Tyrolean Sheepdog
After years of research, we have not found any proof that the Tyrolean Sheepdog breed exists. There may have been an old Tyrol Herder breed that became extinct, but this is simply guesswork. A number of our associates in Austria have found no evidence of its existence, leading us to conclude that the Tyrolean Sheepdog found in some books and listings on a few websites has been mistaken for the more famous Tyrolean Hound breed.
There are some working sheepdogs in Tyrol, but these are mostly crosses between various imported breeds, such as the Karst Sheepdog and the Border Collie, said to resemble old Welsh Herders and English working Collies. If you are aware of anything that we might've missed in our research, feel free to contact us and provide us with any additional info. Thanks in advance.
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Hello Molosserdogs Admin,
RE: The TYROLEAN SHEEPDOG
While researching the the Polish Tatra Sheepdog or Polish Tatra Shepherd (Polski "Owczarek Podhalanski" or "Owczarek Tatrzanski" in Polish), I found a photograph from 1927 of Polish Border Guards with dogs that are identified as "owczarek tyrolskich" - which means "sheepdog tyrolean"" or "shepherd tyrolean". They are large white or light-color dogs. But it is also possible that the dogs are actually Polish Tatra Sheepdogs or Polish Tatra mixes.
Keep in mind that there are TWO types of sheepdogs - Most people think of the Herder sheepdogs. But remember that there are also the "Livestock Guardian" Sheepdogs. Your comments/section about the existence of the Tyrolean Sheepdog seems to focus more on herding sheepdogs. It's possible that the Tyrolean Sheepdog, if it existed, was a Livestock/Flock Guardian, similar to the Polish Tatra Sheepdog, French Great Pyrennes, Slovak Cuvac, Italian Maremma Sheepdog, Turkish Akbash or Hungarian Kuvasz, Anatolian Sheepdog, etc.
I know that this photo is not proof that the Tyrolean Sheepdog existed, but I thought that I would forward the information and the photograph to you. And like I said above, it is possible that the dogs in the photo are actually Polish Tatra Sheepdogs (or mixes) known in Polish as "Owczarek Podhalanski" or "Owczarek Tatrzanski". And the photographer may have used the word "Tyrolskich" as a generic term/identifier for a mountain dog, as the Polish Tatras Sheepdog breed is from the Tatra Mountains area and it also went by several names in the 1800's and early 1900's.
Thanks for listening
