Greek Shepherds. Description Appearance The Greek Shepherd is a large breed of dog that closely resembles the Italian Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog, the Hungarian Kuvasz and the Polish Tatra Shepherd Dog; the breed displays the traits common to most livestock guardian dog breeds, including a thick weatherproof double-coat and a powerful build. The Kennel Club of Greece's breed standard states dogs should stand over at the withers and that they can stand as much as tall; and that bitches should be over tall but can attain heights of . The breed standard states dogs should weigh between and bitches between . The breed has a dense double-coat; it has never been bred for colour and can be found in a broad range of colours, including white, black, brown, light-brown or a combination of these, with spotted examples being common. In some areas, only pure white examples are kept by local shepherds, with non-white puppies being culled because it is thought they bring bad luck. In former times, many Greek shepherds would crop the right ear of their dogs, believing doing so improved the dogs' hearing; this practice gave the dogs a curious, lopsided appearance. Character The breed is renowned for its ferocity when guarding flocks, with dogs sometimes taking it upon themselves to protect the whole countryside as opposed to their master's flocks; people walking in some rural areas, even shepherds, often needed to arm themselves with sticks and rocks to ward off shepherd dogs who could mistake them for thieves. A heavy log is often tied to the collars of particularly aggressive animals, being believed the extra exertion curbs the animal's zealotry. Molossus of Epirus The Kennel Club of Greece recognises a second breed of Greek livestock guardian dog, the Molossus of Epirus, from the region of Epirus. The kennel club's breed standard for the Molossus of Epirus describes a breed with very similar characteristics as the Greek Shepherd; the principle differences are in colour, it stating the Molossus of Epirus should be solid red, blonde, yellow or black, striped and wolf or deer colour with a minimal patch of white on the chest. Additionally, it states bitches are only slightly smaller than dogs, standing between . See also Dogs portal List of dog breeds References Dog breeds originating in Greece Livestock guardian dogs