Description of a Tornjak.

Tornjaks belong to the rare livestock protection breeds. The Tornjak is one of the very old breeds from ancient times, and it was mentioned in handwritten papers for the first time in the 9th century, in a Catholic Church\'s document. The breed was later mentioned in the 11th and 14th century. Tornjaks from these documents is the very same as they are today, except for the name of the breed, which was Hrvatski pas planinac, meaning Croatian dog from the mountain. The dogs in these documents was described entirely equal (function and exterior) as they are today: a protective guarding dog which keep and watch all what their humans ask from them, but highly intelligent and selected without sufficient aggression, and they are pleasant against strangers that they meet outside of their own property. It is considered that dogs of the Tornjak\'s type have existed in Dinaridi (region around Mountain Dinara, Croatia) from the Roman times. The Romans used their dogs as war and guardian dogs, as well as for fighting in the arena. Although the Tornjak is a very old breed, with the vanishing of nomadic sheep-breeding also the Tornjak vanished gradually. In the early 70\'s, a group of cinologs began to collect the remained dogs which best corresponded to the old writings about their race.

The first written tracks about the existence of Tornjaks date back to the 9th century. Description given to the Tornjak were found in the writings of Peter Horvat bishop of Ðakovo, Croatia, which date back to the year 1374, those descriptions were also found in the writings of Peter Lukiæ canon of the Ðakovo diocese, which were written in 1752. The term Tornjak evolves from the Croatian word \"tor\", which means an enclosed area where sheep live in. Still today, these dogs are called Torashi in the surroundings of the city of Sinj and on the Kamešnica- mountains, whereas the shepherds of the Dinara-mountains call them Dinarci.

According to research, Tornjak is most likely the descendant of the Tibetan Mastiff, or from where the today\'s Iran is. The environment has created a healthy and strong dog, with modest needs for food and shelter, and a great watchdog.