My little troublemaker

Here some recent pictures of my Sharplaninec puppy Apollo. Coming to think of it, I should have called him "Dances with Wolves". Already quite a troublemaker, he's some predator control, alright. While still in his adolescence, Apollo is slowly maturing into adulthood. Apollo is a strict one-person dog (no exceptions) and quite clingy at times. Otherwise very aloof towards strangers, doesn't like animals he doesn't know well. Very powerful and lightning fast, with the longest teeth I've ever seen on a dog. Somewhat "wolfie" in his behavior, he can chew through anything, if he wants to get out (doors, locked cars). Not an easy dog to live with, but a highly effective guard, that's for sure.

Well, I guess to me he'll always be a puppy, because he practically fell into my hands when he was born (I thought his mom was done already, because there was a very long interval between him and the previous puppy). Apollo is about 2 1/2 years old now, but still not mentally matured. For example, he's just now starting to pee on 3 legs but still reverts to 4 legs. And the adult seriousness isn't quite there yet either. Weight and height I don't know, because I haven't measured for a while. I'll check and post it later.

Nope. Shars have a different build, one can see this better on the first picture. They have a lighter frame and are longer but overall smaller than COs. Well, to be correct, in the 70s/80s there was some Shar influx into the CO population and in recent years some CO blood made it back into show lines, but those dogs are usually frowned upon and relatively easily identifiable as they appear quite overdone for a Shar. Other than build also coloring is different for these two breeds. And the respective temps differ noticeably as well. Ear positions and faces, too. From my limited experience with COs I find that the fur consistency differs significantly as well. Other than that, I guess one might consider them similar. Afterall, they are both eastern LGDs.

Well, I can't swear that CO blood never went back into anything but show lines, but CO influx doesn't really make any sense in actual working dogs ... or fighting dogs (although the dedicated fighting dogs instead got a lot of blood from several other breeds). The very nature of LGD work for one protected those working Shars from wild breeding experiments. Main differences in temp are that Shars are not nearly as compliant as COs, meaning Shars don't follow commands that well (to say the least). Also, Shars are very animal aggressive (they are quite game) and only moderately human aggressive, wheras COs are more human aggressive than actually animal aggressive. Lastly, people agree that COs generally have a shorter fuse, before they go all out. I would further assume that Shars are more adapted towards livestock work, whereas COs are rather geared towards property guarding. Maybe others can add differences (or disagree with me).

Would it be possible to take a pic of his teeth? Quite curious of how big they could be ;)

Apollo is a handsome boy. Thanks for posting the pictures, Dan. Here is a picture of my big trouble maker, Zeus. He just turned four.[br][link={e_FILE}public/1326395978_19008_FT85379_photoma28706840-0002.jpg][img:width=500&height=667]{e_FILE}public/1326395978_19008_FT85379_photoma28706840-0002_.jpg">[/link][br]

[quote1326398278=Vorax] That is a serious looking dog, with erect ears it could pass for a Giant Shepherd. [/quote1326398278] I've heard that one before, he's also been compared to a Leonberger. The latest btw was that someone thought his face had strong similarities to a Gorilla. And I could even see that resemblance. haha I guess I appreciate anything that is not the usual bear analogy. My personal favorite (other than Shar) is maybe the comparison to a lion. My least favorite (next to bear) is when people try to convince me that he's a certain mix ("He's definitely half x and half y!"), as if I got him from a shelter or something. lol As for erect ears, I tried that by holding them up and it looks nothing like a shepherd, the head shape and ear shapes are too compact to pass for a shepherd. Sometimes I wonder if a reverse Balyaev experiment would create Shars with erect ears.

[quote1326401535=Vasquinho] Would it be possible to take a pic of his teeth? Quite curious of how big they could be ;) [/quote1326401535] Sure ... (upon your request I just managed to take a few pics; wasn't that easy as he doesn't hold that still): I don't know if it comes across on the photo or not, but if you saw him in person you'd notice right away that the entire set of teeth (especially the corner canines) is dis-proportionally thick and big for a dog.

