Μολοσσός της Ηπείρου

In order the owner of a Molossus to understand the value of his dog, I would suggest to him/her not to have as a model the morphology of similar foreign breeds. The reason why I insist on that is that all the foreign breeds have been bred for a hundred, two hundred or even three hundred years. In order to achieve the uniformity that they appear to have today there have been incest of numerous generations as well as interbreeding with other similar, already stabilized breeds.

It is really remarkable that the skulls of some breeds have been so much diverse that one thinks that they might be different breeds. The consequences have been disastrous for some of that breeds. I will start from the Neapolitan Mastiff, which can deliver only with caesarean section. Bulldogs have also the same problem while the dogs of Saint Bernard suffer in a big percentage of ischial hypoplasia.

I could write numerous pages about the problems that have been caused to the Molossian breeds by the constricted rising. For all the abovementioned reasons the breeders ought to be open-minded and cooperate as much as they can with each other, always with respect and mutual understanding. The rivalry with the foreign breeds leaves us no space for mistakes. The disposal of low quality dogs helps neither us nor the breed. It is important to go through a sever process of animal husbandry in order to support the morphological model.