Conformation and the reason behind so much variety within this breed

 

 

The Caucasian Shepherd Dog is a breed that was standardized out of the landrace livestock guardian dogs from Caucasus.

Caucasus is a region between the Black and Caspian Seas that includes Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, parts of Turkey, Iran....

So this breed has a really broad area of origin.
As written in O. Krasnovskaya's book, due to the geographical isolation of some parts of this huge area, and due to the differences in the terrain and climate, several different types of Caucasian Shepherd Dog were formed, which were quite different from one another.

 

Dry, intense climate of the steppes, large waterless areas requires significant daily movement.
Dogs leading the herds in the steppe regions had to on one hand be sufficiently big and strong in order to effectively counteract predators,
but on the other hand they had to be of a lighter build, with shorter coats, higher on the legs so that by using the lowest amount of energy they could endure all the difficulties during these lengthy transition. Thus preserving the ability to work.

Due to the conditions of livestock grazing in the mountains, where the relief is very divided, pastures exist on a relatively small area,
the movement of the herd during the day is minimal, and there is enough water ( in many places snow slits would be preserved throughout the whole summer ), a different type of CO was formed.
These dogs had a more powerful, perhaps even rougher type of body, with a massive bone structure, a heavy head and well developed coat.
The limbs of these mountain dogs are significantly shorter, the angles on their joints are pronounced, the chest is more voluminous while the body has an elongated format.

Through the centuries, this breed was influenced by both the "Mother Nature" and the nations inhabiting the region. This explains the myriad of subtypes characteristic for each particular area and even village.
In some places, the habitats of Caucasian & Central Asian shepherd dogs overlapped and intermediate types were formed.

 

 

We fast forward to the early 20th century, this is when the Soviet military started importing a large number of LGD's from Caucasus.

As Krasnovskaya writes in her book, the main breeding stock were imported from the Transcaucasian republics, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.

Imported dogs were often of very good quality; large long-haired individuals with strong bones, massive heads and they had excellent guardian qualities.
It is said that they were really some of the best representatives of the breed in the above regions, which came as no surprise as the task in the totalitarian Soviet Union was carried out with the utmost care.
With these dogs selective breeding started in the USSR.
Short coated CO's however took to a much lesser extent part in the formation of the breed "Caucasian Shepherd dog".
One of the main reasons for rejection of breeding shorthaired dogs was purely aesthetic, as long-haired individuals had a more impressive look in the opinion of the Soviet military.

 

 

Very soon, thanks to selective breeding, different lines were formed within the breed. Some effort was done to make the breed appear more uniform, but for the most part the CO has retained its amazing huge phenotypic variation that they inherited from their landrace ancestors.

 

 

Variation is very important, this is no cookie cutter breed. But at the same time it is just as important to breed CO's that confirm to the breed standard (a copy of the current breed standard can be found here).

 

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Some of the head varieties that can be found in the breed (as explained by V. Visotskiy):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 1 - The dome is very massive, the top of the head is very broad, the cheekbones are strongly developed.
The transition from forehead to muzzle (the stop) is gradual but well noticable. The muzzle is short, rounded, voluminous, the area under the eyes is well filled.
The flews are thick and elastic but without being saggy/droopy.
When viewed from above the head has the shape of a broad, rounded wedge.

Fig. 2 - The dome is massive, top of the head is broad, the forehead flat, the cheeks are well developed and stand out.
The transition from forehead to muzzle (the stop) is gradual, not pronounced but smooth.
Lips are thick enough, elastic and tight.
At the base the muzzle is broad and deep, with a well filled suborbital area, but towards the nose it narrows more noticeable than in the first example (Fig.1)
Dogs with this type of head are characterized by a more elongated muzzle.
When viewed from above the head has the shape of a broad rounded wedge, although it is more pointed and elongated than the one in the previous example.

Fig. 3 - The dome is massive enough with well-developed, but not too prominent cheekbones.
The area under the eyes is well filled.
The forehead is flat and the transition from forehead to muzzle is smooth but less pronounced than the head in the first case.
Muzzle is broad at base, narrowing towards the nose but to a lesser extent than in the previous two examples.
When viewed from above the head has the shape of a shortened wedge.

______________________________________________________________________

The forearms of the Caucasian Shepherd dog are straight and parallel to each other when viewed from the front.
The length of the foreleg till the elbow is slightly more than half the height at the withers.
Angle of shoulder slants to form an angle of approximately 100 degrees with the upper arm.
Preferably, the length is equal to the length of the shoulder blade, or a little more. Forearms are straight ( almost rounded in cross-section), moderately long and well muscled.

The picture shows the structure of the forelimbs:
1 - the correct structure, 2 - Insufficient layback, 3 - steep shoulder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________

The structure of the hindquarters:
1 - the correct structure, 2 - barrel/spread hocks, hyperextended knee, 3 - sloped back

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________

 

 

The correct conformation of a CO, an extract from the book "Caucasian Shepherd" written by Irene Nekrasov:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Please note, all content, including but not limited to images, on this website is provided for educational purposes only.