Šarplaninac

The Šarplaninac ( sr-Cyrl, Шарпланинац; mk, Шарпланинец; sq, Qeni i Sharrit), formerly also known as Illyrian Shepherd Dog (Macedonian and Serbian: Илирски Овчар, Ilirski Ovčar; sq, Deltari Ilir), is a dog breed of the livestock guardian type. It is named after the Šar Mountains (''Šar Planina''), a mountain range in the Balkans. In Ottoman times, the dogs of the breed spent the summer in the area of the Šar Mountains and the winter in Thessaly, depending on the needs of the sheep they are used to protect.

Name

The dog breed is named for the Šar Mountains. It is alternatively named the ''Yugoslavian Shepherd Dog'' by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (1980), ''Albanian Mountain Dog'', and ''Šarplaninec''Fédération Cynologique Internationale
Official FCI-Standard N° 41
Published 24 November 1970. – Retrieved on 14 February 2015. The breed was initially standardised by the Yugoslav Federation of Cynology (''Jugoslovenski kinološki savez, JKS'') and recognised as a Yugoslav breed with two types by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in 1939 under the designation ''Ilirski ovčar'' (" Illyrian Shepherd Dog")
FCI-Standard N° 41
Kraški ovčar and Šarplaninac were considered Type A and B of the breed. In 1957 the General Assembly of the F.C.I. accepted a motion proposed by the Yugoslav Federation of Cynology to change the name of the breed to ''Jugoslovenski ovčarski pas Šarplaninac'' ("Yugoslavian Shepherd Dog Sharplanina"), and this is the official name of the breed. In 1968, type B was recognised as a separate breed under the designation ''Kraški ovčar'' ("Karst Shepherd Dog"), United Kennel Club
Official U.K.C. Breed Standard
Revised 1 July 2009. – Retrieved on 30 March 2010. The breed was formerly known as ''Ilirski Ovčar'' (, "Illyrian Shepherd Dog") before it was renamed in 1957.

Origin

This breed and its origin are associated with the Šar Mountains region, which is how it got its name. After the collapse of Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Serbia were recognised by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale as the countries of origin.

Characteristics

The Šarplaninac is a large, strongly built dog. The body is slightly longer than the height at the withers, and the front legs account for approximately 55% of the height. The head is large but proportional to the body, with dark eyes.

The Šarplaninac is a robust, well proportioned dog with plenty of bone, of a size that is well above the average and with a thick, long, rather coarse coat that emphasizes the short coupled appearance. According to the FCI breed standard males should weigh between with females slightly smaller at around . The average height is quoted as for males with females at .

The coat is dense, about in length, and can be rough or smooth.

All Šarplaninac are solid in colour: fawn, iron grey, white or almost black; usually sable or gray with darker "overalls" on the head and back, the undercoat being paler. The colour need not be completely uniform, and most Šarplaninac have several different shades of the same colour fading into one another. There are no bicolours and no uniformly black-coated dogs among purebreds, but odd-coloured specimens do exist. The dogs must not have large white patches in their coat.

Working life

Dogs of the breed spend the summer in the area of the Šar Mountains and the winter in Thessaly, Greece, depending on the needs of the sheep they are used to protect.

Ban

Šarplaninac is on the list of banned dog breeds in Denmark. The Danish list includes 13 breeds and it is considered controversial having received criticism from dog owners and several political parties because eight of the 13 breeds have no reports of any incident. Among the eight is Šarplaninac.Government won’t change criticised list of illegal dog breeds
at cphpost.dk, 21-10-2013, retrieved 14-9-2019

See also

* Dogs portal
* List of dog breeds

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarplaninac
FCI breeds
Dog breeds originating in North Macedonia
Dog breeds originating in Serbia
Livestock guardian dogs