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HISTORICAL RECORDS
ON THE CROATIAN SHEEPDOG
Sojka, Brico and Ban
The first written record on the Croatian Sheepdog dates from the 14th century.
Petar Horvat, the bishop of Djakovo, wrote in 1374 that Croats had brought a shepherd dog along on the move to their new land. He referred to the dog as CANIS PASTORALIS CROATICUS -- the Croatian Shepherd Dog. According to the note, the dog was about 3 palms (approximately 45 cm) tall, with medium-long curly coat and prick or semi-prick ears, and a very good guard of all domestic animals.
Bishop of Djakovo Petar Bakic also wrote about the Croatian Sheepdog in his 1719 manuscript "On the Life of the People and Raising of Stock in Djakovo and Its Surroundings Anno Domini 1719." He quoted the words written by Bishop Petar in 1374 and, providing his own description of the dog, stated that the Croatian Sheepdog had not changed since the previous record (from 1374 to 1719) and had kept the shape and exterior described by Bishop Petar in 1374.
Andrija Keckemeti, the manager of church estate, wrote about the Croatian Sheepdog in his Latin-language report "Report on the Raising of Stock in Djakovo Estate in 1737:" "As Petar, Bishop of Djakovo, wrote in 1374, during the resettlement the Croats brought the Croatian Sheepdog from their original homeland to Croatia and breeding has continued. The dog is about 3 palms (approximately 45 cm) tall, covered in a medium-long curly black coat, with short hair on the head. Eears are prick or semi-prick. The dog herds all types of cattle and is an excellent house guard."
LU SLAVONSKI BROD
Franjo Klein, the manager and surgeon of the Bishopric Estate in Djakovo, provided a rather detailed description of the dog in his 1742 record: "The Croatian Sheepdog stands about 3 palms tall. Coat is curly and black. Hair is short on the head and medium-long on the rest of the body. Muzzle is pointy and ears semi-prick or prick. The dog is very gifted and useful with all kinds of cattle."
OTON IVEKOVIĆ – Arrival Croats to the Adriatic
Petar Lukic, dean of Djakovo and manager of the Bishopric Estate in Djakovo, in his report "On the State of Stock Raising on the Estate of the Djakovo Bishopric and Its Surroundings in 1752," wrote in Latin: "The Croatian Sheepdog is of a great importance for the raising of stock in the Djakovo area. The dog herds sheep, goats, pigs, cows, and horses. It is about 3 palms tall, black to gray-black in color, with a bushy tail. An occasional bobtail is found as well. The coat is medium-long, smooth to curly. Hair on the head up to the ears is short. The muzzle is pointy and the ears prick or semi-prick. The head is fox-shaped. It is also very good as a house dog. According to Bakic, our ancestors brought that dog from their original homeland when they moved to these regions. The dog has been bred throughout Croatia since the settlement and is the most numerous dog breed in Croatia."
Ch TENA OD VRANIH BISERA
A more recent written record on the Croatian Sheepdog dates from 1854. The author is Dr. Franjo Bertic, county veterinarian in Djakovo (also a physician). In his brochure "On the History of the Horse-Farm in Djakovo," he wrote that horses were herded by Croatian Sheepdogs, which made excellent house dogs as well. He described the dog as 40 to 50 cm tall, with a medium-long curly black coat. The head was covered by short hair and the ears prick or semi-prick. The muzzle he described as a bit pointy and the tail, if present in whelp, as somewhat bushy. Bertic wrote further that the characteristics of the dog were rather stable, as its shape had not changed in the previous century - the dog had remained the same as Djakovo Bishop Petar Lukic had described it 100 years before. According to Bertic, all dogs in the villages of Djakovo County at the time, with the exception of reddish-yellowish hunting dogs with white patches on the head and feet, were Croatian sheepdogs.
More recent records rely on and quote the same source, or change the form but keep the description almost identical.
THE ORIGIN OF THE
CROATIAN SHEEPDOG
- THESES -
1. The Croatian Sheepdog was formed in the original homeland of the Croats and came to modern-day Croatia with the Croatian tribes.
This is a widely accepted thesis, as evident from the fact that almost all authors of records on the Croatian Sheepdog, both Croatians and foreigners, state that the Croatian Sheepdog came with the first Croatian tribes around the 7th century a.d. to what is now Croatia. Remember the manuscript of Bishop Petar in 1374, where he referred to the dog as CANIS PASTORALIS CROATICUS, or Croatian Sheepdog. According to the bishop, the Croats brought the dog along when they moved to the new homeland from the original one. As we know, not all Croatian tribes came to modern-day Croatia; some merged with other peoples or simply gradually disappeared. That probably explains the dogs that bear a striking resemblance to our Croatian Sheepdog. Among them is definitely Luks, the dog from the former Soviet Union (according to some authors), and the Hungarian Mudi, whose direct predecessor is the Croatian Sheepdog; some Northern and Central European dogs probably have Croatian Sheepdog blood as well, including the Swedish Spitz, Schipperke.
