Medelyanskaya dog: history of the breed

Hunting is one of the most common hobbies of the nobility. The hunt hunting was especially attractive. Each aristocrat kept a kennel with dogs trained to hunt a different kind of beast. Do not shunned such fun in Russia. There were special dogs, trained to drive a moose, a tour, a bison (the so-called horse dogs), there were Russian greyhounds, hounds. But, besides them, there existed another native Russian breed of hunting dogs that could overwhelm a bear or a bull - Medelyan dog.

Past medelyanskaya dogs full of unsolved mysteries. No one knows for sure who is the ancestor of the breed of the largest hunting dogs. There are several versions of the breed occurrence.

According to the Brockhaus and Efron “Encyclopedic Dictionary”, the ancestors of medelyans are people from Assyria and Egypt, taken out by Roman soldiers first to Greece and then to the Eurasian mainland.

The famous in the XIX century veterinarian Ludwig Busse, describing the medelan in his book “Dog in the main and incidental breeds”, believed that the famous Russian dog belongs to the original British breed, exported to the mainland in the II century by the Roman conquerors. Presumably, the name of the breed "Medelyanskaya" is considered a confirmation of this version, that is, which came from Mediolana (the ancient name of Milan).

But in Italy there is no mention of this, or similar to the breed of dogs, memories of dogs, just as their representatives do not exist. But in those times, the Medellian dog was recognized by everyone as a primordially Russian, very valuable breed.

According to another version, the history of the Medellan began in pre-Mongol Russia. The dog-like dogs that came to the Russian princes from the Italian lands uncontrollably interbred with the aboriginal wolf-like dogs used in the hunt for a large beast. As a result, went several lines of dogs that have adopted different features from their ancestors.

Since there was no control over the crossing of animals with free keeping, the rules of natural selection were in effect, when large dogs could cover only large females. The result was breed of very large dogs, which later became the pride of Russian dog breeding.

Medelyan dog was held by kings and the highest nobility, it was presented to foreign monarchs. The price of a dog trained for the beast was rather big. There is evidence of the purchase of Medellian dogs for the royal hunt in 1833 at a price of 100 rubles and 320 rubles per individual, which is comparable to the price of an expensive thoroughbred horse.

Until the middle of the 19th century, medelenas were used in harassment of large animals, being a pickling dog, but with the prohibition of such hunting, the contents of medels became too expensive for many landowners, and the breed began to fade. The breed finally ceased to exist after the Great October Revolution, when in the process of the formation of a new state system was not up to dogs. Subsequently, attempts were made to save the disappearing breed by crossing the Medelyan with short-haired Saint-Bernards or mastiffs.

Such famous writers as A. Tolstoy, F. Dostoevsky or A. Kuprin mention their Medellian dog in their works. Kuprin has a story written on behalf of Medellian's dog named Sapsan, the writer's personal dog. In this work, the author suggests that initially the name of the breed sounded like “Nedelyan”, since the hunt was held once a week, but gradually the pronunciation changed to “Medelyan”.

The famous Medellan dog had an impressive appearance, with a muzzle resembling a bulldog.

• According to the description compiled by V. Priklonsky, the medelan had a huge head with a broad forehead and an elephant-shaped nape. There are strong wrinkles on the face and forehead. Short flat face with large flecks.
• The eyes of the dog had a bloody protein, and the iris, depending on the color, was light yellow in light dogs or dark in other colors. Low eyebrows gave the dog a formidable look.
• Medium-sized, low-set ears with lowered tips tight to the skull.
• The body was long, with a wide powerful back, deep chest and strong sacrum.
• The fore and hind limbs of medium length are wide apart.
• The low set tail never went up high. In a calm state, lowered, with excitement, the tail lifted slightly.
• The dog's skeleton was distinguished by its strength and massiveness, due to which the shape of the dog breathed indescribable power.
• The coat is short, dense, with a thick undercoat. The suit was allowed any, but in preference was a "wolf" color. White markings were allowed for any color.
• High (up to 90 cm at the withers) and long (up to 125 cm from nose to tail) the adult individual weighed up to 120 kg. And the growth of the dog was achieved not due to the length of the legs, but due to the overall size.

The pickling dog, in spite of its frightening appearance, had a nasty character. The force he possessed allowed him to overwhelm a bull with one strike and go one on one with a bear. True, only the largest representatives of the breed possessed such power, and medium-sized individuals attacked with a group of three.

Medellany differed special devotion to the owners. There was a case when a dog named Rover, who accompanied the military, helped to catch the robbers who killed the owner. One of the attackers pulled the dog up, and drove the two to a tree, where they sat before the arrival of the gendarmes, whose attention Rover could attract when they passed by. And the dog seemed to understand what was required of it, and behaved calmly, angry only at the robbers. Her behavior was accepted by the court as evidence and the perpetrators received a well-deserved punishment.

See how the modern Medelyan dog looks like in the next video.