My History with the Komondork

I have loved Old English sheepdogs most of my life.  In 1989 I started breeding and showing them.  While visiting a groomer in Lake Villa, IL in 2000, I was greeted by two beautiful Komondork in the exercise pen.

I met their owner, Rob, and told him I am a dog person showing OES and that I'd always had an interest in the Komondor but was concerned that they required a lot of work.  He said they are virtually no work at all and brought one of the Kom's in to meet me.  She was so friendly and loved attention.

Rob and I talked for hours about Kom's.  His breeder was soon doing a repeat breeding and Rob asked if he should look for a Komondor pup for me.  I didn't even have to think twice.  A few months later I had my first Komondor pup and named her "Honey". She was beautiful! I was amazed at how smart she was.  She knows which OES not to mess with and which ones accept her.

After years of showing OES, it became routine to simply receive our ribbon as the judges simply move on to the next exhibitor.  When I would show the Komondor, every single judge stopped to talk about my Kom.  I became friends with many judges because of my Honey and was surprised to learn that many Judges also own Koms.  They all told me the Komondor is a very special breed.

It's important to know if your dog can do what it’s breed was bred to do.  Each year we bring our OES for herding instinct tests.  Each dog is tested and professionally evaluated to see if they can properly herd without hurting the sheep.  I brought my Honey to the herding test.  The instructor said "save your money" because Komondor don't usually herd.  I signed her up anyway.

To everyone's surprise, Honey loved herding!  She was very good at it.  The instructor encouraged me to take Honey further and get herding titles on her.

We live in a dog friendly suburb of Chicago where you can do a lot of fun things with your dog.  Last year, my friend, Kathy McBride and I took Honey and an OES to the annual Anti Cruelty event at the Blues Brothers Hotel in Chicago.  The hotel owners are very dog friendly allowing dogs in the main lobby and even into the bar where you can sit with your pooch and have a drink as you would with a human friend.  They serve doggie treats and there's a lot for dogs to do.  Other dog owners and hotel guests frequently stopped us to visit and admire our dogs.

We also took Honey to "Dog Day" at Chicago White Sox Park where each year the team invites 500 dogs and their owners to attend a baseball game.  There is a dog parade on the field.  It's a fun time for dogs and owners.  Honey drew much attention with so many people wanting to touch her that I would often have to hide her from the admiring crowds.  Honey was very well mannered considering how many people were trying to get to her.

Last year we decided to try Honey at Lure Coursing.  Though Honey knew exactly what to do, she did it at her own pace.  The club hosting that event loved Honey and invited us back for this year. Imagine a Komondor lure coursing!  That breed is rarely seen.

My Honey has a photographic memory, if you change something in the house she goes directly to what ever changed to make sure everything is ok.  When she was 1 year old, one of my OES had a litter of 5 puppies.  Four weeks later the mother OES decided she was done being a mother wanting nothing more to do with her puppies.  Honey immediately went to work taking care of the puppies as if they were hers.  I wish you could have seen see Honey's great care for those puppies.

We kept one of the OES puppies from that litter and named her "Emma".  To this day, Honey and Emma are inseparable.  Emma thinks Honey is her mother.  Honey still cleans Emma and takes care of her.  Emma had her own litter 4 weeks ago and Honey is eagerly awaiting Emma’s full time return to playing and having fun with her again.

The Komondor is indeed a rare and special breed.  My OES and Komondor get along just fine.  Honey has brought great delight to my home.  I hope you enjoyed learning of my experiences with the Komondor.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about these lovely dogs.
 

Ron Szekeres
ron@artofbarter.com

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