New Zealand Huntaway

One of the only breeds of dogs to have been a distinct one since the 1900’s is the New Zealand Huntaway. They have, however, not yet been given recognition by any New Zealand kennel club. Extremely useful from driving sheep away from the other cattle-owners, this breed is also called the New Zealand sheepdog. To gather sheep, more often than not, it simply barks loudly, as it resonates deeply. It is also quite raucous at work. Being strong in characteristics, it was nevertheless cross bred with other sheep herding dogs, in order to get any other required attribute in the dog, which was previously missing. It was cross bred with breeds like Border Collie, black Hound, and German Shepherd Dog. Its DNA is derived form many other dogs too, and therefore it has the best of each breed, and a loud, thunderous bark, as described earlier.

These dogs are large, and can weigh as much as 55 to 80 lbs (25 to 36 kg), and its height is approximately 20 to 24 inches (51 to 61 cm). Their coat varies in color, and can be brindle, black and tan (generally), black, and light whitish. Surface wise, the dogs can be soft, coarse, or somewhere in between. Their ears are long and droopy. It eyes are blue, orange-brown, blue or one blue and one ‘wall-eyed’ (a result of having descended from the Collie breed) in color. It is used often as a sheepdog, especially in Great Britain, where it is exported.

A New Zealand Huntaway dog is very enthusiastic, gentle, vigorous, and needs to be left in the open in order to get its exercise. New Zealand is filled with mountains and hills, and this dog is therefore taken around a lot, as it can get help from nearby places if one gets lost or ill in laces like these. When at some distance from its owner, he resorts to a shrill dog-whistle, or a unique hand signal. As mentioned earlier, it has not received any recognition in its home country, but an official club for it has opened up in Japan. These dogs are very popular in Australia too, as they can be easily trained and used to convey dog trials in yards.

It can adapt easily to both, rural and urban life, provided it is given enough space to run around and flex its body. It can survive very well as a family dog, and also be left to sleep outdoors under a shelter, without any worries. It requires walks and jogs on a daily basis to keep fit, and in order to understand directions of the roads, needs to be made to walk either beside or behind its owner. It is not very useful as a watch dog, but is excellent with families and little kids. It has a relatively calm temperament, and training it is not a tough task. The dog was bred carefully with numerous dogs, and therefore has very limited health problems. Their life span is approximately 12 to 14 years.