AKELA NÉPE KENNEL

I got my first Sarplaninac dog in 1994. The flat was small for it. It was Akela. It was not an exhibited specimen but I like it and the breed with it.

Szabolcs-őre Cora and HJCH Junior Durmitor Jindi (Dia) were my first dogs that I intended to breed, take to exhibitions and later use them as guard dogs. Dia turned to be more successful on every field, it got the title of Hungária Junior Champion. Dia was a calm, balanced and very tough character, however, it had only two puppies. It lived up to the age of 12, blind in the last two years! I never saw her suffer, except for the last day when she was put to sleep forever.

Cora had more problematic features so I had to choose a better male for her. It was Ich.Don-Efo od Gim-A. I brought it from far away and it was not cheap but as I found this male the best, I had no choice. This male became World Champion (Cora excellent 4) in Budapest in 1996. There were five other world champion titles in his ancestor line. Still, I chose the dog that won almost nothing – Roki Soko.

The first litter was born from this mating in 1997. I chose the name Akela Népe for the kennel that came from the name of my first dog and The Jungle Book. I kept three puppies from this litter – Akela-Népe Atos, Azték and Ajna. I did not have exhibitional purposes only. As an animal raiser, they had to guard the ranch, too. They did their guarding duties ecxellently and I led them on exhibition with pride as well.

 Akela-Népe Azték left behind Atos. Ajna got HJCH title but obviously Akela-Népe Atos was the most successful among them. Atos got HJCH and the title of the Dog of the Year. In the same year I got the title Breeder of the Year.

I entered Atos in Smederevska Palanka, Serbia, which is the most significant special Sarplaninac exhibition ever. More than 150 dogs were entered! My dog was just left behind the four best dogs in the category of the young! I got a certificate about it. There were 20! rival males! Tigar od Piksija was among them that won all the exhibitions before and after.

It is interesting how the viewpoints of the judges have changed. The megalomaniacal big head, the big size and the limphatic phenotype are not needed nowadays.

It was the first exhibition where I saw the authentic izvornic Slavko Martinovics Murgja that was an original source dog. I got impressed by this dog immmediately! It was different from the dogs of the trend that time. Briefly, that dog had everything to only that extent that it was necessary. No more and no less. It made me think …

I took Atos to many exhibitions. It was the dog with which I achieved one of my greatest exhibitional results – World Champion in Milan!!!

World Champion 2000

Atos became Hungaria World Champion in 2001. From that time on I went to exhibitions less often. At that time I focused all my energy on developing my ranch. If I had time, I went to several exhibitions every year. I was looking for the best specimen, and of course, it was good to meet my friends and acquaintances. I have been going to Smederevska Palanka Special with my friends and my camera since 1998. I have also been to special exhibitions in Melenci, Nis, Surcin, Mladenovac, Kula and Banja Luka. I have visited many breeders in Serbia ( Piksija, Bjelica Dinic, Mika, etc.) I intend to upload videos about these trips.

Every time we went on these trips, we talked about the authentic dogs, the mountains, the shepherds, Restelica. We had been planning to get to the place once where many legendary sheepdogs were born (Roki Restelicki, Barut Slavkov Restelicki, etc.) However, it was difficult to make it real, especially because of Kosovo situation.

First I got to Prizren, Musnikovo with my friend, Sanyi Barna in 2004. We visited Fajk there for the first time, which is the brother of the legendary Sait. It was a great experience! I can say for sure that my opinion of the Sarplaninac changed. I bought my female dog Meda that time, then Atina. The father of Meda is Sapi, the father of Atina is Div-Ch.JYU. I travelled to Montenegro with Sanyi in 2005, and a few years later I went to Kosovo four times in 2008-9.

After that we got to Restelica several times, finally in the way we wanted to – on a small bus, with a small team in great atmosphere. The top dog was Karabash Gafurov, which I bought together with Sanyi from the shepherd Gafur Doda. Karabash had puppies that time, and our friend Imre bought one of them, Gafur.

We saw Isa Karabas first on our first visit to Restelica. It was 20-month old pregnant then. It cost a huge amount of money, and for the first sight we judged her features wrongly. However, at the age of three it got mature. We liked it, but by then it had already been sold and became Avdi Karabas

Meda was mated first with Elmo od Skitnica. From this litter Akela-Népe Ciril was born in 2008, which got the title of World Junior Winner at the World Dog Show in Pozsony (Bratislava).

For the second time Meda was mated with Karabas Gafurov. From this litter Déva was born. Déva is a very calm female with excellent movement and athletic build. I took her to exhibitions, she got the titles of winner breed, Derby winner and Club winner,and she got CAC and CACIB several times. From her litter I would like to mention Mira, which got even more successful. It did not turn to be two years old when it became the Serbian Champion. In addition, it got the title of group winner twice at special exhibitions in Serbia.

Two males, Akela-Népe Dzsuda and Akela-Népe Démon from this litter can be seen on the webpage and on YouTube. They were taken to be guard dogs and they do their duties well. In 2011 I went to Montenegro again with my friends. This time we stayed with Slavko Martinovic, the legend of that time.

In 2011 I mated Déva with a male from Novi Pazari. I travelled 1600 kms to mate my female dog with a male that I liked. That was the time when I thought I would buy an excellent male that my friends and other people who like Sarplaninac could use for mating.

In 2012 I met Avdi Karabas again that was 5 years old then and on sale. I bought it in the town of Vitina, Kosovo in May, 2012. It was not in the condition of participating in exhibitions as it weighed only 50 kgs. Still, I had to enter him at Kula specijalka in the class of izvorni so that I could use it for mating.

From that time on my dog’s pedigreed name is Karabas Restelicki, which means Karabas from Restelica. There are several videos of him on YouTube. Mating started soon with him. Atina was mated with him in May, 2012. I would mention Gladiátor (Yugo)from the first litter, and Iron (Zima) from the second litter, of which videos can be seen on YouTube, too.

Déva was also mated with Karabas. I have received several photos of Jutas from this litter. Of course, I use him for mating for my friends too, a female was brought from Hercegovina, and another one from Serbia, too.

The greatest success Karabas achieved was in October, 2013. It became the winner of the 2nd Sheepdog Meeting in Szabadszállás. It got the titles of the Best Adult Male and the Absolute Winner among such excellent breeds as Middle Asian sheepdog, Caucasian sheepdog, Kuvasz, Komondor, Kangal and Sarplaninac. We could win the title of the Champion at the 2nd Serbian Sarplaninac Championship in MladenovacKarabas Restelicki championship and cup returned home

My aim is to breed healthy dogs with good nerve system, good movement and excellent anatomic features. The weaker traits are getting better and better from generations to generations, and they are exactly Sarplaninac from the very first sight!

As for the future, we have not been to Macedonia. It would be good to get there, to go up to the Macedon side of Sar Mountain! It would be good to get to Bistra, Korab and Stogovo! To see a wonderful balanced specimen at one of the traditional breeders! I prefer these authentic izvorni (source) dogs. Unfortunately, just like at every other breed, it is hard to find the most excellent specimen, even in their authentic environment.

I have mentioned my friends many times and it is no wonder. My friends have always been important to me. I count on them and I enjoy their company. In my view, we would get lost if we did not make a group of friends. However, now we are able to help each other with buying valuable mating males, mating them and achieving successes more easily.

2014. 03.

Zsolt Csapó