Pandora is our foundation Tornjak from Bosnia-Herzegovina and has consistently proven to be an exemplary representative of the breed. We are very proud that our girl is the first ever Tornjak to earn an AKC Certificate of Merit (CM) and the first Tornjak to hold a conformation title for both the UKC and AKC. She also earned a spot at the 2025 UKC Total Dog invitational after qualifying in nose-work and earning all her conformation wins for her UKC Championship at the Eastern Classic. Since puppyhood, she was task-trained to detect low blood sugar, so we look forward to seeing what she’s capable of in other scent-work endeavors.
Outside of the show and sport world, Pandora is the hardest worker we have on the farm. She manages to genuinely make friends with every animal we have–from the smallest chicken to the largest horse–including even the pigs who try to take a bite out of any other dogs. When we moved from our starting homestead to the current farm, we noticed she has successfully and consistently kept coyotes miles away from whatever property she is on. The neighborhood she left started reporting coyotes in backyards throughout the neighborhood after 3 years of no sightings (despite our Great Pyrenees still being there). At our new farm, packs of coyotes could be heard in the woods all night and tracks seen through the fields, but now it is quiet and trail free. Our fields are now full of local deer that appreciate Pandora’s kind nature and the safe environment she has created.
As a puppy, our main reason for selecting Pandora was for her calm demeanor, and this has allowed her to flourish into a wonderful adult. Pandora is a very empathetic dog who cares about the opinion of her handler, but she still has the hallmark independence of a livestock guardian. One story that sums up Pandora well is the day we went for her Canine Good Citizen (CGC) exam. While Pandora is a very well adjusted, well trained dog who can hold a stay in just about any condition, she still processes the world with her own opinions. She easily accomplished every task of the CGC until it came time for the sit/down stay. Was the stay the problem? Of course not. The park was getting dark, was full of strange people and dogs, the lead used for that portion of the test smelled weird, and Pandora had decided that sitting or laying down was not what needed to be done right then. So we stood and waited for a down while she surveyed the park until the evaluator had started to say “I’m sorry, she won’t pa…” and BOOM, Pandora whipped her head up to look at the evaluator, went right into the down, of course held the stay with no trouble, and recalled perfectly to me. Many might call this ability to think for herself ‘stubborn’, but it is an essential skill for a working livestock guardian to make decisions in the field, and I appreciate the true partnership we have formed thanks to it. In new environments she can be passive and serious, but in her element Pandora is a strong, silly, diligent Tornjak.
**A note on Pandora’s hips–We are open and honest about our dogs here at Pine Spring Farm. Pandora did not pass her OFA hip upon our first submission. We have learned a lot about the OFA process since, including the importance of positioning and timing around heat cycles, so we will be re-radiographing in August with experts in the field and resubmitting. Pandora is asymptomatic at 4 years old and consistently wins with a movement judge, but radiographically does have remodeling/thickening of the femoral head on one hip, so while we do not expect her to pass the re-test, we want to give her a fair evaluation.
We value health, temperament, working ability, and conformation, which requires a balancing act for breeding decisions, especially with the size gene pool we have in the US. Given Pandora has displayed an exceptional working ability, a skill for service work, conformational quality, and a temperament that draws in everyone she meets, our goal is to improve hips radiographically for any litters by breeding up.
When looking to add another Tornjak to the pack, we wanted one that would bring more bold, unapologetic confidence to the farm, and we successfully found that in our Falkor. For a livestock guardian breed, we expect Falkor to still be a large puppy until 2+ years old, however, he has already begun to settle down and exhibit a lovely temperament for a working and show dog. Falkor has strong opinions, but listens well to what is being asked of him. For a livestock guardian, he is eager to please and food motivated, which makes training for a wide variety of tasks easier. Despite just beginning his show career at the end of 2024, he is already at 5/15 points towards his AKC CM after just 2 shows. He currently is very excited to be at shows, but has strong fluid movement when he settles down and flashy personality.
Our hopes for Falkor this summer are to finish his conformation titles in both venues and begin his journey in whatever sports he enjoys. On the docket is nosework, fastcat, and weight-pull once he turns 2. We also may try agility and rally because of his athleticism and willingness to learn. Falkor is also the cuddliest dog we have by far. He is still convinced he is lap-dog sized and loves to sit and cuddle. He’s our clown dog of the farm and does a good job of making everyone smile with his antics every day.
Falkor does well with the smaller animals, but he seems to have a special connection with our larger livestock. Despite the naturally suspicious nature of our young mule, Falkor became the first animal on the farm to befriend him, and our running joke is that they share a brain cell. Their favorite game is to take turns jumping and spinning, then looking at the other to continue the pattern. As we have added cattle to the farm, they also have taken a particular fondness to Falkor. He is happy to stand and be licked and nuzzled by the cows all day. He has become the primary sentry of the farm, and all the animals respect his alert bark as a sign to move to safety. While Falkor makes friends wherever he goes, he has also been ready to take on whatever threatens the farm since 4 months old. He still has a lot of growing to do, but he has already proved to be a strong guardian while also being a goofy, sweet, friend.
