Here's a brief history of Iranian dogs--ancestor of many European breed.

Classical authors identified four types of Persian hounds:

Elymaeans: northern shore of the Persian Gulf

Hyrcanians: north shore of Iran-south shore of the Caspian Sea

Carmanians: Persian Gulf

Medians: southwestern Persia

The Iranian Alan Peoples and their 'Alaunt' dogs

The Alans (Arans/Aryan) people, a pastoral Iranian tribe that lived north of the Black Sea and Pontic Steppe were expert horse and dog breeders who introduced their dogs to Europe. These Alan peoples bred their dogs for work and developed different strains within the breed for specific duties. If it was not for the Alaunt breed we would not have some of the very popular dogs today like the Boxer, Great Dane, Bullmastiff and Bullterrier.

European Dogs bred from the Alaunts

The breed was further developed in Spain, France, Germany, England, and in Italy. However, a particular breed known as Alaunt survived until the 17th century. The Alaunt is regarded by some cytologists as the ancestor to the original bulldog breeds. In France, Alaunts were separated into three distinct categories:

Alano Español or Spanish bulldog

The name of the breed comes from the Iranic Alani peoples, nomadic pastoralists who migrated south into in Spain and Catalonia (Goth/Alania) as part of the 'Migration Period' in the 5th Century.

Bullenbeisser

It is a long held belief that the Beisser type developed in Germany from crosses with the Canis Alani after the fall of Rome. This is certainly a more than plausible conclusion considering that the only geographical division between the Germanic Celts and the Iranic Alani was the Danube River.

English Mastiffs and Bulldogs

The Iranic Alan peoples provided cavalry for Rome and in 50 AD, 5,500 Alans were transporeted to Britain to guard Hadrian’s Wall. They brought with them their Alaunt dogs whose genetic template gave rise to the British Pugnances as fighting dogs which English Mastiffs and Bulldogs descend from. There are countless bull and mastiff breeds of the world that owe their existence to the Canis Alani, aka Alaunt.

Dogo Argentino

In the 1920s, breeders developed the Dogo by crossing the Cordoba Fighting Dog with other breeds such as the Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, English Bulldog, Bull Terrier and Dogue de Bordeaux.

Celtic Wolfhounds

were the original “Prey” type or “Chase” type War Dogs which were interbred with Alaunts and other imports that gave rise to the Bandogs of England and to the Presa, Fila, and Cuban Bloodhound used in the 15th century during the Spanish Conquests of the Americas.

Eastern Europe

The dogs of the Eastern Europe have also been significantly shaped by the Alaunts. It was after the Huns overran the Iranic Alani tribes, that the Alans were split into Eastern Alans and Western Alans. The Eastern Alani tribes merged with the Albanians, Ossetians, Serbs and other Balkan nations introducing their dogs into the already existing canine population in those regions. Some believe the white-coloured Alaunts were the direct ancestors of the Greek and Albanian breeds which in turn influenced all other white dogs in the Balkans, Illyrian Mountain Dog Metchkar, Qen Ghedje, Hellenikos Poimenikos Molossers.

In Iran itself

The Persian Mastiff (Sarabi)

is a breed of livestock guardian dog indigenous to Sarab, a city in north-west of Iran. It has been used for centuries by Iranian shepherds to guard sheep against wolves, bears, jackals and other animals. The Sarabi Dogs are some of the most powerful dogs in the world.

Saluki (Persian Greyhound)

also called Persian Greyhound and Persian Gazelle has been a successful breed – its grace, symmetry and speed (the fastest dog according to the Guinness Book of records) have been very useful for hunting and have been used by tribal people over the centuries. Salukis found their way to Europe perhaps as early as during the Crusades and later English soldiers returning from the wars in the Middle East brought back with them their pet Salukis. Greyhound and Afghan Hound (also referred to as Persian Greyhound) most probably related to Saluki.

--By Farid Parsa