Gintarė Bertauskienė is from Kaunas, Lithuania, and has been dreaming of having a Komondor dog for most of his life. As a child, Gintare received a postcard with one of these dogs on it and always kept it. However, the time came when she was able to fulfill her dream, and now she is the proud owner of Hanga, one of the 2 Komondor dogs in the country.
People mainly notice Hanga’s unusual coat. There are few breeds of dogs that have natural dreadlocks, and the Komondor is one of them. His coat, long and thick, requires a lot of care, but Hanga is lucky that Gintare is a pet groomer.
Hanga became an internet sensation when LADbible shared a video of the dog swimming in a lake. It has over 19 million views and Gintare even made some monetary profit from it, which he used to pay for Hanga’s operation.
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Hanga also gets a lot of attention on the street. Passers-by ask Gintare if they can take a picture of his dog. “Sometimes we go to town in the afternoon, just to avoid so much attention,” the woman told Kas Vyksta. “Hanga is very protective and doesn’t trust strangers. If there are too many, she gets tense.”
Komondors were bred to keep livestock, so this is totally understandable. Their temperament is like that of most herding dogs: calm and composed when things are normal, but if they feel danger, they will defend the herd fearlessly. Komondors make their own decisions and act independently.
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If you are thinking of acquiring a Komondor, you should know that with its size, strength, speed and temperament, if not trained to be obedient, it can result in dangerous situations. Usually, komondors are good at learning things, especially if they start early (ideally when they are 4-8 months old).
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When Komondor puppies are born, they do not have dreadlocks, but a short white coat that gradually turns into fluffy curls as the dog grows.
When they reach 1 year of age, the curls begin to tangle in patches, and then human intervention is needed to separate them into individual dreadlocks. By the time the Komondor is five years old, the fur has reached its full potential.
