Poetry in Motion

The Working Tatra 

By Carol Wood

 

The giant white dog attentively listens to his shepherd, and upon the command hoes on an outrun gathering up the flock, moving through his paces, gently guiding the sheep where the shepherd desires them. When finished the dog returns to his beloved master and receives a quiet but loving pat on his immense head.

If you've just witnessed the above scene, you might feel confused and somewhat bewildered. You might ask yourself "What kind of dog is that anyway? It looks kind of like a Pyrenes, but not really. It certainly has beed herding instincts, but how? What is it?" Well folks, it is a seldom seen (in the USA) a Polish Tatra Sheepdog. Used in the south of Poland, in the gently rolling foothills of the Tatra Mountains, this gentle white giant of a dog resembles many of the large white flock guardians such as the Pyrenes, Kuvasz, South Russian Ovcharka, Maremma, Akbash or the Slovac Chuvac, but this is where the resemblance begins and ends! The Polish Tatra Sheepdog is a dual purpose dog; guarding AND herding the flocks of sheep. Yes believe it!!

These dogs are poetry in motion, the cream de la cream of sheepdogs. They are drovers, not a header or heeler, not a nipper or a gripper. Giving no eye to the sheep, this gentle giant gathers, lifts and drives his sheep under the direct commands from his shepherd. Using his immense size, his soft physical appearance, the dog quietly moves among the sheep, never alarming them, blending in and using his body size and shoulder to guide the sheep into holding pens or through or past obstacles.

During the day he is a herdsman, but his job description changes as the sun begins to set. Quietly listen as the dusk settles over the pastoral setting. Deep, base canine voice is heard?barking they?re warning to any predator who might be lurking nearby. The message is clear, "Don't touch my sheep or you'll be in deep trouble!" The shepherd, or Gorale as they are called in Poland, can relax as night falls upon the land. His sheep will be safe from harm.

The Tatra will patrol the perimeter of the flock all night long, protecting his sheep from wolves and bears. This dog, once called "Liptaks" but now called Tatra Sheepdogs or Owczarek

Podhalanski, have been used for centuries by the Polish shepherds. They most likely are descended from a Mastiff type of dog, as are most of the giant white flock guardians, but they have been selectively bred for their herding abilities as well as their guarding abilities. The Poles bred for a dog that could be trusted not to become too sharp with any humans that might stray near the flock, yet are effective guardians against the wolves that preyed on the flocks. How does this translate into modern American agriculture practices? Perfectly! The dogs are superbly suited for a variety of situations; from the small Mom and Pop type of farm with 20-30 sheep, llamas, or goats. This family type of farm can rest assured that the Tatra will be an effective guardian yet friendly to the children or grandchildren when they wander up to the fence. The dogs will bark serious warnings to adult intruders, seldom needing to enforce further with a nip, but will if pushed. In a larger agricultural setting the dogs are effective workers. If the producers prefer not to own both a guardian AND a more traditional herding dog (Border Collie, Aussie, Kelpie, etc) the Tatra will gladly accept the training, and can be used for moving the flocks. At this point, least I sound as though I'm advocating this breed as a panacea for all herding responsibilities, I must point out that they are really designed for use on sheep or animals that tend naturally to flock well together. If the sheep are of a breed that are more likely to stray and actively resist being gathered, there will be the need for a smaller, more traditional herder. In Poland I have witnessed the Tatra working paw in paw with a mixed breed that is more of a nipper/heeler. They seem to work well together if need be.

The Tatra is less likely to be happy in a huge, open range type of setting. They are more of a social type of dog, enjoying the shepherd and he the dog. Traditionally in Europe, the shepherds are always near the flocks, never too far away. In America, the open range type of dog may go literally days between interactions with a human. The Tatra would be less suitable for this type of operation.

In America the Tatra has been known to effectively guard his charges against coyotes, bear, cougars, roaming domestic packs of dogs, and wolves. Oh yes, they are also effective against the most formidable of predators- man himself. Typically, the dog guards by placing himself between his flock and the predator. Barking and assuming and more upright and on guard sort of stance, the dog clearly sends his message out to intruding man and beast, "Leave my flock alone?or else!"

