Mike, you forgot something important... Autochtonous Sarplaninac stock from mount Sara, Pastrik, Bistra, Korab ect. was divided into several genuine types even in ancient time. Some of those types were extremely large, so it is not quite true that Sar's are or were one among smalest LGD's. Standardized variation was (just one of many other genuine types) strictly selected by military authorities and with influx of few other breeds. It is disputable whether the GSD's were used into breeding program or was it something else, however, we must not forget that even Serbian army has two different breeding programs, one for show, one for work, and among working stock you can still find one of the oldest and purest lines. There is much, much more to it but I really don't have time to write it down... some other time maybe.