I, being a dog enthusiast, love all dogs, especially guard dogs. I always wanted to have dog breeds that have no representation in Myanmar before, so that all locals can enjoy mingling around new types of pure breed dogs.
Almost all guard dogs owners are familiar with German Shepherd (Alsatian), Doberman (Dobe), Rottweiler (Rotti), etc. Yet almost all of them in Myanmar would not have seen or heard of Boerboel, Giant Schnauzer, American Akita, Caucasian Shepherd, etc.
Chapter 1 SNOW
With that passion in mind, our first import of a Giant Schnauzer from Europe happened in 2014. He was affectionately named ‘Snow’. Snow came from a long line of champion parents and grandparents in Europe. His father is a European Champion and his mother is a Serbian National Champion.
Snow, like all Giant Schnauzers (GS), likes cold temperatures. GS are excellent guard dogs. The qualities that made them better than German Shepherd Dogs (GSD) aka Alsatian are the facts that they bark less, and they do not shred. They are also as intelligent and trainable as any GSD. Prior to WWII, GS are also used as police and military dogs. GS also known as Riesenschnauzer, due to their mustaches, are historically rat hunting dogs (no jobs for cats anymore!). Due to that heritage they were super fast and they like to dig.
Chapter 2 PUCCI
One and half year later after Snow, a South African famous native, a Boerboel, arrived in Yangon. I have admired Boerboel long ago, when I visited the home of a multi-millionaire boss of a listed company, in Malaysia. He only kept Boerboels as his guard dogs. He’s got about 10 of them. With Boerboels around, not only thieves, but also other dogs dare not come anywhere near his compound.
Pucci, a Boerboel bitch, arrived in Yangon when she was just four months old. She is super strong, just like all Boerboels. She is very protective of her owner, as always. When doing leash free walks, she would walk in front of the owner and warn the owner of dangers, if any, ahead. Pucci loves children and other animals too. She has a kind soul. She will never fight with other dogs or grab other dogs’ food. When others try to grab her food, she would just give a mini growl only to warn. Most get the hint not to mess with her.
Having come from a hot country of South Africa, she is used to the heat in Myanmar. If you want people just to be afraid from the looks, Boerboel is the dog for you. It means when Boerboel barks, you better have a look. The only downside of Boerboel I can think of is that, it drools a bit. So when it comes near you to kiss or smell you, it can be a kiss that you have to run for your life, especially if you are well dressed for an occasion.
Chapter 3 DOUGLAS
The most intelligent guard dog in the world is GSD, based on the number of commands that it can learn. Yet, there are too many poorly bred GSD with bad characteristics and health conditions. I felt that i would like to try a GSD, yet it needed to be rare and hence, finally decided to get a all back GSD.
Douglas parents are both champion show dogs and he was imported into Myanmar when he was eleven months old. Among all of my top quality dogs, Douglas is the most handsome of them all. GSD got two lines: working line and show line. Douglas is a show line GSD. He is sweet and he wants to go out all the time. You would be even more popular than a cele once you go out with Douglas. There would be non-stop line of people queuing to take a picture with him (not you, the handler!)
Chapter 4 TAKING STOCK
Time to take stock! I have tried three different rare guard dog breeds into Myanmar, as i wanted to experience for myself which breed would be successful and suitable here. GS are normally good for Myanmar. Being medium hair length dogs, they need regular grooming. They cannot be left out under the sun for so long.
Boerboels are also suitable for Myanmar weather. But if you cannot stand the drool at all, they are not for you. Excellent guard dogs nonetheless.
GSD are the most popular guard dogs in Myanmar, but if you want to stand out from the crowd you need to get GSD all back. GSD all white also exist (but do not confuse them with the Swiss Shepherd Dogs), but they are most expensive of all GSD but not so intimidating.
With this initial assessment, I decided to continue breeding of GS, as they have not yet existed in Myanmar. Another lovable part of GS is they do not lick you or any part of you; they just acknowledge you with a touch of their nose. No need to worry about drool at all.
Chapter 5 FIONA
Fiona is a female GS. Initially aimed to be the partner for Snow. Fiona was seven months old when we pick her up from Bangkok Airport, coming all the way from Europe. Fiona was definitely an alpha female. Thank god I am quite experienced with large guard dogs. You have to know how to be the boss! Before long, Fiona becomes a very good guard dog and an obedient well-trained member of the pack.
The sad thing about Fiona is that she does not acknowledge Snow as above her, in terms of pack ranking. As such Snow has difficulty in mounting her and eventually the mating attempts have to be abandoned.
Chapter 6 SNOW + PUCCI
At one point of time, Snow and Pucci were being kept together as guardians of our office premises downtown. After preventing two of them from mating for many years, one fine day, due to the change of office janitors, these two managed to successfully mate. The funny thing is that we did not realize Pucci was pregnant until in the late stages.
Finally Pucci’s puppies arrived in end of May 2020, in the midst of the first COVID wave. Altogether seven treasures, we even thought of giving names relating to COVID or seven little dwarfs from Snow White story. Finally after many weeks of suggestions and funny thoughts, Donald, Capone, Bonnie, Goofy, Gaga, Sherlock, Nano were finally agreed.
At the point of writing, we still have Donald, Bonnie and Goofy under our care, one year plus old and really big puppies now. The first two are in Yangon, whereas Goofy stays in our farm in Pyin Oo Lwin (May Myo).
For ease of tracking the family, the following represented the rehousing of our beautiful and strong puppies:
Capone (male) Aung Min Khine, CEO of Air Thanlwin.
Gaga (female) Sin Wa Li of Windermere (Thanlwin Road)
Sherlock (male) Naresh Kumar of Coriander Leaves Restaurant.
Nano (female) Htet Htet Aung of Inya Road
We are very pleased that the puppies are all enjoying their better homes under the care of humans who love them.
Chapter 7 MICKY
Normally I am against cross breeding of different dog breeds. The only scientific reason is that you will not be able to judge the temperament of the cross breed puppies. Imagine a GSD crossbred with a Golden Retriever; the former is a guard dog, whereas the latter love everyone, pet dog. How would you know if the puppy of these two has the temperament of a guard dog or one who is even going to welcome the thieves into the house?
Other than accidental pairing of Snow and Pucci, we have no intention to pair Douglas with a non-GSD breed. The female has to be pure black too. In the midst of COVID third wave, we managed to secure Micky from Thailand, as a potential future partner for Douglas. Micky is all black female working line GSD. Micky parents are all imported working line GSD from Europe. Both are all black. Even at four months old, Micky is showing signs of over-qualification for becoming a police dog. GSD working lines are used normally as police and military dogs. She is hyper intelligent, learn commands very fast and a very good guard dog.
Chapter 8 The Near Future 2022
Snow is getting old and he can no longer mount on Fiona. To preserve GS bloodline, we would try to pair Donald or Goofy with Fiona. After a year or so, we would also try to create all black GSD puppies by pairing Douglas with Fiona.