Those are some impressive weapons. Cheers!

those teeth look like they belong to a wolf[br][link={e_FILE}public/1326431207_19014_FT85379_98003085.jpg][img:width=500&height=335]{e_FILE}public/1326431207_19014_FT85379_98003085_.jpg">[/link][br]

[quote1326475022=cawkazn] ovcharka? [/quote1326475022] Hi Cawkazn, No, he is a sarplaninac. ^o)

[quote1326561582=Astibus] Sure ... (upon your request I just managed to take a few pics; wasn't that easy as he doesn't hold that still): I don't know if it comes across on the photo or not, but if you saw him in person you'd notice right away that the entire set of teeth (especially the corner canines) is dis-proportionally thick and big for a dog. [/quote1326561582] Can we see Apollo's Scissor bite?

Dan...any chance we can get to see Apollo's scissor bite.

[quote1326922863=Kole] Dan...any chance we can get to see Apollo's scissor bite. [/quote1326922863] LOL! Yeah, I saw it the first time. :) Sure, I just have to go and take pictures again, that's all. I can also take photos of both descended testicles, if people are curious. However, I can already state that I wouldn't show him in a ring anyway. And it is not because of his teeth or similar "show relevant" traits, but because of other more fundamental factors. I have scissor bite, weight and height on my list; I will provide that data soon(ish).

[quote1326923401=gsicard] Dan, I don't think Caucasian Ovcharka are compliant at all - they are probably the same or more stubborn than the Sar. That is probably the only area in which we disagree on the two. COs in general does have a much shorter fuse, don't really like people (outside their circle), and all of mine were dog aggressive. [/quote1326923401] Gary, this is something I was told by other CO enthusiasts. As you know I have very limited personal experience with COs and mostly rely on what others have told me. So I was told these dogs were bred to guard prisons etc and were controlled by handlers. This (I was told) meant they tended to be somewhat more compliant (with the handler, not the target). Rural Sars on the other hand often find themselves working in complete isolation, where they essentially lead a mountain life of self-reliance. They just do what they think they have to do. IMO it can't get any more stubborn than that. I think both are human and dog aggressive, but from what I have observed myself and what I was told by others, it may be that COs are more HA than DA while Sars tend to be more DA than HA. Maybe it isn't so? Sars for one are naturally fairly game dogs, which is why they are used in dog fighting A LOT. Maybe it's just a question of shifted emphasis. Again, I never owned COs to provide a reliable side-by-side comparison. It's experience on one side vs hear-say on the other. At least the slightly shorter fuse seems to be a more consistent feature that people seem to agree on.

I'm curious to see how big his upper incisors look.Because you metioned that his canines are the biggest you've seen on a shar. By looking at these and all the other shars I've seen throughout europe and owned...the biggest ones were from Montenegrosarp kennel here in New York. His dogs also happen to be from Korab.

Mike, Nice to hear from Marco (Atlas). He used to be the biggest puppy, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if he turned out much bigger than Apollo. Apollo still exhibits a relatively light frame for a Shar. As for maturity, he still isn't there yet, and admittedly he isn't really socialized either. I often consider him my "feral child", as he grew up in a very rural setting and for the first two years or so he's hardly ever seen any humans other than me and maybe 2-3 people. Same goes for other dogs. He was destined to become an old school livestock guardian in the mountains. So until a few months ago, he's never seen civilization. This makes him very interesting to observe at times, moreover because he is also totally different from both his parents, Arx and Gaia. Well, Apollo is an ongoing experiment and the jury is still out in many ways. I have yet to go to a vet with him (since his early puppy shots) so who knows how the weighing will go. Maybe I will post some pictures of his destructive nature, this will make everyone feel so much better about their own dogs' mishaps. LOL