theworkingtatra

POETRY IN MOTION Written by Carol Wood, in the late 1990’s

The giant white dog attentively listens to his shepherd, and upon the command
goes 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 Pyrenees, but not really. It certainly has breed
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 Pyrenees,
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. A
deep, base canine voice is heard, barking a 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 a 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 a 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 animals, 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 northwestern 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 scene
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, I’d 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 the 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 writing 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.