PUPPY`S
What Bishop Petar and his successor Bishop Petar Bakic relied on when they wrote about the Croatian Sheepdog in 1374 and 1719 remains unknown. Similar, if not the same, dogs may have been found in the possession of other peoples and further selection resulted in other breeds. All the more recent records lean on the manuscript from 1374. Whether the dog described was indeed the dog we know today we can only guess from the rather curt, albeit for the age relatively detailed description. The descriptions definitely match, but it is certainly interesting that the dog had not been described prior to Bishop Petar's writing in 1374 or between that time and 1719. What made Bishop Petar state that the Croats had brought the dogs with them? He gave no evidence. Old church books from before Bishop Petar should be studied for a more credible record. Interestingly enough, there are no records of the dog in other parts of Croatia. Unless more credible evidence of the dog coming to Croatia with the Croatian tribes from their original home is found soon, we should consider that the origin of the Croatian Sheepdog may have been different.
2. The Croatian Sheepdog was formed on the trail of the movement of the Croatian tribes from their original homeland to Croatia.
Ch ČUNA SLAVONSKI BROD
Crosses with other dogs of that time encountered on the long voyage of the Croatian tribes to what is now Croatia may have played a role in the forming of the Croatian Sheepdog. Traces of that could be the prick and semi-prick ear, the curly and straighter coat, the long and short tail, the taller and shorter stature, aggression and absence of it, coat colors, and so on.
3. The Croatian Sheepdog was formed in what is now Croatia before the Croats arrived.
There is no evidence that the Croatian tribes came to these parts and found people who raised cattle but did not have dogs. Such an arrangement was impossible at the time. Accordingly, when they arrived, the Croatian tribes found people who lived off livestock and had a certain type of dog they raised. The dog was perhaps the predecessor of our Croatian Sheepdog! Or perhaps the type of dog from which our dog was created? There are no records on the Croats' settlement in the region and bringing the dog along. The statement is made much later in history, about a 500-year gap. Whether the Croats brought the dog with them or found it here is uncertain. Definitely, however, the dog has not changed much from the first record to the present day.
FINKA SLAVONSKI BROD
4. The Croatian Sheepdog was formed from dogs similar to the contemporary Croatian Sheepdog, or the dogs the Croatian tribes found upon arrival and the dogs they brought with them.
The Croats may have brought their sheepdog along with the herds when they moved to the new homeland, and when they arrived, more or less uncontrolled crosses to dogs found in the region may have taken place. The result of the crosses was perhaps the prototype of what is now the Croatian Sheepdog. The resulting new type of dog was good-looking and had a good temperament and working abilities.
STANDARD 277.
FCI Standard N° 277 / 04.06.1996 / GB
CROATIAN SHEPHERD DOG
(Hrvatski Ovcar)
TRANSLATION : Mrs. Peggy Davis.
ORIGIN : Croatia.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 23.06.1969.
UTILIZATION : His instinct to herd and guard the flock is strongly developed, but he can also be well used as a guard dog.
FCI CLASSIFICATION : Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs
(except Swiss Cattle Dogs).
Section 1 Sheepdogs.
Without working trial.
GENERAL APPEARANCE : The Croatian Shepherd Dog is at the lower limit of the medium sized dogs. The basic colour is black. The short hair on the head and the legs is the characteristic sign of the breed.
BEHAVIOUR / CHARACTER : Lively, attentive, modest and easy to train.
IMPORTANT PROPORTION : The length of the body exceeds that of the height at withers by about 10 % making the body outline rather rectangular.
HEAD
CRANIAL REGION :
Description of the ensemble : Relatively light, wedge shaped. The length of the muzzle compared with that of the skull is of 9 to 11. The total length of the head is about 20 cm.
Skull : While narrowing, continues into the muzzle; the superciliary arches are not developed, the cheeks are rounded, but the head on the whole is lean. The frontal furrow is not marked, the skull seen from above is oval. The occipital protuberance can be marked.
Stop : Slightly marked.
FACIAL REGION :
Nose : Always black and not prominent.
Muzzle : Lean, the profile of the nasal bridge is straight, and this in conical shape is an extension of the upper part of the skull. The lower jaw is in good proportion with the foreface so that the muzzle is neither too pointed nor too blunt.
Teeth : Well developed and in scissor bite. The pincer bite is permitted but undesirable. Complete dentition.
