Tornjak puppies

About the Tornjak

The Tornjak is a livestock guardian from the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, where it lived out with sheep and cattle rather than in a house, seeing off wolves and bears. It is a large, heavy boned dog under a medium length double coat that carries a thick ruff and a feathered tail. The character matches the job: calm and unhurried at home, deeply attached to its own people, and independent enough to make its own decisions about a stranger at the gate.

Exercise needs are moderate rather than punishing, with long walks and a securely fenced garden doing most of the work. The coat is easy, wanting a weekly brush and rather more during the heavy seasonal shed. Training takes patience, because a guardian breed was bred to think for itself, so reward based work and early, wide socialisation matter more than repetition. It scores lowest on the scale for tolerance of other animals, which makes it a rural, single dog household choice rather than a dog park regular.

What to expect at eight weeks

At eight weeks a Tornjak puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A large breed puppy at eight weeks looks deceptively normal sized and will roughly double every few weeks for a while. Keep exercise short and low impact, the growth plates are wide open. Expect moderate energy, in short bursts separated by long naps. Grooming is straightforward, but start handling the coat, feet and ears in week one anyway so it is never a fight later. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything it meets calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of its life.

Health worth knowing about

Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.

• Hip and elbow dysplasia, screened by hip and elbow evaluation of breeding stock
• Bloat and gastric torsion, a surgical emergency in deep chested dogs
• Hypothyroidism, detected by a thyroid blood panel

From Tornjak breed information at https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/tornjak/. Discuss any of these with your own vet.

Your Tornjak puppy's first six months

• Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
• Worming and parasite schedule.
• Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Large for a Tornjak.
• Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 28.1 to 49.9 kg adult range.
• Puppy names and the first week checklist.

Other large breeds

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