Serbian Defense Dog — From Emperor Dušan

Beautiful Romania, the mountain and the plateau in the eastern part of Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) is home to one of the greatest minds of Serbian folks. Mister Nenad Gavrilovic, a herbalist, a healer and a great humanist was able to reestablish a perfect breed that disappeared from the area populated by Serbian people.

The idea that inspired Mr. Nenad Gavrilovic to follow the path of great Serbian ancestors and recover vast heritage, led him for ten years. That was the time he needed to do very important thing for his people, and all by himself. His journey was never an easy work, he had lots of ups and downs, but the crown of his success is the cultural and historical treasure that lives in his creation (Serbian Defense Dog).

Exploring cultural heritage and glorious history of the Serbian people, Mr. Nenad Gavrilovic decided to reconstruct the medieval Serbian mastiff .He invests his vast knowledge in the work on this breed, which runs from 1981 to 1991 and that’s why the year of 1991 is the year when this breed was established.

All breeds that participated in the creation of Serbian Defense Dog (as Mr Nenad Gavrilovic called his breed) were offsprings from the breeds in the region inhabited by Serbs from last centuries. The amazing results were achived after he used the best studs and dams of this breeds (Neapolitan Mastiff, Rottweiler, American Staffordshire terrier, Bosnian Tornjak and Balkan Wolf).

Few words from the creator of SDD...

Serbian defense dog (SDD) originated in the far history of Serbian people. At the end of the last ice age, Balkan, homeland of Serbian people, was settled by ancestors of today’s Serbs-old Sorabs. That ancient people believed that everything that is good in the nature, comes from the sun light, and everything that is good in a human comes from the truth, justice and compassion. Moral glow in a human had to be in balance with the sun’s light in the nature. Therefore, because of the balance of moral and cosmic signs they were named Sorabs (word ‘’so’’ means – “the sun”, and ‘’rabiti’’ – “to do”) which means – people made of sun. At that time Celts came from the east, and they called old Sorabs giants (giant on Celtic represents light, so they were “people of light”). Old Sorabs were world famous by their herds of black bulls that were fed on fresh fields of the Balkan. Maybe it will seem odd, why the people of light breed black bulls? That is because black color absorbs the sun rays in the best way and transforms it in warmth. All this leads us to the conclusion that ancient Sorabs knew the complete harmony of natural rules. Western people forgot the true meaning of black color claiming that it is the color of death and mourning, while in China, in the country where even today we have some ancient wisdom, black color is the color of happiness. At that time and in that natural environment, ancient Sorbs make the first breed of dogs that is progenitor of today’s mastiff dogs and Molossian dogs (dog of ancient Sorabs). There was a practical need for such a powerful and fearless dog: at that time, Europe was inhabited with lions, tigers and other dangerous animals and predators making lot of damage to the herds, and people was in constant fear. Being unable to efficiently stand up against those vicious predators, ancient Sorabs used cave wolf to breed dogs that will be able to give them protection, and to defend the calf or the master from any beast. Out of respect and for the glory of ancient ancestors of Serbian people, who were the first civilization of moral in the world, I reconstructed a dog of Ancient Sorabs from the breeds in which there was still a gene of that dog and also from Balkan grey wolf that comes from cave wolf of ancient Sorabs. Later offspring of ancient Sorabs, Old Macedonians and Nemanjici’s Serbs used these dogs in all their military campaigns. The most famous ancient Macedonian in history – Alexander the Great used to take those dogs in the battle against Persia. By the way, the last battle in which Nemanjici’s Serbs used these dogs as military dogs is the battle on Kosovo. The strategy of Turkish army was that the camel riders break the first lines of Serbian knights and make a chaos. After that it would be easy for three time stronger Turkish army to butcher Serbian knights and to win with small losses. However, at that moment, Serbs under the command of brothers Jugovici released terrifying dogs of Sorabs (in traditional poems described as angry lions) on the Turkish camels. In the counter attack the duke Milos Obilic managed to approach to the sultan and killed him. In that decisive moment of the battle and history of Serbian people, the traitor Vuk Brankovic retreats from the battle field with heavy armored soldiers leaving tired Serbian knights to be overpowered by the greater in number Turkish army.

