(English translation)

ORIGIN: Greece and especially Epirus and the surrounding mountain areas.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD :

UTILIZATION : pastoral and guardian from predators such as jackals, wolves and bears; a role that he has been playing for thousands of years.

CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 2 Pinscher and Schnauzer type dogs
- Molossoid and mountain breeds
        -Swiss Mountain and Cattle-Dogs.
         Section 2.2 Molossoid breeds, mountain type
         Without working trial.

GENERAL APPEARANCE: Dog of big size and moderate proportions; sturdy; strongly built with strong bones ; with big head and coat of medium length; of even disposition but can become dynamic.

IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS :
• the ration between the length of the muzzle and the length of the skull should be 4:6
• the width of the skull should be equal or greater then its length.
• The length of the body (from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock) should be greater than the height at the withers.

BEHAVIOUR / CHARACTER
Intelligent ,loyal, devoted and attached to its owner and the flock; friendly to the people of his social milieu and quite capable of protecting, when necessary, the flock or the property that it guards.

HEAD: Big , strong, deep, rectangular. Seen from above, the skull and the muzzle have almost the same shape and width, without any significant decrease between the width of the mandible and the the width of the temporal region. The topline of the muzzle and the upper outline of the skull should be slightly diverging.
In movement it is kept on the level of the topline.

CRANIAL REGION :
Skull: Big, strong, wide and slightly curved, when seeing from the side. The width of the skull equals or exceeds its length. The superciliary ridges are pronounced. The furrow is moderately pronounced. The occipital protuberance is pronounced.
Stop: Moderately pronounced and evident.

FACIAL REGION :
Nose: Large, broad, black.
Muzzle: In profile it is straight; seen from above, it is of rectangular shape, slightly narrowing towards the nose.
Lips: Sufficiently thick; the upper lip is big enough enough to cover the lower lip which has loose membranes; towards the corner of the mouth they form flews. The edge of the lips should be black.
Jaws / Teeth: Strong and wide jaws; black gums; complete and correct dentition; Scissors bite with white strong teeth and big canines.
Eyes: Relatively small, almond-shaped, of dark or light brown colour with the edge of the lids being black. With intelligent and gentle expression. The lower lids are slightly loose, especially when the dog is resting.
Ears: Medium-sized, triangular, flat, set above the level of the eye; in repose they hang close to the cheeks but when alert, they move away from them. The ears must not be cropped.

NECK: Conic-shaped, strong, compact, muscular and agile; not too long, with thick and loose skin; it forms dewlap.

BODY:

General appearance: Rectangular, compact, strong, broad; the length of the body is greater than the height at the withers.
Topline: Straight and level, either in movement or when standing .
Withers: Well-defined.
Back: Straight, strong and muscular.
Loin: Of medium length , broad, muscular
Croup: Broad, strong, well-muscled, of medium length; moderately sloping from the haunches to the root of the tail.
Chest: Broad and deep, reaching lower than the elbows, well-muscled and strong. The forechest is pronounced. The ribs are moderately rounded, well-spread and having enough space among them.
Underline and Belly: The underline is almost level and slightly tucked up in the abdominal area.

TAIL: Moderately set ; thick at its root, reaching the hock joint; with feathering at its lower part; carried low in repose but when in movement or alert it is carried level with the back, curved at its tip. The tail should not be cropped.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS : Seen from the front, the forelegs are straight, vertical and parallel; strong bones with powerful pasterns.
Shoulder blade : Long, laid-back, with well developed muscles; it forms an obtuse angle (scapulohumeral joint) of (approximately) 110 degrees with the humerus .
Upper Arm (Humerus) : Muscular, strong; its length is slightly shorter than the length of the shoulder blade.
Elbow : Regularly placed, close to the chest; The angle between the upper arm and the forearm is of approximately 130 – 135 degrees.
Forearm : Straight, vertical, with strong bones and well-muscled.
Pastern (metacarpus) : Strong; slightly sloping when seen from the side.
Forefeet : Large, “cat's toes”, with firm, strong and arched toes. Soles solid and black; strong nails.

HINDQUARTERS : Strong, powerful, muscular.
Upper thigh : Strong, broad and well-muscled.
Stifle : The knee joint is very broad without turning inwards or outwards.
Lower high : Long, well-muscled and strong
Hock (tarsal) joint : strong, with an open angle.
Metatarsus : Well-defined, straight and parallel when seen from behind; with single or double dewclaws; in animals of equal value, the ones bearing double dewclaws should be preferred.
Hindfeet : Same as the forefeet, slightly more round.

GAIT/MOVEMENT: Powerful and free when trotting ; in pacing the movement is slow and heavy.

SKIN: Abundant, thick and elastic; all the visible mucous membranes must be black.

COAT
Hair : Thick, dense, straight, of medium length; it is short on the head, ears and legs, longer on the body where it reaches 5-6 cm. In the inner part is slightly longer; with dense and soft undercoat.
Colour : Solid colours such as red, blond, yellow, black, black and tan, black and brindle, wolf's colour , deer colour, with all their shades and varieties; with or without black mask; a small patch of white on the chest and white patches on the tip of the toes are acceptable but not desirable; the less the white, the better.

SIZE AND WEIGHT:
Height : Males 66 – 75 cm.
Females 64 – 74 cm.
Weight : In accordance with the size of the dog, giving the impression of a strong and robust animal.

FAULTS: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree
Serious faults : Parallel or converging upper lines of the skull and the muzzle, narrow or very long muzzle, yellow eyes, ears set very high or cropped, thin and long neck, weak skeletal structure, height at the croup greater than the height at the withers, length of coat on the body longer than 8 cm, wavy or curly coat, loose or curved back, body without substance, cow hocks, tail curled on the back or short, large white markings dispersed on the body.
Eliminating faults : Overshot or undershot bite, entropion, ectropion, bobtail , white-coloured with patches of various colours, unpigmented visible mucous membranes and lack of several teeth, overly shy or aggressive behaviour.

N.B.: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.