Quote: Jennifer Marshal

....We need to educate people how to correctly choose a dog for their needs, not slam a breed for poor decisions made by their owners.

Excellent post Jennifer, and Connie. Lack of education is a big problem in the dog world. I'm sorry, I mean a HUGE problem.

Good post Jennifer. I was thinking the same thing but I lack your knowledge. But I must admit if I saw this dog in the Los Angeles area where I'm from I would run the other way. City life does not seem to fit this breed's lifestyle.

I kind of thought most of the posts were geared toward the owners and their irresponsible use of the dogs. However, Jennifer's post was right on... the dogs were bred for a purpose, and that video shows how not to keep them.

Wonderful post Jennifer. I didn't sense so much breed bashing in the previous posts as dumb PEOPLE bashing - for taking such a specifically bred dog completely out of it's element, admittedly advertising it as a loaded weapon, and hoping for the best in an urban environment... your parallel about working GSDs in the hands of ill equipped owners is right on - this just seems like an even bigger, and potentially tragic, catastrophe in the making.

No disrespect to the Ovcharka - once again, it's people who have created the problem.

~Natalya

It looks like a dog that has been bred for hundreds of years to do a specific job very well in a specific environment: Protect live stock in a rural or primitive setting from predators. And then it was taken out of its environment and put in one that does not at all match what it was bred for.

Maybe if I was raising sheep in the middle of nowhere surrounded by predators I'd want one. But it doesn't look like an appropriate breed for an urban environment.

I wonder what it is like when it sheds.

Anyone interested in the role of livestock guardian dogs in human life should read the Raymond and Laura Coppinger book "Dogs".

They spent years in the "transhumance" pastoral regions learning about the interactions between human societies livestock, and these dogs.

One thing of note is that the 180 lb. Ovcharka in the video is too big to do its job and is a great candidate for osteo problems. Even the largest of these dogs don't generally get into direct combat with bears, wolves, etc. I think for the breeder part of the size challenge in north america arises from taking stock from areas of the world where the dogs grow up nutritionally deprived and then raising them to north american standards of food and care. Hard to keep the size down here, and probably important to avoid selecting larger dogs, if possible. AM

thanks Jennifer, I was wondering if anyone had actually seen one of the dogs.

I would love to see them working.

Andrew, you are correct in that, luckily, most livestock guardian dogs don't have to "fight off" predators in their lifetime, but is is what they are intended for should the need present itself. Most predators are not looking for a fight while hunting and will avoid confrontation when the dog goes to defend its herd.

Around here more than one dog is used in larger herds or in areas with heavier concentrations of predators. I know of one rancher down the road from me who raises fallow deer and he lost a Pyrenees to a cougar last year and his remaining 3 dogs (2 Anatolian/Maremma and 1 CO/Anatolian) killed 2/fatally wounded 1 coyote a few months ago.

They are magnificent dogs, I respect and admire them as they do their job(protecting the herd) entirely unguided and without training. Just as they are supposed to, have been bred to do.

They are not impossible to own or to handle, but they are not housepets or general purpose city dogs and require someone not only experienced handling dogs, but that knows the breed and can work with or around their natural traits in order to accomplish things other than livestock guarding. But it is not easy and ultimately I don't believe fair to the dog, depending on what your intentions are.

Betty most of the dogs I have seen are crosses, I have only been around 2 unmixed CO and while I am not afraid of them I wouldn't hop their fence to go pet the goats!

Myself,
I admire the Kuvasz enough sometimes I'm tempted to get a herd of something just so I have an excuse to own one or two.

Does a family with lots of children qualify as a herd?