The Molossus of Epirus
Recognized only by the Greek Kennel Club, the Molossus of Epirus is an extremely rare breed now despite being once popular in his heyday. This is an ancient Livestock Guardian Dog and war dog which has existed in Greece and…
Shay
The Spanish Bulldog
The Spanish Bulldog (AKA Alano Espanol or Spanish Alano) is in the background of numerous molosser breeds including the Bulldog, the Mastiff and the Dogue de Bordeaux to name just a few! An ancient breed, he is most known for…
The Sicilian Mastiff
The Sicilian Mastiff (AKA the Cane di Mannara) is an ancient Italian breed known by Italian farmers simply as “shepherd’s dog”. This dignified breed has existed alongside farmers and shepherds seemingly forever, and was tasked with working in mountainous regions…
The Russian Hound
The Russian Hound was created in the late 1700’s, and was frequently used to hunt alongside Borzoi in Russia. This scenthound would find and flush out the prey, and the Borzoi would then chase it down! Despite having a short…
The Buryat-Mongolian Wolfhound
The Buryat-Mongolian Wolfhound (AKA the Bankhar Dog, AKA the Hotosho) is a Livestock Guardian Dog that very well might be the forerunner of all other Livestock Guardian breeds! The only native dog of Mongolia, it is speculated that it may…
The Shalaika
The Shalaika (AKA the Sulimov Dog) is a Russian breed used in airport security for explosive detection. We’ll put “dog” in quotes because, while it is recognized as a dog by the Russian Kynological Federation, its roots make it actually…
The Villano de las Encartaciones
The Villano de las Encartaciones hails from Spain and was originally bred to catch semi-wild Monchina cattle so that the farmers could bring them to market. Extremely brave, he has also been used to hunt boar, herd sheep, and guard…
The Russian Harlequin Hound
The Russian Harlequin Hound is seen almost exclusively in Russia and was originally created to track and hunt “red game” – i.e. fox and wolves. The breed was developed in the 1900’s by crossing the Russian Hound with the English…
The Greek Shepherd
The Greek Shepherd is an ancient Livestock Guarding Dog that is closely related to other LGDs from the countries bordering Greece. A bit of history – it is common for the shepherds of Greece to migrate annually with their dogs…
The East European Shepherd
The East European Shepherd (also known as the Vostochno Evropeiskaya Ovcharka or VEO for short) has Ukrainian and Russian roots, and was developed because breeders wanted a dog similar to the German Shepherd Dog but that could better withstand the…