Two worlds of the caucasian shepherd
You are correct in your observation. The Aboriginal working Caucasian Ovcharkas, though large, were not as large as they are today. The city dogs are heavily inbred and crossbred with St. Bernards, Tibetan Mastiffs and other Mastiff type dogs to make them bigger. The original dogs were considered large - but not the giants you can see today.
It seems that there is a "separate" breed for the city and home .. and then there is the ultimate one for the farm and ranch where real work has to be done. In the 16 years I have been involved with the breed and in all my research and learning - it is quite obvious that the breed has taken divergent paths. Of the 7 that I have owned - Caesar and Cleopatra are the real working types. Serious, sound, and not large but - definitely the correct temperament. You may have seen them in the gallery.
There is a big difference between the two - and it it NOT good for the breed. We need to dogs to stay true to their working temperament and form since we know through evolution that "form follows function". Lets keep the COs real and true to their temperament.
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what do you guys think about the "possible creation" of a new breed, since today's so called "city Ovcharka" is starting to become a very different dog then what the aboriginal caucasian ovcharka is.
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To me the caucasian ovcharka or ovcharka in general central or caucasian, are different than the aboriginal dogs. The aboriginal dogs have different names. Like Georgian nagazi, North caucasian Volkodav, alabai, Tobet and so on. But many people get these names mixed up, so there is lots of confusion between theses breeds and many people think that some of those breeds are the same breed. But there is a reason why these dogs have different names. Each dog breed is a bit different from one and another, in character, purpose, use, and conformation . The term Ovcharka are used for shepherd mastiffs that have been recently created for LGD purposes. Ovcharkas are actually very recently created. But the ovcharkas started to get used for different roles such as military, guarding and fighting much more than they where LGDs.
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You are correct in your observation. The Aboriginal working Caucasian Ovcharkas, though large, were not as large as they are today. The city dogs are heavily inbred and crossbred with St. Bernards, Tibetan Mastiffs and other Mastiff type dogs to make them bigger. The original dogs were considered large - but not the giants you can see today.
It seems that there is a "separate" breed for the city and home .. and then there is the ultimate one for the farm and ranch where real work has to be done. In the 16 years I have been involved with the breed and in all my research and learning - it is quite obvious that the breed has taken divergent paths. Of the 7 that I have owned - Caesar and Cleopatra are the real working types. Serious, sound, and not large but - definitely the correct temperament. You may have seen them in the gallery.
There is a big difference between the two - and it it NOT good for the breed. We need to dogs to stay true to their working temperament and form since we know through evolution that "form follows function". Lets keep the COs real and true to their temperament.
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Saw this video with the same title as this topic.
