Finally
these dogs (specially the shepherds) even from
the same breed, have difference local names in
difference areas.
It
seems that shepherd dogs are used in Iran from
the ancient times may be from 8000 years ago.
Persians were land workers and shepherds from
the earlier times. For example we know that goats
became domisticated for the first time in the
world in south west of Iran. Sheeps were among
the first animals domesticated too. An archeological
site in Iran produced a statuette of a wooled
sheep which suggests that selection for woolly
sheep had begun to occur over 6000 years ago.
One
of the oldest shepherd dogs in world was an ancient
breed from Iran that named: "persian
shepherd dog". it must be the next direct
generation of "Canis Familiaris Metris-Optimas"
(from end of the bronze period). It looks as a
wolf kind dog and it seems that this was the father
of all the "wolf kind dogs" of the world (like
German and Belgian shepherds) I found this name
with two paintings of it in three diffrence books.
Todays, dogs have a very special and important
place for the Iranian shepherds life. Generally
we can find many beeds of shepherd dogs in almost
everywhere in Iran, with two group of peoples:
these dogs in farms and with the nomadians.
We
call shepherd dogs in Persian with many words
like: sag-e galleh, sag-e chupan, sag-e shabaan,
and in Afghanestan (that speak in persian too)
in another persian word as sag-e rameh. (sag =
dog).
In
Iran the people do not know their shepherd dogs
with their official breed names. for them all
of these dogs are just "sag-e galleh" (shepherd
dogs). It's because: first of all it was never
in this country a kennel or federation for breeding
these dogs. And secondly because they are interesting
more for their works and not their beauty or pure
bloods.
Iranian
shepherds give their dogs very nice names too:
gorgi (like wolf), khersi (like bear), galleh-pa
(flock guardian) nahang (corcodil), Palang (panther).
These dogs are working animals and are very widely
used (as Guardian dogs) to defend domestic flocks,
farmer fields and homes, against thieves and predatory
animals (e.g., wolves, bears, wild boars, lynxes,
panthers).
These
dogs are fed (generally coarse bread or wheat-flour
cakes and little meat) only by the shepherds,
to whom they become attached; so they are aggressive
and dangerous toward strangers and even for the
other members of the family.
