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The Šarplaninac is a reserved and intuitive breed, stubborn and undemonstrative, but properly trained and handled with authority, it excels at a variety of tasks. Dog-aggression and wariness of strangers are common traits of the Šarplaninac, which is why early socialization is of utmost importance. Heavily-boned and muscular, the dog has a full top-coat, with an abundant dense undercoat, making it weatherproof and suited for an outside life. The Šarplaninac has been known to fight or chase off a wolf, lynx and even Balkan bears. The breed can also work cattle and serve as a guard dog; it was bred and used as a military dog under Josip Broz Tito. The Šarplaninac is spreading through North American ranches as a sheep herding dog and a livestock guardian. Since 1975, successful exports have been carried out to the United States and Canada to control coyotes, and this is where its future security rests. It is now gaining recognition as a hard-working, able flock guard in those countries.

The Šarplaninac is a large, muscular, strongly-built dog. The body is slightly longer than the height at the withers, and the front legs account for approximately 55% of the height. The head is large but proportional to the body, with dark eyes.

Sources from 1308 Anonymi Descriptio Europae Orientalis (Anonymous Description of Eastern Europe) says of the Illyrians and their dogs: The dogs here are of a huge size and are so wild that they kill like lions. As Pliny mentions, the Illyrians sent such a dog to Alexander the Great, which vanquished lions, elephants and bulls in the stadium. They have painted eyes, greyish in the pupils, such that they can see better at night than in the daytime[4] Others say its origin is not clear, it is believed that their ancestors were the ancient Molossian dogs of Greece and the livestock guarding dogs of Turkey.[2][1] The breed was initially recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in 1939 as the Illyrian Shepherd Dog, after the Ancient name of the region. In 1957, at the request of the Yugoslav Canine Federation (JKS), the FCI changed the name to Yugoslav Shepherd Dog-Šarplaninac, after the Šar Mountains (Šar Planina) where the breed is most common.[2][1] The image of the Šarplaninac is featured on the reverse of the Macedonian 1 denar coin, issued since 1993,[5] and on the emblem of Dragaš, a town in southern Kosovo, located in the Šar Mountains region.[6]

Usually sable or gray with darker "overalls" on the head and back, the undercoat being paler. Almost all other colours are accepted, but the dogs must not have large white patches in their coat. There are several varieties of colors, by frequency of occurrence: Tiger Color with 30%, grey color with all the varieties 20%, Yellow color with black muzzle 20%, white color 20% and counter mask (muzzle).

The temperament of the breed is described as independent, reliable, protective but not snappy, incorruptible and devoted to its master. The breed is aloof with outsiders, and calm until a threat to the flock presents itself. The breed has a highly protective nature. In the absence of a flock of sheep, the Šarplaninac will often treat its humans as sheep - herding them away from danger or undesirable areas. They are serene and majestic, gentle with children and smaller dogs. They are also highly intelligent and bred to work without human supervision while guarding the flocks in the high pastures. Young pups can kill small animals until trained not to hunt.