The dogs can be observed patrolling their perimeter marking periodically with urine and feces, leaving clear messages to anything with a nose, "This is my territory move along." In this manner the dogs are perhaps, one of the most effective yet environmentally sound solutions for controlling predation of our valuable flocks. It is live and let live approach. So simple in theory yet, so incredibly complex. When an effective guardian such as this protects a flock, the natural balance of nature is allowed to exist, the dog does not kill wild animal, they are merely asked to move along down the road to the neighbor's flock, which isn't protected. Predators are creatures of opportunity; they will naturally gravitate to an easy hit, especially when the alternative is staring down the barrel of a 120-pound, supremely engineered and highly intelligent Tatra Sheepdog.

On my 70-acre farm in North Eastern Washington, my Tatra Sheepdogs have effectively protected my sheep, goats and horses from predation, never a single loss from the many coyote, bear and cougar. Others who have Tatras report exactly the same scenario. One delighted lady in North Western Washington nearly giggled as she related to me how all her other neighbors had sheep picked off by local cougars, but not her sheep. Her sheep have been faithfully protected for six years by first one Tatra and this past year a new Tatra pup was added to the fold to be trained as a replacement for her older Tatra.

Some days I find myself just sitting on a stump out in my sheep pasture, watching my Tatra bitch, Lalka, as she routinely does her job. Most of the time during daylight hours, she?s not terribly exciting to watch, sort of like watching moss grow on the northern side of a tree. But at dusk, the whole scenario changes as she slips into her "phone booth" like Superman, and comes out as "Super dog!? Many a night have I been awakened to the sound of her warning barks to nearby intruders. This behavior started even as she was but a mere 8 weeks old pup.

Of course at that time she was safely behind cyclone fencing, in a small enclosure with very tame, quiet sheep. She seemed to know (as all these dogs do) that certain smells and sounds in the night air were not good. A couple of times, when she was so small, Id quietly tiptoe out of my warm bed to a vantage point outside her sheep pen to watch her in action. How alert, staring off into the black of night and from deep within her I could hear the low rumblings. Many times over the years have I watched similar events unfold before my eyes as my young Tatras learn to ropes. Moreover, they seem to be drawing from some ancient imprinting; some secret code buried deep in their brain that just tells them what to do. It is up to the owners of these magnificent dogs to properly train and guide them through the finer points of their duties as the dogs grow and mature.

Since many readers of this will never have seen a Tatra Sheepdog in the flesh, please allow me a brief description of this incredible dog. The dogs are always pure white, no color is present in the coat. They possess a dense double coat which is resistant to rain, snow and mud but in the Spring of the year they blow the undercoat in a flurry of fuzz drifting in the air like the down from a cottonwood tree. One good combing and you?re free for the rest of the summer. The coat tends to be "self cleansing" due to the oil content of the hair. Mud dries and simply falls off. The males range from 65-70 cm (26-28 inches) and weigh about 110-130 pounds. The females are somewhat smaller; weighing 90-110 pounds and 60-65 cm (24-26 inches). The body is massive and strong with a slight tuck up in the belly. The ears are medium length, thick and triangular. The eyes are the color of dark beer and slightly slanting. All skin pigment around the eyes, nose, lips, and footpads should be darkly pigmented. The tail reaches the hocks, but is raised when the dog becomes excited or on guard. The tail is profusely covered in a long fringe of hair, as are the pantaloons of the hindquarters. The topcoat is straight or gently undulating, hard to the touch and about 4 inches long, except on the legs and face where the coat is short and dense.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I find comfort in knowing that I have a close personal relationship with a breed of dog, which was and has been bred for countless generations to function in a very "Old World" sort of way. They function today just as; they did 100 years ago. I maintain the philosophy of why try to fix something that's not broken?- as so many dog breeds have been altered through the domestication process compliments of their humans. If you're not lucky enough to share your life with a Tatra Sheepdog it is a pity. It's a bit of like sharing space with a living, breathing piece of history and archaeology.