The Kurdish Mastiff,[1][2][3][4] Assyrian Shepherd,[3] or Pshdar dog[5] (Kurdish: سەگی پشدەری) is a dog landrace native to the mountainous Kurdistan Region in Iraq, especially the Pshdar region in Sulaymaniyah Governorate.
[5] The weight of the adult dogs increases with age and can reach 80 kg.
[5] In 1892, John Paul Dudley published a medical treatise on dogs and mentioned the Kurdish Mastiff: In Kurdistan in northern Asia Minor, and that region of Asia, there is a dog much resembling the English Mastiff, which is the constant companion and friend of the Kurd — a shepherd and watch dog partaking much of the character of his half - barbarous master, and will not well bear a change of country and associations.
Nothing owned by the Kurd is valued more highly than this fierce and powerful animal, which is to a great extent treated as sacred, at least so far as the hand of a stranger is concerned.
In color the Kurdish Mastiff is mainly tawny; has tail long, and head large, and his body is tall, ponderous, and well proportioned".