The South Russian Ovcharka or South Russian Shepherd Dog is breed of flock guardian dog developed in the Russian Empire and in the Soviet Union. It is thought to derive from cross-breeding between local dogs of the Russian steppes and long-haired shepherd dogs brought to the area from Spain with Merino sheep. These may have been similar in appearance to the present-day Gos d'Atura Catala. History The South Russian Ovcharka is thought to derive from cross-breeding between local dogs of the Russian steppes and long-haired shepherd dogs brought to the area from Spain with Merino sheep. These may have been similar in appearance to the present-day Gos d'Atura Catala. A cross-bred dog of this type won a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris. Much of the selective breeding and development of the breed took place in the early twentieth century, on the estates of at Askania-Nova, now in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. The breed standard was approved early in the 1930s. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale definitively accepted it on 30 September 1983 as the Yuzhnorusskaya Ovcharka or South Russian Shepherd Dog. Characteristics It is a large dog: dogs stand no less than at the withers and weigh at least ; bitches are about smaller and weigh some less. The head is long and of wedge shape; the ears are pendent and triangular. The coat is long, coarse and thick. It may be solid white, grey or pale ivory; or white with tinges of yellow, or white with patches of grey, pale ivory or wheat colour. Ban The dog is banned in Denmark. References FCI breeds Dog breeds originating in Ukraine Livestock guardian dogs