Genetic Relationships Among Western Balkan Livestock Guard Dog Breeds

The three main livestock guard dog (LGD) breeds on Western Balkans, Sarplaninac, Tornjak and Karst Shepherd are a good example of how the complex genetic diversity pattern observed in dog breeds has been shaped by transition in dog breeding practices. Despite their common geographic origin and relatively recent formal recognition as separate breeds by FCI, the LGD breeds from Western Balkans show distinct characteristics in population dynamics. The highest allelic richness was found in Saplaninac (5,9429) and the lowest in the Karst Shepherd (3,3268). Using Structure analysis, breed cluster membership was estimated to be 0,9523, 0,8482 and 0,6078 for Karst Shepherd, Tornjak and Sarplaninac, respectively. The estimation of contributions of different Western Balkan LGD breeds to the total diversity and allelic richness revealed that the hypothetical loss of the Sarplaninac breed would result in greatest decrease in total diversity and allelic richness caused mainly by within-breed diversity and allelic richness. The different demographic history after the official separation of these dog breeds is strongly affecting the resolution of genetic differentiation and suggests that the population structure is not only determined by breed relatedness, but in small populations even more importantly by stochastic events.