Several months ago I subscribed to this list in an effort to gain a better understanding of the young behemoth who had come to live with us. I adopted, from the pound, a five month old Caucasian Ovtcharka, or Russian Shepherd. He was a skinny 56 pounds and 27 inches tall. In the five months he's been with us he has filled out some and grown some and is now 31 inches and about 130 pounds. I expect that over the next year his shoulders will fill in, his chest will grow and drop and his head will pick up some width to go with its height. I believe he may have another inch of height hidden in his genes and I would guesstimate about 160 pounds when he is finished eating us out of house and home.
For those who don't know the breed, it is fairly ancient and pretty uncommon to this country. Many say it is descended from the Tibetan Mastiff, but phenotypically speaking, it is similar in type to the Anatolian Shepherd (not as hard in temperment, but close), Marremar, Kuvasz and, of course, the Pyr. The dead giveaway as to the breed is that the ears are cropped roughly along the edge of the skull. While this was common to many flock guardians, I understand that the only breed on which this is still done is the C.O.
Tovarisch, (friend or comrade) is just beginning his trip into adolescence and seems, for the moment, unaware of his size or strength. He has only recently begun to acquire the kind of balance a large dog needs and is beginning to shed the loose-limbed puppy walk that made people stop me on the street to say, "My God! That's just a puppy, isn't it? I hope you have a large house!"
It's actually the move into adolescence that is prompting this note: While Tovarisch has been nothing but a sweet gentle boy, it has become clear that a change is gonna come. The other day in the park he was playing with a Samoyed who is a bit of a bully. In the past whenever the Sammy came on too strongly Tovarisch would just move away or find someone else to play with. Friday the Sammy stepped over a lying down Tovarisch, then stepped a little closer and actually pinched the skin on his back between the ground and his feet. Tovarisch cried, got up quickly and looked around for me. He came over then turned and went back to the Sammy.
They played roughly for a few moments, then Tovarisch knocked the Sammy over, lay on top of him, grabbed his throat and held fast until the Sammy cried out, then Tovarisch let him up. I don't feel he was out of line in this exchange, and I haven't seen him hurt or torture another dog, or even do anything untoward, but I would like to know where you people draw the line with your dogs.
We have plenty of experience with aggressive Akitas, but this slow moving, willful flock guardian attitude is new to us. We are doing lots of reading to fill our heads with wisdom, and, as for Tovarisch, he is taken from one socializing opportunity to another nd he has always been a gentleman. Any and all opinions sought!
Benjamin G. Levy, ben-levy@westworld.com
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