Southern Russia Shepherd Dog

History, origin & features

The South Russian Shepherd Dog (ioujnorousskaïa ovtcharka) is a very old breed, born of crosses with the Asturian Shepherd Dog, the Tatar Shepherd Dog and the Borzoi.
Used as a herding dog by shepherds in the Crimea, it also served as a guard dog for the Red Army. The Southern Russian Shepherd is distinguished by its liveliness and intelligence.
A dominant dog, they can be very reactive if they sense danger.
They can be aggressive towards strangers, but always with the aim of protecting their flock, master and family. His distrustful nature makes him an excellent guard dog, but he can quickly cause problems when out and about. Good socialization is important from an early age, to maximize good social relations with fellow dogs and humans. South Russian Shepherd Dogs are medium to large in size, robust and powerful in appearance, but with a certain elegance, certainly due to the long, dense white hair that covers their entire body. Other colors include yellow, straw, grayish (ash gray) and other shades of gray.