The big white dog family of LGD's

I was having a conversation with a bulldog breeder the other day (NOT looking into a one but just a chat) and Katalin had come up and we started talking about Pyrs, Kuvasz, Akbash etc - and he said "Well, they're all really the same dog...". Erm...not quite.

Was just wondering what everyone's observations/feelings about each of these individual breeds within themselves yet that belong to the same family or are related in some form are.

I believe the Kuvasz and Akbash are the oldest of the group with the most "authentic" of temperament - Aloof, independent, tough to train, prone to wandering, a very "one person" dog and so on.

The Pyrs I find abit more domestic, slightly more into people and willing to please/focused on their people. Less intense/aloof IMHO - feel free to correct me.

Maremma's I do not know that much about....please fill me in.

Polish Tatra's are interesting looking...I've heard they herd as well as guard.

The Slovenian Cuvac I have NO idea of, but probably something quite close to the Kuvasz - as they are closely related and the name of the breed is an adaptation of Kuvasz (duh)

I don't know much about the other breeds, but this explains the pyr pretty well. Roxy is a very happy friendly girl, she loves meeting new ppl and new dogs. She does do territory runs around the yard and house barking like a crazed fool and is very possessive over her yard from outside dogs, but overall is a happy friendly willing dog.

My sister has 2 Polish Moutain dogs and they are very active.She goes running with them and they love water.they are excellent watchdog .They are on the small side of the giant breed.They are used for police work as well as water rescue.

Anatolians have a mind of their own at time. They are great family dogs as well as on the farm to guard from predators. My Max was our family dog but if something was not right outside, he took charge like his natural instinct told him to do.

One thing that attracted me to the kuvasz is they are more a "one family" dog vs. "one person", so they're more likely to bond strongly with everyone in the household.

They also tend to be a lot more tolerant of other dogs in the household than akbash and pyrs. I'm sad there aren't more LGD that don't have major issues with same sex and general DA, because there are so many of those breeds I'm interested in but I don't want to end up crating and rotating with my hounds.

Indeed that is true, Katalin is good with my parents and brother, although its exclusively me that does all her walking, feeding, training etc.

She LOVES other dogs, regardless of sex! Of course, she's only just turned 8 months...that may and probably will change with maturity.

She very much takes after her mom in terms of looks, temperament etc - but her crazy streak is from her dad I think - the breeder told me he was abit on the rambunctious side LOL

What do you guys think?

Katalin's mom -


Katalin herself -

They kind of are the same dog, in a sense. Have you read the book by the Coppingers about dog history?

Dogs : A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution

They talk about how these breeds came about and why they are so similar. I probably won't do a very good job of describing it, but basically, these breeds developed before the human territories had the boundaries we know today. Back then, the shepherds, sheep, and dogs traveled all over, hundreds of miles. There were no breed clubs or stud books back then, so the dogs bred/were bred for working ability, and dogs from different regions interbred. I think the term for it is 'landrace' rather than breed. Most of our modern breeds are developed from landraces.

When the political boundaries were more established, they human/sheep/dog populations moved around less, and each region developed it's own distinct type of dogs. They are very similar though, as they are mostly descended from the same ancestors.

I find that kind of thing fascinating. Can't comment on the personalities of the various breeds, though.

You could use the same logic to say that all retrievers or all spaniels are basically the same too though. The geographical variations in the "big white near eastern LGDs" have existed for a lot longer than most of the sporting breeds. Kuvasz as companion/protection dogs have existed at least since the 1400s, and considering the entire modern population is descended from about 6 individuals who survived WWII I'd say that modern kuvasz are at least as different from other LGDs as a cocker spaniel is from a brittany.

ETA: They were also outcrossed to borzois to avoid a genetic bottleneck, since so few were left. I can't remember exactly the reasoning behind using borzois vs. another of the LGDs that are supposedly so much like them. It may have been partly health related or had something to do with temperament.

ETAETA: Stephymei she's gorgeous!!! I'd so love to get one some day.