As it happens, this friend is a show judge, and during an assignment in Bogota, she saw a big goofy puppy galumphing around outside of the ring. It was cute and, as she later said, “felt right.” She did her homework, and the next thing she knew, the little lady at the right was in her home and part of the family. The picture at the top are her parents.

We tip our hat to this friend. The breed is not in good shape. It’s almost impossible to find health tested puppies (she was able to get her pup from x-rayed parents in Austria), and there are only a few breeders in Romania with a few others scattered around Europe. There are a few other dogs in the US,  but not many.  In time, if and when the breed has a club with 100 members, and a registry of 150 dogs, it can be considered for the Miscellaneous Class.  This is a good start towards preserving a breed that has history dating back to the Middle Ages.  In fact, the oldest images of “Romanian Baracul” (the popular local name for the breed) is said to be as old as the Roman column of the emperor Trajan where carved images show fights between the Romans and dacs who had Mioritics by their side. Furthermore, these dog are mentioned the famous “Miorita,” the best known Romanian popular poem/ballad.

Mioritics are massive, fearless dogs that come from the Carpathian mountains where they guarded the herd or their owner’s property from predators and thieves. Despite their size, they are extremely agile, a surprise to predators eyeing the flock for easy pickings. One site wrote that this apparently harmless ball of fur will face an attacker without any sign of concern, then at the last moment, lunge forward and underneath the attacker, and strike at the exposed underbelly in a very efficient and effective manner. That said, Mioritics become very attached to their human family, and will die to protect them. Anyone breaking into a home will not hear barking, but will suddenly feel the impact of a hairy cannon ball hitting them with the force of a small car.

Between its devotion, an enchanting teddy bear persona, and the stewardship of someone who cared enough to see the breed entered in the FSS, we suspect a promising future for this breed.

Photos shared by Nancy Liebes