Comparable Karyologic Analysis of the Karakachan Dog within Canis Familiaris

ABSTRACT

The Karakachan Dog is one of Europe's oldest dog breeds. A typical Mollos, created for guarding its owner's flock and property, it does not hesitate to fight wolves and bears or to defend its owner and his family in case of danger. Its ancestors started forming as early as the third millennium BC. The Karakachan Dog is a descendant of the dogs of the Thracians—the oldest inhabitants of the Balkan peninsula, renowned as stock-breeders, whom Herodotus describes as the most numerous people after the Indians. The Proto-Bulgarians also played an essential part in the formation of the Karakachan Dog as they brought their dogs with them at the time of their migration from Pamir and Hindukush. The dog is named after the Karakachans—nomadic shepherds of Thracian origin. Due to their conservative stock-breeding traditions, they managed to preserve some of the oldest breeds of domestic animals in Europe—the Karakachan sheep, the Karakachan horse, and, of course, the Karakachan Dog.

The data collected from 8 dogs (5 male and 3 female), possessing exterior and behavior characteristics typical for the breed was used in the study. The Karakachan Dog data was compared with the results from various authors on the topics of Canidae family cytogenetics, the karyotype of the dog, intersexuality in the dog and numerical and structural chromosome abnormalities in the dog. Among numerical chromosome abnormalities diagnosed in the dog, the most common are sex chromosome aneuploides. There were other forms of numerical chromosome abnormalities found in the Karakachan dog—the polyploidy and specific structural chromosome abnormalities.

Keywords:

• chromosome aberrations
• dog karyotype
• karakachan dog
• karyology