COUNTRY: USSR
HEIGHT: 24—26 inches minimum; usually much larger
COAT: Moderately short to medium; very thick fringing; some may have abundant ruff and fringe
COLOR: Usually gray, tan, fawn, white, brindle, piebald; any color except brown allowable
OTHER NAMES: Caucasian Sheepdog,
Kawkasky Owtscharka, Kaukasische
Schaferhund
Schaferhund
GROUP: Flock Guard
In both the Caucasus and Ural Mountains of the Soviet Union, flock-guarding dogs have long been utilized. Although fine-tuned within the USSR to suit local land and climatic conditions, they trace back to the same Asian/Middle Eastern sources of all flock guardians.
The Caucasus Mountains fill the long finger of land in southwestern Russia that reaches down between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea to touch Turkey and Iran. In these high elevations (up to 18,000 feet), great flocks of sheep are kept and, for over 600 years, the Owtcharkas have protected them from wild animals and thieves.
Without kennel clubs and written history, there tends to be some variation in type throughout the mountain range.