Marlene Zwettler - The Great Book Of Bulldogs Bull Terrier and Molosser

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 ruled on the Balkan for a long time and certainly have taken their own dogs with them.

At one of my visits Goran wanted to show me one of these Sarplaninac, belonging to a friend of him. He told me that this dog always was tied during the day, as he was very ferocious and dangerous, however in the night he ran free to watch over the house. This happened in the time of the Yugoslavian War and several times a day power failures weren’t unusual. During the day his friend wasn’t at home and therefore we would have had gone to him in the evening. However, when in the evening there was again a power failure, everyone was secretly glad that the trip was cancelled for that reason.

Sarplaninac (Illyrian Shepherd?)

According to a Yugoslavian expert with an impact of Turkish Shepherd (?)

Today the Illyrian Shepherd wouldn’t be regarded as pure bred respectively equally good by many Sarplaninac breeders in Serbia and Montenegro. Vice versa many Albanians would state that the Illyrian Shepherd would be the only one that would have kept pure.

The Illyrian Shepherd (Sarplaninac) is reserved, stubborn and laid back, aggressiveness towards dogs and carefulness with strangers is normal. This breed is remarkable intelligent and loyal to his master and family. An interesting physical characteristic are the unusual long teeth. He has heavy bones and is well muscled. The coat has a dense undercoat, suited for a life outside. Most of the working strains in the mountainous regions tend to be a little bit smaller and to have a shorter coat.

e had already heard a lot about the Turkish Shepherds, especially the Kangal which is regarded as the Turkish national breed. Years ago some specimens had been already imported in the USA to support the farmers in hunting and deterrence of the coyotes. In Namibia too, the farmers used them to keep away the wild cats from the herds. When we did our investigations for our book, we were looking for one to two good photos and were surprised which noble and powerful animals came out, that we hadn’t expected.

Kangal Yagiz, owner: Lutfullah Ayan, Ankara

Some regard the Kangal as a color variety of the Anatolian Shepherd in the west, however it’s a fact that the Kangal would be much older than most of the popular breeds in the Turkey. His name derives the Kangal from Kangala, a town in the province Sivas. Traditionally the best bloodlines are coming from the region Uzun Yayla. The popularity of the Kangal has increased in some European countries during the last years. However, with it dubious bloodlines and crosses with other breeds appeared too. Of course, you’ll find excellent representatives of pure Kangals also outside their native country, above all in Western Europe, where they are very appreciated because of their impressive size, their balanced temperament and their beautiful appearing.

Some believe that the Kangal like most of the Turkish and Middle Asian dogs originates from the old Armenian Gampr , whereas others would connect him with the old Indian, Assyrian, Persian and Sumerian dogs. Most likely the ancestors of the Kangal had been brought to Anatolia by nomadic, Turkmen tribes, through which a connection to the legendary Alabai would arise.

Emperor Boz, Boz Kennels, Istanbul

The breeder describes his male Emperor Boz as a game dog having never lost. On the following picture a fox might have been killed and put on a plug for picturing. Note power and strength expressed by the dog.