Certain modern historians and writers glorify the role of Vuk Brankovic and from the traitor make hero. They forge the history of Serbian people that was once famous and honorable. They exchange the truth for a lie, making hero from traitors and traitors from heroes, and gave away something that Serbian people got with great effort. Having all that in mind, I decided to renew one small part of Serbian history rejected by the ‘’great and wise’’ who forgot their own glorious history, origin and honor to merge with the zeitgeist. I renewed one old breed from the swirls of our history, for all dog lovers in the world. Most of the today’s Serbian kinological expert that in their imagination think that the sun rises in the west, hate even the name of Serbian defense dog, and not to talk about it’s great characteristics: perfect form, hair resistant to all types of weather of our area and his noble psychological characteristics: devotion, courage and loyalty. I do not reproach those who criticized my work all these years, belittled and derogated it, because the freedom of speech and thought is guaranteed by the charter of the United Nations, and also with the oldest Sorab holy law-law of the freedom. Sometimes even the smallest difference in thinking can make a lot of confronted opinions. Today’s direction in the world of kinology dedicates more attention to the form and not the essence, and I prefer when a dog has more heart, when it is the true defender of its herd and house. I wish all the best to all dog lovers of all breeders and mixed dogs and to all the kindhearted people that do not torture and abuse animals.

Serbian defense dog is very brave dog who could not be intimidated by man or any animals. SDD does not react to the gunshot, on the contrary it only increases their attention. SDD is unsurpassed guardian of person and property, ready to sacrifice his life for his master. In normal situations these dogs are very calm and stable. SDD always make right decisions and they assess the situation very well. SDD is very distrustful dog towards strangers and doesn’t like making new relationships. These are dogs who evoke veneration with their appearance and will deter anyone from any bad intentions towards the homeowner or his territory. SDD is a dog who cannot be bribed and no one will be able to enter his territory until permission of the owner. SDD has proven to be an ideal family dog, with no problem with behaving in walks (on the street, in parks …), he is not a dog that causes trouble. It is very tolerant for the children in the owner’s family, treats them protectively and will not allow any hostility towards them by strangers. In the case of provocation SDD will first react with a muffled growl that increases stronger and stronger, making blood in your veins to freeze, followed by powerful bark. If a stranger wouldn’t pay attention to the warning signs, he would be attacked with strong force and power. The reaction of these dogs on a negative irritation is sharp and strong, and when a situation occurs that SDD has to act, he is never the first to withdraw from the conflict, regardless of whether it is a man or an animal. It should be noted that the SDD enter into a conflict not to kill but to win and protect the owner and his family, the territory entrusted to the care, and also themselves.

SDD is a very obedient dog, which executes all the commands being asked by the owner (the person who feeds him, take for a walk …), but also other family members (all of which are located in the same territory where the dog is). SDD is characterized by great flexibility in all weather conditions. They are very healthy, resilient and resistant to many diseases. They get sick very rarely and are not frequent guests at vet. It has not been registered that they have heart, kidney or bone problems, which are getting common characteristic of some other breeds. Females give birth to offspring without veterinary assistance, are very fertile, and have many puppies. The females are good mothers, very dedicated and protective, so the puppies cannot be seen without the presence of the owner and the female should be removed to another box.

Mr Nenad Gavrilovic, herbalist and healer from Romania (Bosnia and Herzegovina- Republic of Srpska), created his own dog breed, well known as Serbian Defense Dog – SDD. This breed was the topic of many foreign and domestic print and electronic media, such as New York Times.

Mr Nenad, why the breed you created has name Serbian Defense Dog?

– The name SDD is connected with ancient times. I believe I didn’t create any new dog breed, but restored one of the ancient breed in the world. From that breed came many other breeds, but the original breed has been destroyed, like many ancient civilizations.

Many people are not aware that Balkan is the center of human civilization, the origin place of human race history. Let’s just mention Lepenski vir (Lepen Whirl), Vinčansko pismo (Vincha Script), Danube Valley civilization, first ore smelter near Bor.

Our eminent scientists as well as foreign scientists proved that Danube Valley civilization and Balkan civilizations are more ancient than Mesopotamian and Egypt. All of that proving that ancient Balkan has been center of human cultures. Balkan is covered with layers of civilizations, and some uninformed observer might think that some other countries and cultures have been historically longer and more valuable than ours, which is not true.

All one need to do is just listen to folk tales that keep historical facts. According to stories of folk on mountain Romania, Greeks used to live in Balkan, but the sharp winter forced them to move. Confirmation of this story can be find in the name of mountain Romania (Byzantines called themselves “Romans”)

Is SDD historically connected with mountain Romania, Romans, Byzantines or some other ancient folks that used to live in these territories?

– In the dawn of civilization, when the last ice age glaciers melted in Europe, mountain Romania and the whole Balkan has been covered with gigantic forests. In Europe at that time lived bears, wolfs, lions and tigers. People who inhabited Romania and Balkans at that time, called themselves “Sorabs” – sons of Sun, those who worship Sun and life it brings (“so” means “sun”, “rab” means “son”).