Lips : Thin, tight fitting and elastic, with firm labial corners. The visible mucous membrane of the lips is black.
Eyes : Brown to black, medium size, almond shape, with lively expression. The eyes are not set oblique. The well fitting eyelids are dark in pigmentation.
Ears : Triangular, pricked or semi pricked, of medium length and set slightly to the side. The pricked ears are desirable. Cropping is not permitted.
NECK : The neck is oblique in comparison with the topline; in profile upper and lower lines are straight; moderately long, deep, muscular, well rounded but not too strong.
The skin is without folds, covered with thick hair.
BODY
Withers : Not prominent. The transition from the neck region to the back is gradual and hardly visible.
Back : Short, muscular.
Lumbar region : Short and well muscled.
Rump : Of medium length, slightly oblique, well muscled and visibly broad.
Chest : Of medium length, rather broad and deep, well sprung ribs. Forechest not pronounced, in profile its line is merging with the lower line of the neck.
Belly : Slightly tucked up. The flanks full and firm.
Tail : Set moderately high, the hair dense and bushy. At rest, carried low or level with the back; when the dog is alert, it is carried above the back line. The puppies may be born without tails or they are docked so that they are not longer than 4 cm on the adult dog.
LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS : The forelegs are straight and parallel seen from the front. The angulations are fairly open making the forequarters rather upright. The legs are of medium length. The shoulders slightly oblique, medium length, well muscled. The upper arm is relatively short, forearm long and muscled. Light bone structure. The pastern joint is lean and not distinguishable from the rest of the forearm, the pastern not completely vertical; the foot small, of elongated shape. The toes are tight, the nails black or grey, the pads firm.
HINDQUARTERS : The hindquarters have moderately open angulations. Seen from behind, the limbs are parallel; the thigh is rather long and the hock close to the ground. The thigh moderately broad, muscled. The hock is lean, well developed with a moderately open angle. The feet are similar to the front feet, although more elongated. Dewclaws should be removed.
GAIT / MOVEMENT : Preferred gait is the trot and the length of the stride is moderate.
COAT
HAIR : The hair on the back is of 7 to 14 cm long. The facial part of the head is invariably covered with short hair. The outer side of the ears is covered with short hair and with longer hair on the inner side. The backside of the forelegs is fringed with long hair down to the pastern. The hind legs have culottes (fringes) which go down to the hock. The hair is relatively soft, wavy or even curly. Must never be wooly. The undercoat must be dense.
COLOUR : The basic colour of the hair is black. A few white markings are allowed. White markings on the head, the body and the tail are not permitted, whereas below the throat, the chest and under the chest, they are permitted but undesirable. Stockings or socks lessen the qualification.
HEIGHT : The size at the withers for males and females varies from 40 to 50 cm.
FAULTS : Any departure form the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.
ELIMINATORY FAULTS :
• Aggressive or overly shy.
• Any other than black pigmentation of the nose.
• Loss of more than 2 first premolars (PM1).
• Undershot or overshot mouth.
• Light or albino eyes.
• Hanging ears.
• Coat entirely woolly or too long.
• Long hair on the face.
• White markings on the head, the body and the tail.
• Height at withers more than 50 cm and below 40 cm.
Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
BODY STATISTICS OF THE CROATIAN SHEPHERD
In this work, I will discuss different results of the measurements of the height and length of the Croatian Shepherds, from the initial measurements (Stjepan Romić 1935 – 1975, Otto Rohr - 1960, a group of authors (Milivoje Urošević, Boris Špoljarić, Zlatko Skalicki, Mijo Fury) 1988, Boris Špoljarić 1990, Jasminko Kormoš – Buco 2005). I intend to present the mean values found through all the measurements undertaken to this day. Let me begin by saying that they show that the Croatian Shepherd has not substantially changed, but the dog has changed and is still changing.
Let's look at the photographs of the Croatian Shepherds from the times of Romić and Rohr, and especially the head of the dog included in Professor Romić's book MY DOG /MOJ PAS/. Frankly, this dog would be judged as „very good“ at a dog show and considered less than excellent both in conformation and in breeding.
It should be borne in mind that the Standard expressly refers to a „lighter“ bone of the Croatian Shepherd. Contrary to the Standard, however, heavy-boned dogs prevail among modern-day Croatian Shepherds, even though this discrepancy has been brought up repeatedly since the 90's.
I am not implying that a breed cannot or should not change. However, if we are to consider modifications of any kind, first we need to agree on what to change and how to go about it. We must clearly understand what we want to achieve and make it official through staging panels and through the work of a central Croatian Shepherds Breeders' Club – which we will first need to establish.
