I saw something unusual today - an Ovcharka

milos_mommy

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Today, at the harvest festival in town, I ran into a woman with a HUGE fluffy puppy. At first I thought it might be a Leonberger mix...but it didn't really look like one. I asked the girl what kind of dog he was, and she said "A russian shepherd" I said "Like a Central Asian Shepherd?" and she said "sort of, he's called an Ovcharka. They're really similar, though". I got to pet him, but he didn't seem to thrilled with that...he sniffed my hand and seemed pretty comfortable but when I patted him he moved out of my reach. I wanted to ask if she was doing any PP work with him or anything...but she didn't seem interested in chatting.

She did say next year he was going to be dressed as a viking...THAT I'd like to see. This is huge festival with tons of traffic, kids in costumes running around, live music, and lots and lots of dogs. Unless he's REALLY docile for a CAO and super-well-socialized, I can't picture him chilling at the harvest fest as an adult.

:eek: I don't know what anyone around here would be doing with a CAO...there are some semi-rural areas with maybe some horse farms or people with a couple of goats, but mostly around here everything is super-suburban with houses really close together, small yards, etc.
 

Danefied

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My friend takes one of her CAS out and about and she’s fine. Her other CAS is snarky with dogs but fine with people. I mean, they’re not the kind of dog you just walk up to and pet, but if my friend okays it and lets the dog know, they tolerate attention. Tolerate is about it though. Moving through a crowd though, properly trained, they should be fine.
 

milos_mommy

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Central Asians have a different temperament than Caucasians. Which one do you think she had?
It was a Caucasian, I'm pretty positive.

IDK, I mean I've seen videos and stuff of people bringing their CAOs to town and whatnot, walking on city streets, etc...but I can't picture any kind of large guardian type breed that isn't really watered down doing well in this kind of situation...lots of food vendors, live music, kids running around without supervision, all in costumes, and tons and tons of dogs (the main event is a dog costume parade). I guess if she brings a puppy to some kind of event like that every weekend from now until next year maybe he'd do ok. It's not like the kind of thing where she can walk past strangers and not have them pet her dog, it's packed with people pushing past each other, kids grabbing the dogs, leashed getting tangled...
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#5
We have one who goes to events here, it's very social and seems oddly non-CAO but I know the breeder it's from (NY state) is known for having "watered down" dogs.
 

milos_mommy

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We have one who goes to events here, it's very social and seems oddly non-CAO but I know the breeder it's from (NY state) is known for having "watered down" dogs.
I was going to ask where the breeder was, but this lady was so interested in roasting her marshmallows with her kid and so uninterested in talking about her puppy with me...but it's very possibly the same breeder.
 

Pops2

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We have one who goes to events here, it's very social and seems oddly non-CAO but I know the breeder it's from (NY state) is known for having "watered down" dogs.
keep in mind the CAO/CAS was created by mixing different asian breeds so temperament & personality are going to be all over the place.
 
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#8
*swoon* LOVE CAS/C Ovcharkas

Yeah that sounds about right - they're tolerant of strangers/crowds. I've never met a Ovcharka nor CAS puppy but one that lives around the neighborhood (he's 10 mind you) is very much like that - he's polite; he'll let you pet/touch him and he might even sniff or say hi to your dog if you have one with you but will withdraw very quickly if he's had enough....he's really well trained and isn't reactive (as far as I know) but at most will bark if whatever that is bothering him keeps bothering him.

They take a very very long time to mature fully though, and sometimes as puppies they can be quite social and funny. Although indeed you may just have a softer individual on your hands (not that there's anything wrong with that; especially if you're living in a more urban center and do not need a extreme level of protection from a dog).
 

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