Vuk Ignjic DVM
Veterinarian and pet owner, cat person, but i don't discriminate :) My family includes cats,dogs, reptiles, amphibians and fish
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, and she was already through a lot before she got there. She started of guarding a used car lot with her brothers and sisters, after which she was sold to guard slaughterhouse, households and sheep... She lived in Bosnia, Serbia, Czech republic, Kosovo and back in Serbia. She was kept free and she was kept on short chain, but she ended up sleeping in our bed. After a while she ended up in Prague with a breeder, but after an incident with her pups she was sold around and ended up with a hoarder who kept about 30 dogs, all live stock guardian, all living on a meter of chain eating mostly bread.
After my girlfriend rescued her she was so angry she wanted to jump people on the street, not to intimidate them but to hurt them.
With proper treatment, no beating or punishment but positive enforcement of proper behaviour and some TLC, she now walks without a leash and is aggressive only in defense of her peeps and places she regards her territory, which is almost any enclosed place we stay at for more then half an hour :). When two of them moved in with me, she came into the household with 9 cats, and lives in perfect harmony with them, though she never lived with cats before. She enjoys climbing mountains and hiking through various terrains with us. Last year, in her 14th she climbed 1900m high peak with 1500m of total ascent with us. Being a dog from mountainous regions, she feels at home on steep hills.
She's not very demanding, when we go somewhere she'll inspect the situation, lay down and keep a lookout, unless we're in familiar place, then she'll mostly dose off.
Sharplaninatz is definitely not a regular pet, and definitely not a dog for everyone. They're livestock guardians, and thus very protective of their household and family, this doesn't mean they will attack without notice (unless you train them so), but you have to introduce newcomers to them properly, though if someone isn't to their liking, they will hold a grudge, and always keep a close eye on them. They are very intelligent and easy to train, only problem is they don't give a damn, they're quite stubborn and you have to earn their obedience. As Reymond Coppinger put it in his masterpiece "Dogs", talking about one of his favourite dogs "Tsrna, a Yugoslavian Sarplaninac livestock-guarding dog, had only two behaviors. If you called her, she would either look at you, or she wouldn't".
Their behavior is quite varied, since they're working dogs and come from many lineages, some are very aggressive, while others are very friendly, there also a military line, since they were used by Yugoslavian Army as boarder patrol dogs. Every one of them is an individual and has it's own temper, it's hard to put a label on them as a breed.
They prefer the cold weather so if you're living in hot climate they wont be happy, it's best if you have a nice big yard, a lot of snow and some sheep :)
Though our granny doesn't mind sleeping in her soft orthopedic bed in warm home, surrounded by cats.
They have a big coat and shed A LOT, and if you want to keep them inside you need to groom them regularly or be covered in hair.){kind=link}
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