Ch PUPICA SLAVONSKI BROD
The first official measurements were taken between 1935 and 1975 by Professor Stjepan Romić and his team. It was on the basis of his measurements that the breed standard was drafted. It should be stressed that the drafting of the Standard was based on the physical measurements already taken, and not on a projected ideal of the breed.
On numerous occasions I have discussed the Croatian Shepherd and its built. I believe it is wrong to let anyone interpret the Standard in a manner which best suits his needs. While a short dog may be the preferred variety in a region, a dog of heavier built may be sought after in another, or a medium to tallish dog of a lighter built may be preferred somewhere else.
Many are the elements that can impact the actual body size of the breed, from club politics to judges making more or less informed decisions at dog shows, to breeding politics carried out by breeding monitors appointed by the clubs, to maintenance and nutrition of individual dogs. When we put all these elements together, it cannot surprise us that a dog in the city and a dog in the country are often not of the same size. As a rule, the city dog tends to be a larger dog, but this is not always the case.
Ch Čuna Slavonski Brod
I think that some wrong choices were made in selecting sires, that the breeding politics was responsible as well as the poor organisation in the breed clubs and more recently a lack of involvement of the Croatian Kennel Club in the preservations of this native breed. A preference for a large dog or a heavy-boned dog in breeding and an overall lack of control or ill-considered selection (including penalizing different breeding ideas) led us to where we stand today in the breed: we have large Croatian Shepherds with a heavier to heavy head, and dogs that are either too complacent or aggressive. In other words, we have departed from the correct breed type.
If you mate a large bitch to a large dog, then mate their large-sized offspring to another large dog, you cannot expect the Croatian Shepherds produced by this kind of breeding to remain within the normal measurements. Club breeding monitors should have put a stop to such practices long ago, but they did not. To make things more complex, the Standard determines the size of the Croatian Shepherd of either sex as being within the range of 40 cm and 50 cm, meaning that a breeder can mate a 40 cm male to a 50 cm bitch and stay within the rules. Yes, it is according to the rules, but …
It is not good practice. The Standard does not differentiate the sexes in terms of height, as it should, but makes mention of an ideal height for both sexes instead.
A male of 40 cm and a male of 50 centimetres cannot have the same bone structure. Naturally, the same is true for females.
A single value of 20 centimetres given as the length of head by the Standard cannot be proportionate to the body size of a small and that of a large dog.
The same is with the body length: they are never the same in a male and in a female even when so defined by the Standard.
A large dog is a heavy dog. It cannot stand on its hocks and it spreads the paws to distribute the burden. This then effects both the posture and the movement of the dog, as pointed out by the Club of the Friends of the Croatian Shepherd from Karlovac, mentioning also the high incidence of a heavy bone and heavy head in the present-day breed that differ from its description in the Standard. All these «small details» contribute to the process of changing the dog. If they are found on a single specimen, that particular dog has significantly departed from the breed type.
In this text, I will discuss only the measurements of the body height, with a brief comment of other body proportions. The height of the body and the heaviness of the bone are the key features if we wish to determine how close or how far our dogs are from the standard type, and what we need to do about it. The first official measurements were taken by Professor Stjepan Romić, DVM with his team (they are not named but he always used „we“ rather than „i“) in 1935. They mark the beginning of the standardization of the breed, even if it was Professor Rohr who first published his own measurements of the Croatian Shepherd.
I will try to explain the data presented in the tables in a summary fashion.
Measurement of Croatian Shepherds through different periods:
Professor Stjepan Romić, 1935-1977
Males Mean 39.87
Small type Deviation .
Females Mean 39.16
Deviation .
Males Mean 47.16
HEIGHT Large type Deviation .
AT THE WITHERS Females Mean 46.97
Deviation .
Males Mean 43.51
Mean Deviation .
(Mean value of both small and large types) Females Mean 43.06
Deviation .
Males Mean 42.68
Small type Deviation .
Females Mean 41.80
Deviation .
Males Mean 51.10
LENGTH OF BODY Large type Deviation .
Females Mean 49.84
Deviation .
Males Mean 46.89
Mean Deviation .
(Mean value of both small and large types) Females Mean 45.82
Deviation .
Males Mean 17.74
Small type Deviation .
Females Mean 17.69
Deviation .
Males Mean 19.60
LENGTH OF HEAD Large type Deviation .
Females Mean 19.48
Deviation
Males Mean 18.67
Mean Deviation .
(Mean value of both small and large types) Females Mean 18.58
Deviation .
In his studies, Professor Romić distinguished between two types of the Croatian Shepherd: the small type (short) and the large type (tall). I have maintained his distinction here, but for ease of reference, I will be using the mean value of both types jointly rather than separately (and making reference to the two types when necessary in order to explain the data in the tables).
