Μολοσσός της Ηπείρου

A breed is easily distinguished from others due to shared characteristics. This is where the following point is raised: “How many characteristics do all Molossian breeds in our country have in common nowadays?”

Many years ago a Vlach friend of mine-the offspring of one of the biggest families of chief shepherd Vlachs- said to me: “You are in the wrong direction”. I was late in understanding exactly what he meant. In the Balkans there were no boundaries two centuries ago, and as a result we have the existing situation today. The nomads stock-breeders moved around freely with their animals (sheep, goats, cows, horses), along with their dog, with all the consequences that come with that. Due to the wars and the blocking of the borders many groups of cattle-breeders were trapped in the wrong place.
[img]http://www.molossos.gr/images/homep/iraklis.jpg[/img]Towards the close of the 20th century some dog-lovers-and not only them- started to breed sheep dogs which were taken from the Greek countryside and generally displayed in morphology exhibitions. Most times, of course, those were dogs that had no relation with the breed, as someone with rudimentary knowledge of the matter could easily understand. Foreign judges who happened to see the animals were disappointed.Under the circumstances, the “Friends of the Greek Shepherd Dog club” was founded by a number of dog-lovers .They started to breed dogs in several parts of our country.On my way I come across them and start walking with them. I start collecting the last remnants I find in the countryside, I shoot and make video recordings of almost all the animals that live in Thessaly and Epirus. I have at least 3.000 photos and 30 videos in my possession. Several remarkable animals are on my hands, probably more animals that any other cattleman has.However, something starts to bother me. I start being “odd”. I start developing a taste for short-haired and round-headed animals. I visit web sites about dogs, I find out that our dogs (bred by the Club), as happens with many other peoples’ dogs (Sarplaninad, Karakatsan, Karpatin) look very much alike , I realize how wrong I had been and the words of my Vlach friend come to my mind.I start “seceding” from the Club-during the last general meeting I attended; I explained in the presence of almost all cattlemen that I am fond of short-haired and round-headed dogs, which are rare. I immediately turn into a “heretic”; since then, we go on separate ways.I have started to breed only short-haired dogs which come from a specific tableland in Epirus (Fontana Mare) and a region in the Chasian Mountains, in Trikala, where once again Vlach stock-breeders of that particular tableland spent the winter. The animals I go for are, as far as that is possible, round-headed (short-faced is the term according to the sheep-dog terminology). Their bones are as thick as possible and are inevitably seen together. Moreover their colors are stripped-black, reddish-black (Gesos), ash-grey and black which ends in the color of ash.I try to gather information regarding their family-tree and manage to go 3 to 5 generations back. On my way I find the last remaining dogs of Achelinada(a village in Trikala)and I am attracted to them. One of them is Vlacha, the female one shown in a front-page picture opposite the Molossian statue. I happen to be acquainted with the stock-breeder who rescued those dogs in Achelinada and I get to know that this Molossian group, too, comes from the tableland previously mentioned (Fontana Mare).Besides this I come across some fairly old pictures. The Molossian characteristics prevail once again, whereas black parents gave birth to many pups of reddish-black and striped-black color along with a few ones with an ash-black color in their muzzles and the tips of their legs. In addition, many ash-black animals have light-colored eyes, are really wild and when you observe them they look old without being so. Once in a while some ash-grey and red pups show up.The circle of colors is repeated when (partly) pureblood animals mate. The reddish -black animals (Gesa) and the ash-grey ones are always more short-haired than the average, whereas the rest of the animals have fairly short hair.
[img]http://www.molossos.gr/images/homep/iraklis1.jpg[/img]I am acquainted with some nice “heretic” stock-breeders with views of their own which converge with mine. I choose to believe that a “Breed Club” is going to be set up soon, which will manage to work out a serious breeding plan, based on animals with verified names of origin from Epirus and stemming from Epirus, too.I have to mention that it is essential that we should breed all kinds of Molossian groups until the animals multiply. The dogs I am referring to are between 400 and 500 which we will definitely have the next 2-3 years. One shouldn’t consider this as an optimistically great number, given that only the litters reported by the cattle-breeders in 2007 are expected to be over 25. With an average of 6 pups in every litter, 150 new-born animals are expected, and even if the breeders themselves are not able to keep these animals, the cattlemen can take the remaining ones. Besides, cattle-breeding is gradually thriving again in our country. An increase in the number of wolves and brown bears is also noted. In order for a dog or a pack of dogs to confront such animals, power and coolness are demanded.In order for a serious breeding to start, a good number of dogs is required, which are now in the possession of several breeders, who can be found all around Greece. However, these dogs cannot be properly exploited either because we cannot stand certain situations or because some of us do not want to give our pups away or because we think we know everything.We are holding in our hands the ancient dragons of Epirus and I call them that because many times the male ones that I have seen look very ferocious and they are the only dogs that differ from the rest of the sheep dogs of the country and of the Balkans. I also need to stress that the above mentioned animals diverge morphologically. But the eye of a breeder should be able, through his experience, to discern the advantages and shed the drawbacks. If you are blind though, how are you supposed to see the light? Only with a miracle and unfortunately miracles don’t happen every day. As a result many people are blind to the Molossian dog. Not to mention those who walk in their yards and lie on their gliders hurling judgments at each other on every issue. If we are to deal seriously with the legend of Epirus, they should come out of their shells. A fair and sensible breeder is also one who expresses his opinion on the Molossian dog openly. A big problem which has become visible in the Greek countryside is cross-breeding- with foreign breeds of the same type. It requires a lot of attention when we think that we have found pureblood animals in cattle-breeders, because cattle-breeders keep animals for safe-keeping and protection and don’t really care about their morphology and purity. I also think that we should now give animals to the cattle-breeders and not take animals from them. I would like to hear or write the opinions of other breeders of the ‘Legend of Epirus’, because this article contains the opinions of its writer only. I would be willing to accept all standpoints and you can write your remarks in your comments on the condition that you write the truth. You will be registered with nicknames and the only reason is that on this webpage we wish to promote the Molossian dog and not ourselves. I am mentioning this because many fake dog-lovers start and end their names and surnames in capital letters, putting themselves forward as gods and plotting against anything that goes on in relation to dogs - as if they had created dogs and they know everything- with the belief that others can not see further than the end of their nose. All these complaints are somewhat heavy, naturally, and when they are followed by loneliness they create the dog-struck syndrome of a raging person and God help those who cross him. I feel that the comments of this type of dog-lovers will be unnecessary on this page. To be continued…. Molossus