History of the breed in the UK
Although at least one Hovawart, and probably more, came to the UK before 1980, the history of the breed on this country really starts with the import of Tobias vt Spinhuis and Assi v Oresund by Mrs Min Inches, both black & gold, from the Netherlands in 1980. Min Inches had fallen in love with the breed whilst living in the Netherlands and she brought the two dogs back with her when she and her husband returned from working there.
These two dogs produced a litter of 5 on March 24th, 1981 (four dogs and one bitch, all black and gold), and the breed was underway in UK. Since that first litter there have been a further 102 litters registered at the Kennel Club (up to 2020) with 717 puppies, and another 84 brought in from the continent, a yearly average of about 20.
Before the lifting of quarantine in 2000, Hovawarts had been imported from several European countries, including Finland and Germany as well as The Netherlands despite the 6 months’ kennelling, but since then, the gene pool in UK has been widened by a number of bitches going abroad to stud dogs, and an increasing number of puppies being imported as well.