Therefore, the measurements concern both types of Croatian Shepherds and the total range of height is between 35 and 55 cm. Throughout this text, the mean value of both types of dogs considered together has been used as the height parameter.
The mean height of the male dog measured at the withers was found to be 43.51, and of the female dog 43.06 cm. The length of the head did not exceed 19 cm in either sex. Dogs of both sexes were described as elongated in shape, with the length of the body making 109% of the dog's height measured at the withers.
It follows from the data that the height at the withers did not exceed the medium value of the range provided by the Standard, and that the length of the body did not exceed the height + 10% mark allowed by the Standard.
Professor Romić also presented an overview of the parameters relating to the dogs measured between 4 and 8 years of age. The average height of the small herding dog was given as 41.48 cm, the average height of the large herding dog as 50.93 cm (with a substantial 8-9 cm difference between the two mean values), and the average height among the large city-type dogs was found to be at 50.70 cm. The mean height of all the three types considered together was established at 47.70 cm.
The mean values of the measurements made among the two groups of dogs, with the large herding dog averaging at 50.93 cm and the large city-type dog averaging at 50.70 cm defy a rather popular theory whereby puppies raised in urban settings grow into taller dogs because they are better fed than their cousins in the country.
Small Large Large Together
BODY MEASUREMENT herding dog herding dog urban dog n=778
OF 8 YEAR OLDS n=126 n=131 n=134 n=127 n=128 n=132 n=388 n=390
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Height at the withers 42.36 40.61 51.15 50.72 51.16 50.25 50.71 50.70
Body length 47.54 46.18 53.27 50.72 55.04 53.47 53.07 53.86
With regard to the body length, the measurements suggest that the male dog of the small herding type is by 12.29 % longer than it is tall, while the female of the small type is 13 % longer than it is tall.
With regard to the body length of the large herding type, the male dog is by 8.10 % longer than it is tall, the female by 7.09 %; the average percentage of the body length exceeding the height at the withers comes down to 7.59 %. With regard to the large city-type dogs, the male dog is 7.58 % longer than it is tall, the female dog 6.41 %, with the average percentage of the body length exceeding the height at the withers by 6.99 %.
These findings seem to suggest that taller dogs will have shorter bodies.
Professor Otto Rohr, DVM was the first to publish his historical research and the results of his measurements of bodily proportions of the Croatian Shepherd. In his contribution to the understanding of the Croatian Shepherd which he published in 1960 (”Prilog poznavanju hrvatskog ovčara”,Veterinaria, Vol. IX, Sarajevo, 1960), Professor Rohr reported that 570 dogs were examined and 75 dogs measured (36 males and 39 females between 3 and 5 years of age) between 1949 and 1955. Professor Rohr was the first scholar to publish his measurement data, but the first body measurements ever were collected by Professor Romić. Because of a more complex approach he had adopted, Professor Romić needed more time to collate his data, but it was Romić’s measurements, not Rohr’s, that were finally used by drafters of the Standard.
Professor Otto Rohr, DVM
Data published in 1960
Mean 36 males Mean 46.88
height Deviation 0.64
at the withers 39 females Mean 44.29
40-50 cm Deviation 0.53
36 males Mean 51.26
Body % of height at withers 9,.4
length 39 females Mean 48.93
% of height at withers 10.48
Head 36 males 20.40
length 39 females 20.39
Professors Rohr and Romić measured the dogs at about the same time and concurred in many findings, with Rohr's results showing a slight deviation from Romić's, particularly in regard to the height at the withers. The difference can be attributed to the fact that Professor Romić population sample was larger and included shorter dogs (Rohr did not include small dogs).
Professor Rohr found the average height at the withers to be at 46.88 cm for male dogs, 44.29 cm for female dogs. The length of body generally corresponded to the value determined by Romić, except in female dogs (Romić's female dogs have longer bodies).
Rohr's height data remained close to the middle of the height range prescribed by the Standard, but the length of the dog's head was more than Romić's measurements showed.
