not suited to kennel life. They keep a lively, puppyish nature until at least two years old, need thorough socialisation as puppies, and can be wilful or dominant with other dogs. The RKC gives a lifespan of over ten years.

Hovawart health tests

The RKC Hovawart breed page makes prioritising genetic diversity its good-practice advice, the minimum it strongly recommends before breeding. Its best-practice advice adds hip scoring. It also points to a breed club health scheme and says it offers no breed-specific DNA test package for the Hovawart. The breed is in Breed Watch Category 1, meaning no breed-specific points of concern have been flagged for show judges.

The Hovawart Club of Great Britain's health page names three tests its members must complete before breeding: a hip score, a thyroid blood test and a DNA test for degenerative myelopathy (DM). Its code of ethics rules out breeding from any dog scoring over 20, or any mating where the two parents' scores add up to more than 25. The thyroid blood test must be within the normal range and taken no more than two years before the mating. DM results are used to plan matings so that puppies do not inherit two copies of the SOD1 mutation, not to exclude dogs from breeding outright. The club also asks owners to learn the signs of bloat and to share health information through its breed health survey.

  • Prioritising genetic diversity (RKC good practice), using the RKC inbreeding coefficient calculator
  • Hip testing using the BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme (RKC best practice; club requirement, no breeding dog over 20)
  • Thyroid function blood test within two years of mating (club requirement)
  • DNA test for degenerative myelopathy (SOD1) (club requirement)
  • Breed Watch: Category 1

Choosing a Hovawart breeder

A Hovawart breeder who belongs to the Hovawart Club of Great Britain signs up to its code of ethics. Both parents must be hip scored, thyroid tested and DM tested, with the results sent to the club. No bitch may be mated under 24 months, and no puppy may leave its mother before eight weeks. Puppies' RKC registrations carry a "progeny not eligible for registration" endorsement. It can be lifted once the dog has its own hip score of 20 or under, a normal thyroid result and a DM test. The code also lets a buyer have the puppy checked by a vet at the breeder's premises, at the buyer's cost. The club's puppy enquiries service suggests meeting adult Hovawarts in a home first. It also emails news of members' litters once a pregnancy is confirmed. Expect a careful breeder to ask about your experience and routine, as this large guarding breed stays puppyish until at least two. In England, breeding three or more litters in 12 months and selling any of the puppies, or breeding and advertising dogs for sale as a business, needs a council licence. Read our buyer safety guide first.

  • What are both parents' BVA/KC hip scores?
  • When were the parents' thyroid blood tests taken, and were the results normal?
  • What are the parents' DM DNA results, and how was the mating planned around them?
  • What is the inbreeding coefficient for this mating, compared with the breed average?
  • Will the puppy's registration be endorsed, and what do I need to do to have it lifted?

Hovawart questions

Is a Hovawart a good family dog?

The breed standard asks for a kind, loyal and self-assured dog with no nervousness or aggression. The Hovawart Club of Great Britain says it should live as a family dog or working companion, not in a kennel. It also says socialisation in puppyhood is essential and that the breed can be wilful or dominant with other dogs.

How much exercise does a Hovawart need?

The Royal Kennel Club recommends more than two hours a day for an adult. The breed club advises limiting exercise while a puppy is growing. It recommends mental exercise such as scent work, brain games and puzzles, and says Hovawarts enjoy obedience and agility training at an appropriate age.

What health tests should Hovawart parents have?

The RKC advises prioritising genetic diversity and hip scoring under the BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme. The Hovawart Club of Great Britain requires its breeding members to hip score, thyroid test and DNA test for degenerative myelopathy before any mating.

What colours do Hovawarts come in?

The breed standard accepts only three colours: black, blonde, and black and gold. The breed club notes that all three can appear in the same litter, depending on the colours of the ancestors.

More for Hovawart owners and breeders

Official sources