were the first to write manuals about dogs; a practice which was continued by the Romans. Aristotle was the first to discuss anatomy and physiology of the dog. In 350 B. C. he listed the “most useful” breeds among them the Molossers.
It is said that the Phoenicians, traveling to Italy, Spain, France and even Cornwall, where they bought tin, would have taken these dogs with them, eventually to sell them together with sheep and goats to the herdsmen of those areas. Many, still today available sources refer to the early differentiation, which had developed, namely the white, long muzzled, slimmer “herding“ dog and the darker heavier dog, which was used for protection and for war. About 60 A.D. Columella, a Roman writer, describes in his work “De Re Rustica” two types of dogs, namely guard and herding dogs for the herds and their owner. The guard dog was big, strongly built, with broad jaws and often black. This color was more intimidating and blended in with the dark. However, the herding dog was less heavy built than the guard dog, as he had to be able to run fast enough to run the wolves off. They used to be white, to make it distinguishable to the shepherd from a raiding wolf and to be better seen in the dark. These herding dogs guarded the herds; they were big, ferocious dogs, being big enough to keep away wolves, raiding dogs, big game and thieves.
As soon as these molossoid dogs had come to the Roman Empire, they already were bred for special purposes. One could say that this was the first step to the development of “breeds” within one species. The Romans developed a breed being very similar to today’s Sennenhund or Swiss Mountain Dog. In fact, there were no prehistoric Swiss Mastiffs or doggen prior to the last century B. C. The Romans took their mastiffs into then Gaul. Their mastiffs guarded the mountain passes where a few hundred years later the St. Bernard would be found.
These early breeds also contributed to French breeds like the Dogue de Bordeaux. Also to the south, in Italy, molossoid dogs developed which can be regarded as the ancestors of today’s Mastino Napoletano.
In Spain the Spanish Mastiff developed, to north, in Belgium, a tracker, the St. Hubert, developed from those fierce hunting dogs of prehistoric time, being the ancestor of today’s Bloodhound.
In the Alps, these early mastiffs are thought to have been adopted by the Germanic tribes and then to have traveled with the Angels and Saxons to Britain. These early mastiffs originally were guard dogs, but because of their courage and their ferocity towards predators they also were suited for hunting bear and wolf, which existed in Britain at the time of the Saxons. By the Middle Ages some mastiffs had become butcher’s dogs and then were bred for bull baiting and dog fighting. With each change in role, came physical changes to enable the dog to better perform in his new role.
In the meantime, throughout the mountainous regions and high plains stretching from Central Asia through Asia Minor, Eastern Europe to the Pyrenees, the shepherds continued to use their white herding dogs as the protectors of their herds as already described in the time before Christ. The descendants of these long haired, white dogs still exist today, like the Akbash in the Turkey, the Tatra of Poland, and the Kuvasz in Hungary or the Maremmano in Italy. The dark colored herding dogs you still will find in certain regions as for example the Illyrian Shepherd Dog on the Balkan, the Kangal in Eastern Turkey or the Middle Asian Ovcharka.
Mastiff blood with an introduction of the northern Spitz is thought to be the probable origin of the rough-coated Ovcharka in Russia. This northern “spitz” type dog is also considered to be the ancestor of many of the Oriental breeds, some of which were crossed with Mastiff breeds to create the Tosa Inu, the famous fighting dog of Japan, and the Dosa in Korea.
Also in South America own molossoid breeds developed from dogs, which the conquistadors had brought with them, as for example Spanish Mastiffs, dogs of bulldog type and Bandog type. One breed originating from these dogs for example is the Fila Brasileiro, a breed special suited for the South American ranches and plantations.
ILLYRIAN SHEPHERD (ILLYRIAN MASTIFF/SARPLANINAC)
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n the ancient world the Illyrians lived northwest from Greece, in the regions of Epirus, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina and South and Central Dalmatia. Greek and Roman writers described these countries all together as Elyria. The Greek historian Herodotus used the term Illyrians for the first time. In 219 B. C. the region mainly came into Roman control and finally was integrated in the Empire under Caesar.
Illyrian Shepherd in the Demon Mountains, Kosovo (Kennel Deltari Illir)
The Illyrian Shepherd has been mentioned in the book “History of the Ottoman Empire”, at the beginning of 1900, as follows:
Outside the city walls dogs worked, of course. Like the Hungarian Komondor, or the huge Carpathian Sheepdog, the Macedonian shepherd dogs descended without any doubt from the monsters that killed Euripides at Pella. The Albanian dogs had their own law, seeming to obey the same harsh codes as their masters, which they protected with the absolute loyalty for which Albanians were notorious. 'I remembered first a serious bit of advice given to me by a British consul,' recalled J.F. Fraser, who was attacked by 'two brutes of goat-dogs' outside Ohrid in the early 1900s, 'never to shoot a dog belonging to an Albanian goatherd unless you are prepared immediately afterward to shoot its master before he has time to shoot you.’
Illyrian Shepherd Bellanica (Kennel Deltari Illir)
Before the Turkish conquest the shepherds of the Balkan were known as “Illyrian Mountain Dog”, being made only regional distinctions. In 1689 Valvasor officially mentioned the Illyrian Shepherd as a breed for the first time. In 1939 it was recognized by the FCI. This name has existed until 1957, and then was changed into Sarplaninac.
Illyrian Shepherd Pirro (Kennel Deltari Illir)
In the early 1990’s some of my Pit Bulls (pups and young dogs) had been stolen. Then I thought of taking a Sarplaninac as a guard dog. Because of the Pit Bulls I had some good connections to Serbia. One of my then friends there, having some dogs from me, had owned Sarplaninac for some years.
Sarplaninac (at Goran’s, near Belgrade)
Two Sarplaninac before the fight
He also gave me a tape showing wolf hunting with these dogs. According to the mountainous region and the people it might have been the area close to the Albanian border or the Kosovo. It shows the village people together with their dogs starting for the hunt, then the dogs hunting the wolf and pushing it into a kraal making it impossible to run away. One dog gets a hold on its throat and kills it, after that the dead wolf is carried triumphantly into the village.
I’ve got the following photo from my Serbian friend Goran as well. Then he told me that this was a certain type of Sarplaninac, with which is supposed that Turkish dogs took part. That seems quite possibly, as the Turks have
