THE HISTORY OF THE ROMANIAN CARPATHIAN SHEPHERD DOG BREED

"It is bigger, stronger and, at the same time, by its own nature, closer to the wolf. Its look and attitude, which in moments of anger have something of a beast, can be explained through its way of life, far from people and in constant fight with the beasts willing to plunder. Only the shepherd has known its kindness and felt its devotion, courage and joyfulness. The still watchdog and the tireless guardian of the herd, all it wanted was the opportunity to show its gratitude to the person with whom it shared its piece of corn mush. Between the master and the "servant" appeared a fondness that only beings who live together can feel, only beings who share happiness and sadness, who wander the same regions and feel the danger together. For a word of kindness it knows how to express its love but also, turned into a beast, it can throw itself, in rage, on the enemy, who often knows its boldness and many times stays away from its hostility.. "

The same Dr G Moldoveanu points out the particularities of the canine breeds following their evolution and draws attention on certain aspects that, unfortunately, are still existent nowadays:

""Everywhere, under the influence of the environment and of the way the dog uses it, the Shepherd dog has adapted to the local specific features, reflecting through its appearance the spiritual experiences of the people amongst who it lived.

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What have we done in this respect? Absolutely nothing!!! Even more, we ignored and disrespected what we had under our own noses, craving for everything that other countries may offer. We have imported all kind of dog breeds, most of which simple china objects or dull family guests entertainers.

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Our Shepherd dog for which many have shown their interest and who was more admired by the foreigners than by our own people, is nowadays almost extinct. Our Hungarian neighbours', Komodor dog, is the direct descendant of the Shepherd dog raised by our highlanders who, during summer time, herded their flocks in the Carpathian landscape. At the same time with the moving of the flocks from the alpine pasture, our Carpathian dog descended towards the foot of the mountain, and from here, during the harsh winters he got with his flocks to the Danube field, down to Dobrogea region where the famous, old shepherds found a place to live.

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We haven't thought that as we imported foreign breeds which were present in our exhibitions, we should work simultaneously in order to form a new type of national dog, or, at least, we ought to have kept it as it has been so far. If we haven't done this pushed by pride, the pride of our people, we must do it for rural prophylaxis and people's economy, people still essentially made of shepherds. Needless to talk about the priceless helping hand they could give for the blind, for the police actions in towns but also in the country side, but especially for various army actions when the dog is specially trained for the multiple circumstances created by the war."

Following the chronological line, in Carpatii, no 6 of the 15th of June 1937, the famous dog expert Mihai Mosandrei, shares and shows the same interest in creating and confirming the national dog, by publishing an article entitled CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STANDARD OF THE ROMANIAN SHEPHERD DOG in which he points out important aspects regarding the Romanian shepherd dog. I quote:

"As far as we are concerned, if we do have a satisfaction, it is because we found out that the description given by the National /Livestock Institute to the Carpathian shepherd dog breed, was almost entirely similar to what we have said so far.

However, small gaps still exist, some unclear aspects that, we think, have to be, sooner or later, rectified.

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This is why this dog breed must not be taken for another one which can easily happen. There is another unsolved "problem" that of the similarities between the Carpathian sheepdog and the Romanian butcher's dog also living in the mountains with the shepherd dog. The latter is, however, a Mastiff dog.

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The dog breeds: Terra-Nova, St-Bernard, Bulldog, and the Leonberg dog together with the subspecies of the mountain dogs in which we may include the Great Pyrenees and our Mastiff, have to be differentiated from our Carpathian, wolf- like dogs.

This is why we think a new breed, the wolf-like dog should be added to the first section of this Standard.

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I had the chance to see on various occasions, in our exhibitions, how these giant dogs were admired, dogs which had, for the experts, Mastiff blood running through their veins.

Too much importance was given to the stately size of this dog, the flabby ear often passed unnoticed as well as the too small muzzle, but especially the too long and strong tail to be a pure shepherd breed.

Such Mastiff dogs can be found nowadays in the proximity of the flocks in the Balkans but also in the rocky Araby and mountainous Syria. In ancient times, they were used to hunt wild boars and lions, or could be seen in battlefields fighting against gladiators. I have seen such big, heavy Mastiff dogs at few shepherds in the Dobrogea region.

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