Author Topic: The Greek Shepherd  (Read 3353 times)

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Offline Maik

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The Greek Shepherd
« on: Tuesday, 21 January, 2020 @ 20:06:10 »
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Ancient Greek Shepherd Dog in Danger of Extinction

The Greek Shepherd, the dog which has been bred for centuries for guarding livestock in the mountainous regions of the country, is now in danger of extinction, experts are warning.

The decline of livestock farming, along with an increase in uncontrolled interbreeding with other dogs, have altered the Greek Shepherd’s distinctive characteristics. It has been estimated that currently, fewer than 3,000 pure Greek Shepherd dogs remain in Greece.

In an attempt to rescue the breed, the “Arcturos” animal sanctuary, located in northern Greece, has been implementing their Greek Shepherd Dog Breeding Program since 1998.

“The Greek Shepherd Dog is one of the oldest breeds and should survive. It is a shame that all European countries have managed to recognize their breeds, and we in Greece have not,” says Panos Stefanou, communications officer for Arcturos.
https://greece.greekreporter.com/2020/01/21/ancient-greek-shepherd-dog-in-danger-of-extinction/

Offline Colleywobble

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Re: The Greek Shepherd
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday, 22 January, 2020 @ 12:35:42 »
When we first started to visit Skala in 1992 we stayed in the Aliki hotel Everyday the shepherd would come by with his sheep and take them down to the Beach at Mounda. He was a lovely chap and in spite of only having one arm he managed to get them all down safely and at the same time train a very young Greek sheep dog to round them all up .A fabulous little dog quite a distinctive breed, that over the years we watched grow and become so proficient .It will always be one of our treasured memories of our time over there and I often wonder if the shepherd is still around.?" The reason why I mention that he had only one arm as it obviously made him more recognisable .He was a great chap and would always stop to have a bit of a natter when we were walking down the track, as it was in those days.