Territories
Guardian dogs are a phenomenon of the Old-World pastoral belt — an arc from Iberia through the Alps, Anatolia and the Caucasus to Central Asia and the Himalaya — carried later into the Americas. Each crucible below shaped its dogs through a distinct suite of landscape, predators, disease and culture. Explore the 19 territories and the 135 breeds they forged.
All 19 crucibles · 135 breeds
Each marker sits on the crucible's origin region — honest to the country/landrace level, not a precise point. · Guardian-dog word-roots glossary →
Old-World crucibles
Tibetan Plateau & Himalaya
Roof of the world — extreme altitude, thin air, snow leopards and Himalayan wolves.
Bakharwal Dog · Changkhi Dog · Gaddi Kutta · Tibetan Mastiff
The Caucasus
A geological wall of stone and ice between the Black and Caspian seas.
Adjara Shepherd Dog · Armenian Gampr · Azerbaijani Shepherd Dog · Caucasian Shepherd Dog +4
Anatolia
The Turkish plateau — the cradle of the great pastoral guardian complex.
Akbash · Aksaray Shepherd Dog · Anatolian Shepherd · Kangal Shepherd Dog +2
The Levant & Mesopotamia
Fertile Crescent to the Zagros and Iranian plateau — the oldest dog country.
Canaan Dog · Kurdish Mastiff · Pshdar Dog · Saluki +1
Central Asian Steppe & Desert
Karakum to the Tian Shan — desert, steppe and the great transhumance.
Central Asian Shepherd Dog · Kazakh Tobet · Kuchi Dog · Kyrgyz Döböt +3
South Asia
The subcontinent — Deccan plateau, Punjab plains and the Western Ghats.
Alangu Mastiff · Bully Kutta · Chippiparai · Mudhol Hound +2
East & Southeast Asia
Monsoon highlands and island village-dog pools of Japan and the tropics.
Bắc Hà Dog · Shikoku Inu · Thai Bangkaew Dog · Thai Ridgeback
The Maghreb & Sahara
Atlas mountains to the Sahel — sighthound desert and mountain guardians.
Aidi · Azawakh · Sloughi
Sub-Saharan Africa
Savanna and veld — from basal village dogs to the colonial boerboel.
Africanis · Basenji · Boerboel · Maluti Shepherd +1
The Alps
Alpine valleys — the Sennenhund draught-and-guard complex.
Appenzeller Sennenhund · Bernese Mountain Dog · Entlebucher Mountain Dog · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog +4
The Apennines & Italy
Peninsula and islands — Maremma flocks to the molosser corso.
Bergamasco Shepherd · Cane Corso · Cane di Mannara · Cane Fonnese +4
Iberia & the Pyrenees
The Meseta and its mountain walls — mastín country and the great white flock dogs.
Alano Español · Basque Shepherd Dog · Cão da Serra de Aires · Cão de Castro Laboreiro +8
Atlantic & Balearic Islands
Canary, Azores and Balearic islands — wolf-free crucibles of their own.
Barbado da Terceira · Ca de Bestiar · Cão de Fila de São Miguel · Garafian Shepherd +3
Carpathians & Balkans
The great arc — Dinarics to the Rhodopes, sarplaninac to karakachan.
Bohemian Shepherd · Bucovina Shepherd Dog · Czechoslovakian Wolfdog · Greek Shepherd Dog +10
The Hungarian Puszta
The Carpathian Basin plain — the corded komondor and kuvasz.
Komondor · Kuvasz
The Russian Steppe
Pontic steppe and Soviet kennels — reworked guardians of the east.
Black Russian Terrier · East European Shepherd · South Russian Ovcharka
Northern & Central European Belt
The Germanic–Lowland working belt — herders, drovers and estate guards.
Beauceron · Belgian Shepherd · Berger Picard · Bouvier des Ardennes +15
New-World crucibles
North America
A modern frontier crucible — ranch curs and reconstructed working shepherds.
American Bulldog · Black Mouth Cur · Blue Lacy · Catahoula Leopard Dog +7
South America
Pampas and sierra — the dogo, cimarrón and fila from colonial molosser stock.
Cimarrón Uruguayo · Dogo Argentino · Fila Brasileiro