While the breeds origins are completely muddled, the name comes from Yugoslavia. In their travels, they have been far and wide and served a variety of roles; war dog, guard dog, sheppard, ratter, retriever, bird dog, and circus dog. They came to prominence, finally, as a coach dog in Victorian England. It continued its role even after the aristocracy forgot about it, serving with horse drawn fire engines. In the fire house, they served as ratters and protected the horse from other dogs.
These dogs are stamina dogs. They go forever, it seems. They can be playful and energetic but retain certain stubborn tendencies. Because of the severe inbreeding caused by the surge in popularity from the Disney movies, they do suffer from medical issues. This is a dog for someone who knows dogs, rather than a novice. Like any good ratter, certain individuals do have some aggression issues.