L. P. Sabaneev (edition 1986) described two dog breeds discovered in 1877 in the Pamir Moutnains by scientific expeditions of the Turkestan Society of Lovers of Nature. One of them is “Javzy (Asian longhair bird dog); a small male over three years old. Height at the shoulder is 18 inches, length from base of tail to tip of muzzle is 28 inches, tail is 10 inches (1 inch = 2.54 cm); coat color of body is dark coffee brown turning paler on fringes; nose is pale coffee brown; eyes are dingy green resembling color of French mustard; iris is brown. Body slightly bulky, but well proportioned and beautiful, emphasizing strength and endurance of the dog; tail is straight and slightly longer proportionally to the dog’s size; ears are small, set like in European Setter; nose is small, pointed, as a result of which muzzle in lateral view looks wedge-shaped. Ears, tail and thighs have rather long furnishing of wavy hairs. Hair over entire body is short and rather thick, on the abdomen hair is longer than on other parts; perhaps the dog is well coated for a harsh climate. Generally, appearance of the dog strongly resembles Setter. If not for it’s sturdy body and peculiar wedge-shaped muzzle, the Javzy, would seem to be a true Setter, but in miniature. I would never expect to find a definitely cultured dog breed in such an inaccessible, remote mountains of Central Asia… The Javzy is great at making faces; like the Karateginka, he is a leaper and a player, but he has an independent and proud character; in a fight he is passionate and aggressive, attacks any enemy and would not give up until it injures it into bleeding… Generally, the strength and energy of them (Javzy) is remarkable, but due to their small size and habit to run by short leaps, like if the dog would jump from one rock on another, they are little use in local (near Tashkent) hunting in thick grass and thickets… Mountain hunters use their peculiar dogs along with falcons and hawks on beautiful partridges, ulars, quails, ducks and snipes; in mountains, they are very agile during search and have a strong pointing set…” L. P. Sabeneev makes a conclusion that the Javzy was a dog of very ancient origin out of some other unknown dogs, possibly out of Spanish dogs introduced in Southern India by Portuguese and from there, across India and Afghanistan, reaching Pamir Mountains, where they have changed and became adapted to mountain climate.
|
