Sardinian Shepherd Dog

The Sardinian Shepherd Dog or Fonni's Dog (Sardinian: pastore fonnesu or cani sardu antigu; Italian: pastore fonnese) is an ancient landrace breed of Sardinian dog used as a herding and livestock guardian dog. It has made for a long time a loyal companion of the Sardinian bandits that were hiding out in the woods, and even before it was probably employed to put up a stiff resistance against the Roman invaders. In 1912 it was also used by the Italian Army as a fighting dog during the Libyan military campaign. The dog's origins trace back to very ancient times, yet the Pastore Fonnese has been officially recognized only in 2013 by ENCI, the Italian Kennel club. The breed, which is endemic to the island, was founded with approximately 170 specimens gathered from rural Sardinia. The regional government of Sardinia had sponsored a research project that studied the genetics of the dog. It is an excellent guardian of property and livestock. The dog possesses a rough coat, which can be grey, black, brindle, brown or white. Height at the withers is about 55 to 60 cm for males, while females are a couple of centimeters shorter. A typical characteristic of the breed is the fiery expression of the eyes, whose position, unlike other dog breeds, is totally frontal, giving the dog a unique "monkey-like" appearance.