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n the ancient world the Illyrians lived northwest from Greece, in the regions of Epirus, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina and South and Central Dalmatia. Greek and Roman writers described these countries all together as Elyria. The Greek historian Herodotus used the term Illyrians for the first time. In 219 B. C. the region mainly came into Roman control and finally was integrated in the Empire under Caesar.

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.