Central Asian Shepherd/Caucasian Ovcharka

I personally wouldn't own one of these (anytime soon) but they are strikingly beautiful dogs with quite awe inspiring power and interesting backgrounds. They are said to be the "lion" of dogs and possess fighting power and stamina far excelling pitbulls, dobies, rotties etc. There is one Central Asian Shepherd that is around the neighborhood that is owned by a Russian gentleman that we occasionally meet out on walks. He's BIG, handsome, even tempered, and extremely polite and tolerant of both being petted and my puppy's, well, puppy behavior LOL haven't met an Ovcharka yet though.

They are both originally from Central Asia/Former USSR Regions and honestly very few specimens are found outside of their places of origin, also very little is known about them even amongst the most knowledgeable of North American dog people. So I was wondering if perhaps anyone on here could share abit about these breeds?

Central Asian Shepherd


Caucasian Ovcharka

All I can say is that a CAO has to be the most gorgeous dog in existence. I absolutely love the way they look. But, I doubt I would be a fit owner for one, at least now. Maybe in a few decades when I'm living out in the middle of nowhere.

Jeannine de Palma, PlanetMolosser, is our resident Caucasian expert. She's one of THE top breeders in the U.S. She's also handled many of the LGDs, including Filas. Jenn Sider is another with good knowledge as well.

Way, WAY back we had an active member, a Russian national, Dmitri, who lived in Florida half the year and had a beautiful male.

It seems less a dog and more a almost legendary sort of creature - something in between a bear and a wolf.

I'd love to meet one someday! Not sure if I would be up to the ownership of one though...

Yeah, they are wonderful but serious dogs. Here a few pics and vids of some of my dogs working:

He is Vizir:








She is Nurana:








She is Nikita:









And the vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH6h-_5WgQU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02IacAQLR5o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVmLwp_PdCk

I can later post some material of my COs

hugo

pure nonsense. first rotts & dobies are not fighting dogs, not even close. second, when matched against pit bulldogs the various central asian dogs have not proven game. the pit bulldog struggles against the bigger dogs power initially but in 10 or 30 or 60 minutes the big dogs wear out and the bulldogs work them over until they quit. they do match up well against each other and other large mastiff, bull & mastiff breeds in japan as long as they match country rules. but they really aren't fighting dogs. they are guard dogs. some are strictly LGDs & some are more general guards. some DA is necessary because they must guard livestock against free roaming dogs as well as wild predators.

the central asian is a made up breed, created in eastern europe by indiscriminately mixing the various central asian landrace molossers.


if the dog is an import it may or may not represent the correct temperament
for the actual breed. if the dog is actually one of the CAS/CAO mutts their temperament is all over the place because they are a blended breed.

hugoA,

Wow your dogs are beautiful! really impressive bunch =)

pops,

Fascinating, really interesting. I know as a general guideline they are definitely supposed to be defensive yet controllable though. I know of only very few breeding kennels in North America and their standard of the breed seems to be aloof with strangers, affectionate with family - otherwise generally guardy/defensive.

Quite a few other sites came up but they had really jumbled english or were in languages I hadn't a clue of getting a grasp of.

A friend of mine breeds CAS. (Her bitch is one of Jeannie de Palma’s). She does show them in conformation (UKC) and rally, but mainly uses them as livestock guardians.

She is a dog trainer, and puts a TON of socialization work in, but hers are still very sharp. Where I can be at a show and take my eyes off my dog, she has to be constantly vigilant, every second. DA is very, very common in the breed. And its NOT a “how you raise them” thing. Its truly a breed thing. Her puppy (I forget how old but less than a year) has been everywhere from day one, socialized with other dogs like crazy (she teaches puppy classes and the pup came to work with her), and that pup is very clearly DA despite all that. Its not a fear thing at all, its a territorial/protection thing that’s inherent in the breed.
They’re cool dogs, but I would never own one. The older I get the more PITA DA is to me I love the idea of a whippet/hound type personality that has drive without any hint of DA. Plus that’s way too much hair for me

Pops is right in that while Caucasian Ovcharka are a breed, CAS are more of a type from a certain region. My friend calls them a “landrace” if that makes sense. If I understand correctly, CO’s were developed from CAS. CO’s are more common, though still very rare.

And yes, neither are “fighting dogs” like a pit bull, though traditionally they were temperament tested by sparring. However the breed is only supposed to be DA with intruder dogs, not members of its pack as they are often expected to work as a pack.

Here’s the UKC breed standard:
http://www.ukcdogs.com/Web.nsf/Breeds/CentralAsianShepherd

And my friend’s website:
http://thundermountaincas.webs.com/

LOVE the look of this bitch!

The fact that they have a backup lead for protection work scares me :lol-sign:

I love the look of CAS, but oy *so* not the breed for me.

LOL! In that harness set-up, if it was a real situation (not sport protection/training, which the dogs seem to know is a game), even with two people holding on, Kharma would just take you along with her while she did her job. There is a reason I walk her with that prong collar, and even then, I know she's fully capable of overriding it (as well as taking it off, which she does -- just not while we're walking).

She yanked me right along once, after a rogue cow, even after I anchored the lead around a TREE.