Cica
Milivoje Urošević, Boris Špoljarić, Zlatko Skalicki, Mijo Fury, Stočarstvo, 1988
(the following 2 tables)
Description:
Format index: If = length of the body x 100 / height at the withers
Substance index: Im = girth x 100 / height at the withers
Compactness index: Ik = girth x 100 /length of the body
Length of head index: Ig = length of the head x 100 / height at the withers
AVERAGE AND VARIANCE OF
EXTERIOR PROPERTIES (cm)
Element Sex n /x S /x S V(%) Variance
Height at Males 14 47.43 1.08 4.03 8.5 39 - 53
withers Females 13 44.54 0.94 3.41 7.65 40 - 49
Length Males 14 50.14 1.08 4.03 8.05 43 - 56
of body Females 13 47.31 0.85 3.07 6.48 43 - 52
Length Males 14 21.21 0.42 1.57 7.38 18 - 23,5
of head Females 13 19.54 0.47 1.70 8.71 18 - 22
AVERAGE AND VARIANCE OF
EXTERIOR PROPERTIES' INDICI
(% OF
HEIGHT AT WITHERS)
Index Sex n /x S /x S V(%) Variance
1 Males 14 105.82 0.94 3.51 3.32 100.00 – 109.80
Females 13 106.37 1.17 4.21 3.95 102.38 – 115.00
2 Males 14 126.22 2.94 10.99 8.71 110.20 – 157.14
Females 13 129.98 2.66 9.59 7.37 115.22 – 144.19
3 Males 14 119.30 2.63 9.85 8.25 108.00 – 146.67
Females 13 122.35 2.09 7.56 6.18 110.42 – 137.78
4 Males 14 44.70 0.49 1.85 4.15 41.86 – 48.72
Females 13 43.86 0.45 1.63 3.73 41.30 – 46.81
Compared to Rohr's measurements, the measurements taken by this group of scholars showed a degree of deviation that can be reasonably explained by the size of their sample, which consisted of 27 specimens, and its location (Rijeka and Županja).
The height at the withers determined by this group of authors showed a slight increase of 0.55 cm for the males and 0.25 cm for the females.
The increased body height compared to the one measured by Rohr is not significant, considering that 28 years of breeding elapsed between the two measurements.
However, the average height at withers of male dogs did increase, even if slightly, and was now at half the range, while the average height at the withers of female dogs still did not reach the middle mark of the range envisaged by the Standard.
On the other hand, body length was now decreased by 1.12 cm for male dogs, and by 1.63 cm for female dogs.
At a Croatian Shepherd specialty show that took place on 24 June 1990 at the Federal All Breed Show in Zupanja, 41 dogs were brought before the judge Boris Špoljarić. In his report, published in «ZOV» magazine (No.167/1990), Boris Špoljarić commented:
«Four years ago we saw specimens mostly from limited breeding and a small number of dogs that were inconsistent in type. Those were mostly heavy-set dogs with broad (massive) skulls, incorrect ear carriage (wide at the base and almost completely folded), poor movement, with white spots at the croup, in the hind legs fringes and on the legs (none of these allowed by the Standard), and a pronounced sharp temperament that is not characteristic for the breed. Four years ago one could reasonably say that future breeding and preservation of the breed was seriously challenged.
What has been done to change it? The only thing possible: Dogs were identified and registered in the JUR Register in the areas where Croatian Shepherds are still utilized as unsurpassed herding dogs. Croatian Shepherd fanciers from two breed clubs, KD «Županja» and KD «Brod» from Slavonski Brod, played a major role in this undertaking. About 50 dogs in all have been registered in the JUR Register.
Today the Register includes a number of offspring of those dogs. The registration of new specimens and the subsequent enlargement of the breeding pool soon began to produce good results, as evidenced by the dogs exhibited at the show in Županja. When registering dogs with the JUR Register, care was taken to exclude dogs with heads that were too broad or too heavy, to avoid a problem that was very much in evidence before.»
Ch Pupica Slavonski Brod
Boris Špoljarić continued with a comment on body measures:
«With respect to bodily proportions (height and length), the situation is more than satisfactory. The average height of the dogs presented was 46 cm, and of the bitches about 43 cm. Two specimens had bodies that were somewhat longer than envisaged by the Standard, and only one dog had a body that was shorter than described in the Standard (he was approximately 5% longer than he was tall). All the other dogs presented were by about 10% longer than they were tall.
No problems with topline or the back and croup alignment were spotted and only one presented dog had a sagging back.»
Boris Špoljarić, 1990
Mean Males Mean 46.00
height Deviation .
at the withers Females Mean 43.00
40-50 cm Deviation .
Males Mean 50.60
Length % of height at withers .
of body Females Mean 47.30
% of height at withers .
These Špoljarić's measurements showed a decreased height at the withers which still exceeded, by about 3 centimetres, the height as established by Romić. The average height of the male was slightly over the middle mark in the Standard, and females were slightly shorter than those measured by Romić (by about 0.3 cm).
A draft for a new Standard was prepared for a panel on the Croatian Shepherd that took place on 9 December 1995 in Zagreb. At the panel, the representatives of the Croatian Native Breeds Club from Slavonski Brod stressed, as they have continued to do until the present day, the importance of keeping the height within the Standard range, and indicated a number of problems which have emerged in breeding with popular sires, most notably «a large and heavy head, a heavy set body, departure from the type . . . «, stressing that the desired head type should be a light vulpoid head.
