The South Russian Ovcharka or South Russian Shepherd Dog is breed of flock guardian dog developed in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. It is thought to derive from

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

between local dogs of the Russian steppes and long-haired shepherd dogs brought to the area from Spain with

Merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...

sheep. These may have been similar in appearance to the present-day Gos d'Atura Catala.

History

The South Russian Ovcharka is thought to derive from

between local dogs of the Russian steppes and long-haired shepherd dogs brought to the area from Spain with

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

selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...

and development of the breed took place in the early twentieth century, on the estates of at

Askania-Nova Askania-Nova ( uk, Асканія-Нова) is a Ukrainian nature reserve located in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, within the dry Taurida steppe near Oleshky Sands and active member of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. It is also a resea ...

, now in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. The

breed standard In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athletic ...

was approved early in the 1930s. The

Fédération Cynologique Internationale The Fédération cynologique internationale (FCI) (English: International Canine Federation) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs. It is based in Thuin, Belgium. History The FCI was founded in 1911 under the auspices ...

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 that at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle a ...

and weigh at least ; bitches are about smaller and weigh some less. 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.

Ban

The dog is banned in Denmark.

References

{{Livestock guardians FCI breeds Dog breeds originating in Ukraine Livestock guardian dogs