The Serbian Defense Dog is a re-creation of the old Serbian Mastiff of
the Middle Ages, which became extinct during the early 20th century.
Initially disregarded as yet another "cocktail" breed, the SDD is today
deservedly a well-known and respected guardian in its native Yugoslavia.
It was developed by Nenad Gavrilovic, a Bosnian herbalist and medicine
man in the early 1980's, but the final standard was written in 1991.
Using his domesticated pack of Serbian wolves, working Bosnian Tornjaks,
German Rottweilers, Neapolitan Mastiffs, American Staffordshire
Terriers and game-bred Pit Bull Terriers, Gavrilovic created a breed of
immense physical strength, fantastic guarding instincts and impressive
fighting abilities. Even though it wasn't created with the intention of
being a gladiator, the Serbian Defense Dog has achieved legendary status
in the dog-fighting circles for being an undefeatable canine warrior.
Initial stock was indeed tested in a traditional method of matching
potential stud dogs against a number of breeds, but once the bravest and
strongest examples were selected for further breeding, no further
competitions were held. However, the notoriety of early SOPs as
excellent fighters made the breed popular with the criminal element in
the Balkans, in whose grip the breed received not only some additional
blood of other breeds, but also somewhat of a bad name. Routinely
defeating even the most tenacious Pit-Bulls and other fighting breeds,
it is believed by many to be unfair matching the Srpski Odbrambeni Pas
against any dogs other than members of its own breed, but some fanciers
consider this ability to actually be a detractor from other qualities
the breed possesses, because the Serbian Defense Dog is a versatile
Molosser, capable of handling a great number of duties with ease, as
well as being a wonderful urban companion for reponsible owners.
This Serbian breed was moderately popular before becoming very rare
thanks to the Yugoslavian wars in the 1990's, but today, this large
mastiff is once again finding its way into many European countries and
the enthusiastic followers of the SOP are working on its official
recognition. The mighty SOP was originally bred and promoted primarily
by its creator and the Belgrade Zoo, but today there are quite a few
reputable breeding stations to be found in Serbia. Agile and powerful,
this mastiff is a very healthy and resilient Moloss, due to the strict
selection philosophy of dedicated breeders authorized by Gavrilovic, who
approves only those breeding programmes based on working abilities and
rigourous physical standards.
With the refinement of the breed and a more serious approach to
breeding for consistency in terms of height, weight, coat type and
colours over the past few years also came the appearance of two basic
types of the Serbian Defense Dog, the first one being the old Bosnian
variety, sometimes referred to as the "aboriginal" SOP, still having a
slightly thicker and longer coat, somewhat shepherd-like features and
coming in a variety of early colours no longer preferred by present-day
enthusiasts in Serbia, most of whom are promoting the modern SOP type,
whose population, while quite bandogge-like in appearance, is much more
uniformed and likely to receive official recognition than the loosely
defined breed type of Bosnian-bred lines. These two directions of the
breed are explained by some as being a result of simply selecting a
specific look and tight linebreeding, while others point out that some
breeders of the modern SOP type had also employed the Bullmastiff as an
outcross a few years ago, with the use of the Japanese Tosa Inu and even
the Fila Brasileiro also being rumoured. Both variants within the breed
have their supporters with strong opinions on which one is the
"correct" SDD type, with the promoters of the modern incarnation
complaining about the "aboriginal" population lacking consistency, while
the fans of the old style SOP claim that the increasingly popular "new"
type of the Serbian Defense Dog isn't distinguishable enough from many
other western bandogge-type breeds, thus not being truly representative
of its home region. Although the breed Standard has been written for
some time, it is suspected that it will be modified to accommodate the
new type of the Serbian Defense Dog due to its popularity.
The
Srpski Odbrambeni Pas, or SOP for short, possessess remarkable
intelligence, as well as a noble, intuitive and strong-willed
personality. This brave goliath makes a superb property guardian and a
capable service dog, even though it's characterized by some of its
fanciers as a one-person breed. A devoted family dog, the SOP needs
experienced owners, who never employ overly firm and violent handling.
The Serbian Defense Dog responds very well to obedience training and
makes a truly remarkable personal protection dog, but early
socialization around humans and dogs is necessary to make sure that the
SOP doesn't grow up to be an extremely aggressive and overly territorial
dog. However, a number of people still use these proud dogs for
fighting duties and there are some unpure bloodlines of questionable
quality and uncharacteristic temperaments to be found, which aren't
endorsed by the breed's creator, making the standardization process
difficult.
This
is an athletic Molosser, sure-footed, strongly boned and wide-chested.
The neck is very muscular and the head is elegantly broad, with powerful
jaws and a moderately defined stop. A well-bred SDD is a squarely built
mastiff, with a straight back and broad shoulders. The tail is always
docked and the ears are left in their natural state. Regardless of coat
colour, this should be a darkly pigmented dog, with a black nose,
eye-rims and lips. The coat comes in two lengths, the "bully-style"
short coat and the medium-short flat coat with a thick undercoat, making
the Serbian Defense Dog suited for life in every climate.
The preferred colours are solid fawn, yellow, wheaten and red, with
or without a black mask, although grey, black, brindled, black-and-tan
and even blue-coated dogs are still fairly common, some with white
markings. Average height is around 27 inches, but taller, as well as
smaller dogs exist.