The height section of the Draft Standard presented on 9 December 1995 at the panel in Zagreb described the height in the following terms:
«HEIGHT: The ideal height measured at the withers is 45 cm for both male and female dogs.» However, Šandor Horvath and his group proposed that the «…height range allowed by the Standard be expanded to include everything from 35 to 55 cm) since the Shepherds today, thanks to a better nutrition, are much taller than they used to be» and said that « … in the evaluation of the Croatian Shepherd, the emphasis should not be on its height but on the correctness of type and structure.»
Jasminko Kormoš-Buco, Ch Jan and Ch Tena Od Vranih Bisera
In his booklet «CROATIAN SHEPHERD as it was, is and shall be» («HRVATSKI OVČAR jučer, danas, sutra», 2001), discussing the height of dogs as part of his commentary of the Standard No. 277, Jasminko Kormoš – Buco speaks for the shorter dog, saying that they are about to «vanish» since «large» dogs are always considered better than small dogs even if the actual use of dogs with stock, as the ultimate standard of proof, has shown that the opposite is in fact the case. According to this writer, the ideal height is the average height according to the Standard, and the ideal structure a lighter body with a lighter head.
The head of the Croatian Shepherd, therefore, should be a light head. The writer reiterates this proposition in all his writings. The writer is also a breeder of Croatian Shepherds, breeding from lines descending from JAN, a handsome dog of the smaller type who has returned a large number of quality dogs through linebreeding (2-3 and 3-3), dogs that are true representatives of the breed in both confirmation and temperament.
Ch TENA OD VRANIH BISERA
The record of a panel on the Croatian Shepherd that took place on 11 May 2002 in Đakovo also makes a reference to the ideal height for both sexes being 45 cm; the wording came from the new Draft Standard presented on 9 December 1995. in Zagreb.
The height and the need to alter the Standard in that respect was the subject of much discussion at the panel («the height should certainly be more than it is in the present Standard of the Croatian Shepherd, but its actual language is unclear or not well chosen». The same participant who proposed an alteration of the Standard height later in the discussion said that «the Standard should not be changed but its wording adjusted in line with the recommendations »).
Members of MK «Hrvatski ovčar» from Đakovo were also in favour of a greater height and a stronger bone but did not advance any proposals to that effect at the panel.
Čađo Slavonski Brod
The proceedings of the Assembly of the ASSOCIATION OF FRIENDS OF THE CROATIAN SHEPHERD FROM KARLOVAC document were concerned with similar problems: «The Standard describes the head of the Croatian Shepherd as «relatively light», «wedge shaped» and «lean», how come there are more and more «BIG HEADS» among the Croatian Shepherds examined by experts, dogs that deviate from the type prescribed by the Standard?»
In 2005, Jasminko Kormoš – Buco took measures of all bodily proportions using specimens from the Brod-Posavina County. Part of the parameters established are presented here.
A total of 63 dogs were measured, including 33 males and 30 females, ranging from 1 to 13 years of age (most dogs being between 2 and 3 years old).
The average height of the male specimens was found to be 47.50, or 4 centimetres more compared to the measurements taken by Professor Romić approximately 30 years earlier.
The average body length was found to be 49.37 cm, exceeding the dog's height at the withers by 4%.
MALE DOGS n = 33 MEAN MAXIMUM MINIMUM
Overall length of head 19.92082111 22 16
Height at the withers 47.49951124 54 41
Length of the body 49.36852395 58 45
The measurements of female dogs produced similar results.
Length of head in female specimens was by 1.3 cm less than that of males and made about 42% of the height at withers; body length of the female dog was less than the male's by 3 cm, exceeding by about 2 cm, or less than 5%, the mean height of the female dog.
FEMALE DOGS
n = 30 MEAN MAXIMUM MINIMUM
Overall length of head 18.682 20 16
Height at the withers 44.56266667 49 39
Length of the body 46.59266667 52 40
Lela Slavonski Brod
The following table presents the parameters, measurements of height at the withers taken in different periods. What this data shows is that the height of dogs throughout this time period substantially has not changed!
SUMMARY OF INCREASED/DECREASED HEIGHT AT THE WITHERS
AS DETERMINED FROM THE EARLY MEASUREMENTS UNTIL PRESENT DAY
Date of measurement Measurements taken by n Height at the withers
Males Females Mean
1935 – 1975 Stjepan Romić 224 43.51 43.06 43.30
1960 Otto Rohr 75 46.88 44.29 45.58
1988 Špoljarić, Fury, Skalicki, Urošević 27 47.43 44.54 45.98
1990 Boris Špoljarić 41 46.00 43.00 44.50
2005 Jasminko Kormoš - Buco 63 47.48 44.06 45.77
1935 - 2005 All of the above 430 46.26 43.79 45.03
Posavski gonič LISKA, hrvatski ovčari Ch MAREETZA SLAVONSKI BROD I PINKILI
The summary of the increased/decreased height at the withers measured at different periods shows that the mean value of all measurements was 46.26 cm for the males, and 43.79 cm for the females, and that the average height throughout this time remained at the middle mark of the height range prescribed by the Standard, or at 45.02 cm.
