The Kuvasz is often compared to a large white bear. It has a very thick fur coat, which is usually white, and has a wavy to straight texture. The coat can grow as long as six inches in length. The Kuvasz sheds, also known as moulting, twice a year. It moults once in the spring and another time during the autumn months. During those times, the normal shedding accelerates and the Kuvasz can lose an enormous amount of hair in a relative short space of time. If the dog is an indoor dog, the hair will land on your carpets, in your draperies, and on your furniture.
This dog's thick fur sheds all year long as well, in lesser amounts, and it can be quite a handful to deal with the excessive shedding, even when it is not moulting. The best tools to fight this onslaught of hair are your vacuum cleaner and a good grooming brush.
You will want to brush this dog every week, if not every couple of days. The more attention you spend grooming the dog, the less hair you will have to pick up inside the home. You will also need to vacuum regularly to keep the fur from getting everywhere. During moulting season, you can have large patches of hair appear seemingly from nowhere. You may end up grooming the dog daily during these times to keep its coat presentable and your house clean.
It may be tempting to leave the dog outside during these times, but the Kuvasz is a dog that wants to be a part of the family unit. It can become bored and aggressive when it is left alone for too long. It also does better in cooler weather and shouldn't be left outside in the heat for too long. It can live outside in areas that are cooler, but again, if it isn't properly socialized this can lead to a more aggressive dog. In addition, the fur coat picks up odors easily and you get a dog that smells nasty if it is kept outdoors too much.
Some owners will shave the underbelly of their dogs during the summer to help relieve some of the heat load. It can also help with the shedding. However, the best program to keep the hair from accumulating is to simply keep up with the brushings. Once you know when the dog is moulting you can increase the routine and keep the amount of stray fur at bay. This is just a characteristic of the dog that you have to be willing to put up with if you want to own a Kuvasz. If the thought of large amounts of dog hair everywhere disgusts you, this is probably not the right breed for you.
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