Lovely

I have to question the validity of the name "Skylos tou Pyrou" and the particular specimen shown above,which is very non-descript. This name is not widely used in Greece. Besides it is phrased in very colloquial/uneducated Greek which makes it unlikely to ever be accepted as an official term. There is only one standard currently for Greek flock guardians that of the Hellenikos Poimenikos/Greek Sheepdog. Other types are being informally discussed but inconclusively. and there is no consesus yet on any of their eventual formal names.

I'm familiar with the attitude of most Greek urbanites concerning mountain dogs. It's sad, because the only recognized breed is the Hellenikos Poimenikos, which unfairly includes a few old breeds that deserve separate recognition. In general, mountain people of northern Greece are seen as backwards and simple by many educated city-dwelling Greeks, so it's no surprise that their dogs aren't taken seriously either.

I am all in favour of separating the various types of Greek flock guardians. Many farmers are not simple at all, and know the types they breed. However, there is still considerable fluidity as to the identity and the names of certain types and especially the white lupoid strain and the so called "Pyrros dogs", which are almost unknown by that name in Greece. I don't have the answers to these questions, but I am curious to see if the white lupoid dogs and "Skylos tou Pyrou" are very close or one and the same.

Not all Pyrrou dogs are white, they come in solid light colours, from white to cream and fawn, but I've also seen some bicoloured dogs that were presented to me as pure, but later dismissed as crosses by other fanciers. There is also a pure white dog known as the White Greek Shepherd Dog or Olympus Dog, even though it has nothing to do with the Olympus mountain. Maybe you're thinking of that one?

Wolf thanks for your great insights. You know more than most Greeks on the subject. I don't have the answer, but the issue is how to deal with lupoid dogs of various solid and parti-colours. The white lupoid strain, you are right is not identified with Olympos despite its name. I hear that the white dogs breed true to type among themselves but when crossed with lupoid dogs of other colours results are not uniform and I am talking about conformation. At least this tell us the white lupoid strain is an old one. There are farmers in various places that always breed this white lupoid type, but which can't be pinpointed to a precise geographical area.

"Skilos tou Pyrrou" (Pyrrhus' Dog, after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, 319/318–272 BC) was an attempted classification / nomenclature which did not get support or acceptance. There are three varieties of Hellenic livestock guardian breeds recognised by the Kennel Club of Greece, the White Sheepdog (Lefko Elliniko Tsopanoskylo), the Hellenicos Poimenikos and the Molossos of Epirus. There are other landraces awaiting recognition but Skilos tou Pyrrou or Skilos tou Alexandrou or Drakontas etc are NOT one of them. So these fanciful names only serve to create confusion.