Bulgarian Hound

The Bulgarian Hound (Български барак, Balgarski Barak), also known as the Barak, is a hunting breed from Bulgaria. This breed is prevalent in the north, northwestern and central regions of Bulgaria. Its closest relative is the Slovak Rough-haired Pointer.

Breed standard
The Barak belongs to the lineage of long-haired hounds first described by F.Laszka in 1905, and is the only long-haired hound breed in this region.

The Bulgarian Hound breed standard of the Bulgarian Republican Federation of Cynology places this dog in group 6 - “Scenthounds and similar breeds”, section 1.2 - “Medium-sized scenthounds”. The breed is not recognized by FCI.

The Bulgarian Hound is a scenthound with medium height. Its body is balanced, strong, with a rectangular outline. The coarse coat is yellow-rufous coloured in various shades, halm yellow or dark rufous. The coat can be in one colour or combined with grey or black-grey in the middle part of the body. Some white spots are acceptable in definite places.

Lineage
In 2020, a mitochondrial DNA study found that a dog specimen found in the Bronze Age town of Via Ordiere, Solarolo, Italy dated to 3,600–3,280 years ago shared a DNA sequence (haplotype) that is found in the Bulgarian Hound. Additionally, almost all of the ancient Bulgarian specimens in the study shared haplotypes with ancient Italian samples.