Sorabs have been well known for breeding black bulls that Egyptians used to export, later Carthaginians ( todays Spaniards). Egyptians used to call the black bull “apis”. It is known that black color absorb sunlight, so black bulls had the best raising progress in Balkan.

Does Serbian people originate from “Sorabs”?

– Alexander the Great and ancient Macedonians origin from old “Sorabs”, as well as Nemanjic’s Dynasty. German historians falsified our history in last two centuries, so that Arabian, Indian, Persian and Coptic records are only authentic historical records about Serbs. Even Saint Sava used to travel to Thebes in Egypt in order to find out about ancient history of Serbs.

Does Serbian Defense Dog origin from old “Sorbas”?

– Yes, it does. Old “Sorbas” used to breed SDD from cave wolf, because they needed big and strong dog who will be able to confront lions defending young black bulls – apis. Lion and other wild animals didn’t dare to attack bulls guarding by pack of that ancient dogs.

Does it mean that you reconstructed one of the most ancient dog breed in the World , ancient “Sorabs” dog?

- Yes, that is correct . Alexander the Great used to take those dogs in his battle. They guarded Nemanjic’s Empire, and brothers Jugovici used these dogs as military dogs in the battle on Kosovo. In that battle they confronted Turkish soldiers on camels and from the fast Turkish victory, the battle turned into Pyrrhic victory. There is a traditional poem “Death of Jugovic’s mother” with line: “Nine angry lions barked…” that testified those historical facts.

Some people accuse you that you made Serbian defense dog from “NATO-s dogs” …?

– First of all, those people are blinded by their own lack of knowledge and they pathological envy anyone they feel is better than them. If you want to criticize or challenge someone’s achievement, you need to have some results behind. Our kinology is damaged by our historical negligence and some kinological “experts” who destroyed two ancient breed from Balkans – Šarplaninac and Bosnian Tornjak. Those “experts” inserted genes of other breeds in ancient breed (Šarplaninac and Bosnian Tornjak) to get bigger puppies ,with the aim of better sales. It is all a reflection of grandiosity, greed and ignorance that will have no foundation for the future.

However, Serbian defense dog is combination of Neapolitan Mastiff, German Rottweiler, American Staffordshire Terrier, Bosnian Tornjak and wild wolfs. What is Serbian there?

– Depends on the way you observe. Most of Serbs forgotten their historical roots so they allowed the complete extinction of breed in the fifties years of the last century. People who gave up their historical roots, closing churches, but at the same time worshiping communism, stopped historical thread that connected us with the ancient glorious and honored past. People who used to be householders were forced to join communist associations , livestock breeding was destroyed, and with such economic disaster the SDD breed also was sentenced to extinction.

There is general importance in making history closer to today’s reality. What stayed in other dog breed helped me to renew Serbian Defense Dog, because those breeds are made from ancient SDD.

N.Ž.

Dear buyers …

All puppies are perfectly raised and they have top 100% gene pool of bloodlines made by Mr. Nenad Gavrilovic !!!
We are happy you are interested in Serbian defense dog.
Our desire is that all our clients are satisfied with puppies they buy from us. We have very serious attitude in breeding dogs and puppies. We want future owners to take care about their new puppy. Quality diet is very important in raising SDD, because it is essential if you want your puppy to become strong and healthy dog.
Before you decide to buy puppy you have to ask yourself few questions:

• Do you have enough time for SDD puppy-dog?
• Do you have enough space in your home for energetic SDD –puppy-dog?
• Are you going through relationship issues that may affect your SDD-puppy-dog?
• Are your living conditions secure for a SDD-puppy-dog?
• Do you see yourself committed to your SDD-puppy-dog for the next 12-14 years?
• Can you afford to feed SDD-puppy-dog with high quality food with vitamins, minerals and other supplements?

A young cute puppy will grow up to be a big dog in a very short amount of time. Before you buy a puppy. You should:

• Know where your SDD-puppy-dog is going to sleep.
• Know where your SDD-puppy-dog is going to sleep.
• Have an idea of whether or not you cannot afford a SDD-puppy-dog in terms of feeding, training, vet bills etc.
• Have a set of rules for all members of the family regarding the SDD-puppy-dog.
• Know where to find a good trainer.

SDD-puppy-dog needs sunlight and exercise to build strong bone muscles and minds. Remember all dogs not just SDD need to hear sounds see sights and smell smells they need to run and stretch their legs. It is never fair to expect your dog to live 40 plus hours a week in a cage while you are at work. It is necessary to be committed to your SDD on a daily basis and it will develop into strong friendship based on thrust. You have friends and family but your dog has only you. You mean world to him.