May 2018

Kuvasz as Livestock Guardian Dogs in Canada

Vas Krisztián

The demand for livestock guardian dogs (LGD) is strong in Canada due to added environmental protection laws and the continuous presence of large predators. Coyote (canis latrans) populations are at an all-time high in most places and continue to expand and are even evolving into new hybridized species, such as the coywolf. From the 1970-80’s onward the ancient tradition of utilizing LGDs has been introduced to North America.

The sinka

Tari József

Dear Audience,

We know since the work of Charles Darwin called The Origin of Species published in 1859 that there is a large diversity even within certain species. This is particularly true to dog breeds in the Carpathian Basin in Central Europe and specifically to the Hungarian sheepdogs.

Foretime, Present and Future in the Fehér-Morcos kuvasz kennel

Pető Zoltán

The theme of this presentation is to show everyone excerptions from the past thirty years of the kuvasz breed. The discourse means to offer an insight into life with kuvasz dogs, social and human relations, the club life and the means of keeping contact in the former dog world, the circumstances of exhibitions and breeding and of course the appearance of the breed in both adaptibility and looks concerning the history of the Fehér-Morcos kuvasz kennel.

Akbash

Ilker Ünlü

Following the onset of the internet becoming widely available in Turkey in 1995 and 1996, Ilker Unlu’s name began to pop up on the Turkish search engines as he was the first to build a website in Turkish dedicated to a dog breed: his Bull Terrier, Ares. Ares’ Website even appeared in Hurriyet, one of the leading newspaper in Turkey. Ilker went on to build another informative website on bull and terrier breeds due to the fact that their reputation seemed to be ruined by the overzealous press in the 90s.

The origin of the flock guard dogs

Dr. Kovács András prof. emeritus

The dog is the domesticated form of the wolf, however it is still not known where and which subspecies played a role in the process of domestication started maybe 135.000 years ago (Vila et al., 1997) and ended within the Old-World long before written history (Clutton-Brock, 1984; Kovács and Rózsáné Várszegi, 2015). Besides live or extinct Eurasian subspecies of the grey wolf (Canis lupus, L.) the role of the African golden wolf (Canis anthus, F. Cuvier 1820) might be also supposed (Kovács and Rózsáné Várszegi, 2015).

The dynamics of the sheepdog pack in the counteraction and protection against predators.

Buzogány Ágnes

Keywords: sheepdog, pack, predators, protection and counteraction

Formation and structure of the sheepdog pack

  • The packleader: Acquiring and keeping the rank, rights and obligations, intellectual dominance
  • role of the alpha female in the pack
  • members of the pack: young and old ones, males, females and castrated ones
  • omega of the pack

Attacking habits of predators

Shepherding and sheepdogs from the shepherds’ view – presentation illustrated with videointerviews

Czéher György

Shepherding landscape management is a complex phenomenon. The work of a professional shepherd requires complete qualification. Due to varying ecological and political circumstances through centuries, shepherding took various forms in Hungary. Without the help of the adequate sheepdog packs, herdsmen and shepherds could not do their job properly. Since the shepherd selected the dogs by their work, only the more or less good dogs could breed.

„Hair of the dog that bit you” - beliefs of rabies in the Carpathian Basin

Dr. Mód László

In this presentation, I aim to give an overview of the beliefs connected to rabies that used to be widely known and accepted across the Carpathian Basin. In the case of other diseases, modern medicine and folk medicine had separated way sooner. In our case, this process was prolonged since professional and nonprofessional doctors had almost the same knowledge about remedies and possible treatments for rabies for centuries.

Protecting the genetic heritage of native dog breeds

Carol Beuchat, PhD

Most of the popular dog breeds are only a few hundreds years old. However, many native working breeds have been herding and guarding livestock for thousands of years. These breeds are adapted to the local conditions and have behaviors and physical features that suit them for their traditional roles. To maintain healthy populations of these breeds in modern times, their ancient gene pools must be protected as irreplaceable genetic resources.

The return of wolves in Aggtelek Karst and Zemplén Mountains

Szabó Ádám

The vast majority of the population of Hungary is not aware of the fact that there are wolves living in Hungary. Those who have heard about it mostly just know that sometimes they wander from Slovakia. Aggtelek National Park came to be known for its caves but few know that wolves live and reproduce here in Aggtelek Karst and the Zemplén Mountains under natural circumstances thanks to the stable population near the Slovakian-Hungarian border.