South Russian Ovcharka
Also known as: .mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bott
Breed at a glance
- Origin
- Russian Empire Soviet Union Ukraine Russia
- Weight
- Males
- Height
- Males
- Other names
- .mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bott
intro
The South Russian Ovcharka [ a ] or South Russian Shepherd Dog is breed of flock guardian dog . It developed in the areas of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union that are now Ukraine and southern Russia, and is thought to derive from cross-breeding between local dogs of the Russian steppes and long-haired shepherd dogs brought to the area from Spain in the late eighteenth century together with Merino sheep. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] : 401 These may have been similar in appearance to the present-day Gos d'Atura Catala . [ 1 ]
History
The South Russian Ovcharka is thought to derive from cross-breeding between local dogs – of both flock guardian and sighthound type – of the Russian steppes and long-haired shepherd dogs brought to the area from Spain in the late eighteenth century together with Merino sheep. [ 1 ] These Spanish dogs may have been similar in appearance to the present-day Gos d'Atura Catala . [ 1 ] A cross-bred dog of this South Russian type won a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris. [ 1 ] Much of the selective breeding and development of the breed took place in the early twentieth century, on the estates of Friedrich von Falz-Fein [ de ] at Askania-Nova , now in Kherson Oblast , Ukraine. [ 1 ] The breed standard was approved early in the 1930s. [ 1 ] The Fédération Cynologique Internationale definitively accepted it on 30 September 1983 as the Yuzhnorusskaya Ovcharka or South Russian Shepherd Dog. [ 3 ]
Characteristics
It is a large dog: dogs stand no less than 66 cm at the withers and weigh at least 35 kg ; bitches are about 4 cm smaller and weigh some 5 kg less. [ 1 ] Some dogs are very large, with weights of up to 75 kg . [ 2 ] : 402 The head is long and of wedge shape; the ears are pendent and triangular. The coat is long, coarse and thick. It may be solid white, grey or pale ivory; or white with tinges of yellow, or white with patches of grey, pale ivory or wheat colour. [ 1 ]