South Russian Shepherd Dog

FCI:

South Russian Shepherd Dog - Group I. - Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs, Section 1 – Sheepdogs. Recognized in 1983.

General Appearance:

South Russian Shepherd Dog is by nature suspicious of all foreign and unfamiliar, dominant and it is courageous. It predominates by an active defensive reaction by the motto "the best defence is a good offense". It gets totally independently and very confident. It is extremely resistant to bad weather. It easily adapts to varieties of climatic conditions. Its character is calm, balanced, it is not excited easily, but if needed, it reacts very quickly.

Temperament/Behaviour:

It is strongly fixed to the owners and their "domicile" (territory). It can be a peculiar man’s companion, but from its early youth it is necessary to ensure the widest possible socialization. During education is essential to calm at all times consistent negotiations and welcoming consistency. This breed is only for experienced person not for people who are impatient and inconsistent. The owner must be endowed with natural authority. By weak owner the dog can feel weakness and try to overtake the lead "in the pack".

With children it gets well but it must know children. Then it also will be a reliable protector. It is therefore suitable only for bigger children, who are instructed and well-informed. It is naturally sharp and suspicious of strangers, but they should never be unnecessarily aggressive. It is clearly in-corruptive watchdog. When it is working with cattle herds, it’s carefully guarding the premises and harshly intervened against all intruders, including strangers who crossed the imaginary boundary.

The coat protects it from heat, cold and wet because it perfectly isolated. It can therefore be all year round in the outdoor pen, but it cannot live a lifetime or most of its life. It needs the most frequent direct contact with the owner and its family it is important to its psychical development.

As every Shepherd is demanding the movement, it is  suitable  for dog regular long walks that are held a fast pace on a short leash by feet, dog walks step behind the owner or its nose is in level of owner ´s knee, never forward(due to dominance). Although it has its own fenced yard, walks are important too.

Body:

This is a strong dog bigger than a medium-sized, solid body, muscular, with strong bones. It's a dog vigorous and agile, whose reactions are extremely fast. The format of the body is required rectangular. Height at withers should be amount to more than 65 cm male over 62 cm, female.

The head is elongated, with a reasonably strong muzzle, prominent occipital area and massive, laterally protruding zygomatic arch. They are part of the insertion of strong muscle of the lower jaw and thus the strength of the bite. The frontal slope should be barely noticeable nose should be large, black.

Teeth should be complete, teeth white and strong demand, and should be stored in the jaws tightly next to one another. It is necessary that the teeth are arranged in one row. Desirable is a scissor bite.

The eyes are oval in shape, horizontal, dark coloured. The eyelids should be thin and must fit snugly to the eyeball. The earlobes should be relatively small triangular shape, hanging.

The neck is dry, muscular and moderate in length, set high. Withers should be clearly marked. The back must be strong and straight. The loin is short, broad and moderately rounded. Croup should be broad and almost horizontal. The tail is hanging at rest, reaching the hock and its end should be semi-circular curved upward. The last two to three vertebrae fused often together.

The chest should be reasonably broad, slightly flattened from the sides, so deep that it reaches to the elbows. The abdomen is moderately tucked. The forelegs are straight humerus. The forearm must be straight pasterns broad, tight, elongated and slanted. Paws are broad and strong.

The hindquarters should be equal, their position is wide. Thighs should be long and muscular, legs dryly muscled. The hocks should be strong. Feet should be oval shaped, large, covered with long hair. The gait is free, spacious, pointing straight forward.

Coat consists of 10 to 15 cm long, coarse and dense outer coat that is on the head (in the face) as long as the trunk, extremities (including paws) and tail. The undercoat is to be rich. The colouring is usually white or white with a hint of yellow, straw-yellowish, greyish (ashen gray and different shades), or sedentary white spots or dots.

Coat requires regular care otherwise it has a strong tendency to be fussy. Combing is necessary the dog must be accustomed as small puppy otherwise an adult dog can defend, because the adult dog does not understand the sense of combing.

All deviations from the requirements of the standard must be considered as defects and evaluate accurately the degree of expression with regard to the health and welfare of the dog or bitch. Among the disqualifying defects counts aggression and fearfulness, all deviations from perfect scissor bite, short hair or straight hair any colour other than specified in the standard.