It should be stressed that dogs measured by Romić and Rohr, as well as part of the dogs measured by Špoljarić and Kormoš, were previously unregistered dogs and that city-based breeders or show judges had no or extremely limited impact on their breeding.
This would mean that dogs in the country and city dogs presented at dog shows are two different types of dog. This would also mean that we can avoid further deviation from the true type and preserve the original form of the dog only through the registration of all dogs that confirm to the Croatian Shepherd and the introduction of new bloodlines into the breeding pool. If we fail to do that, the large dog (taller and longer) will only grow further apart from the breed type.
In conclusion, we bring you a table showing all the measurements referred to above and their relation.
Measured by Sex n By sex Mean value Increase/decrease (cm) in relation to:
A 1 2 3
A Height/ Male 224 112 43.51 .
ROMIĆ withers Female 112 43.06 .
(1935-1977) Body Male 224 112 46.89 .
length Female 112 45.82 .
Height Male 75 36 46.88 3.37 .
1 withers Female 39 44.29 1.23 .
ROHR Body Male 75 36 51.26 4.37 .
(1960) length Female 39 49.93 4,11 .
2 Height Male 27 14 47.43 3.98 1.45 .
Špoljarić, Fury, withers Female 13 44.53 1.47 0.24 .
Skalicki, Urošević Body Male 27 14 50.14 3.25 -1.12 .
length Female 13 47.31 1.49 -2.62 .
Height Male 41 20 46.00 2.49 -0.88 -1.43 .
3 withers Female 21 43.00 -0.6 -1.29 -1.53 .
Špoljarić Body Male 41 20 50.60 3.17 -1.20 -0.80 .
(1990) length Female 21 47.30 1.57 -2.57 -0.01 .
Height Male 63 33 47.48 3.97 0.6 0.05 1.48
4 withers Female 30 44.06 1.00 -0.23 -0.47 1.06
Kormoš Body Male 63 33 49.42 2.53 -1.84 -0.72 -1.18
(2000-2005) length Female 30 46.31 0.49 -3.62 -1.00 -0.99
Height Male 430 215 46.26 3.45 0.39 -0.69 1.48
6 withers Female 215 43.78 0.77 -0.43 -1.00 1.06
MEAN Body Male 430 215 49.66 3.33 -1.39 -0.76 -1.18
VALUE length Female 215 47.33 1.91 -2.90 -0.50 -0.99
When we put together all the data concerning 430 dogs of both sexes, the mean height at the withers for both sexes is 45.02 centimetres, and the mean body length for both sexes is 48.49 centimetres, making the dog a bit more than 8% longer than it is tall.
LUGAR SLAVONSKI BROD
Sources:
FENOTIPSKA VARIJABILNOST POJEDINIH EKSTERIJERNIH MJERA HRVATSKOG OVČARA
Urošević, Špoljarić, Skalicki, Fury (Stočarstvo, 42/1988)
MOJ PAS
MOJ PAS, special edition, 1977, Professor Stjepan Romić (Moj pas, 1977)
STANDARD 277.
FCI (FCI, 1969)
ZOV - HRVATSKI OVČAR - PREPOROD PASMINE
ZOV br.167/1990, Boris Špoljarić
STRATEGIJA I UNAPRIJEĐENJE RAZVOJA HRVATSKOG OVČARA
Jasminko Kormoš – Buco (Slavonski Brod, 2001)
HRVATSKI OVČAR jučer danas, sutra
Jasminko Kormoš – Buco (1st edition, Slavonski Brod, 2001)
HRVATSKI OVČAR jučer danas, sutra
Jasminko Kormoš – Buco (2nd edition, Lulu, USA, 2007)
HRVATSKI OVČAR
Jasminko Kormoš – Buco, (Lulu, USA, 2007)
PROCEEDINGS OF THE PANELS ON THE CROATIAN SHEPHERD (ZAGREB, 1995 AND ĐAKOVO, 1992)
Author's files
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CLUB OF FRIENDS OF THE CROATIAN SHEPHERD, KARLOVAC
DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO THE STANDARD
Klub Hrvatski ovčar» Zagreb
Matični klub «Hrvatski ovčar» Đakovo
Kinološki klub Hrvatskih autohtonih pasmina pasa – Slavonski Brod |
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