South Russian Ovcharka

South Russian Ovcharka
Other names	Youjnorousskaïa Ovtcharka South Russian Sheepdog Ukrainian Ovcharka Yuzhak South Ukrainian Ovcharka South Russian Shepherd Dog
Origin	Russian Empire Soviet Union Ukraine Russia
Traits Height Males minimum 66 cm Females minimum 62 cm Weight Males minimum 35 kg Females minimum 30 kg Life span 9–11 years
Kennel club standards Fédération Cynologique Internationale standard
Dog (domestic dog)

The South Russian Ovcharka 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. These may have been similar in appearance to the present-day Gos d'Atura Catala.

History

Image from about 1915

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. These Spanish dogs may have been similar in appearance to the present-day Gos d'Atura Catala. A cross-bred dog of this South Russian type won a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris.

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 at Askania-Nova, now in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. The breed standard was approved early in the 1930s.

The Fédération Cynologique Internationale definitively accepted it on 30 September 1983 as the Yuzhnorusskaya Ovcharka or South Russian Shepherd Dog.

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. Some dogs are very large, with weights of up to 75 kg. 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.

Legislation

The dog is banned in Denmark.