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Our farm is situated in Middelburg, East Cape, South Africa, high up in the very cold "Snowy Mountains." We are sheep farmers and as our farm is bordering 50 000 hectares of unfenced nature reserves, we are having problems with predators like red backed jackal and lynx coming in over the borders and steeling our ewes' lambs. We have decided to invest in a Central Asian Ovtcharka (Alabai) puppy to guard our flock ewes. Daisy is the newest of our family members. She is socialized with the flock of ewes and lambs. When she is a bit older she will go out and live with them in the veldt to protect them against the predators. Daisy will be a Livestock Guardian dog!
About The Central Asian
Ovtcharka (CAO or Alabai) The Central Asian Ovtcharka is a very
large, muscular Mastiff type dog. The coat is short and comes in a wide variety
of colors The CAO ( Alabai ) is a calm fearless stock and property guardian,
independent they stand their ground and won't back down. They are good with all
members of the family, but are wary of strangers and will try to dominate
outside dogs, they are guardians and will act as such. The grown CAO male is average 65-75cm
at the shoulder and weigh between 55 and 80kg History The word Ovtcharka is a Russian word
meaning something between livestock guardian dog (LGD) and Shepherd dog. The Central Asian Ovtcharka (CAO) is
one of the most ancient dog breeds, since ancient times the Ovtcharka was an
irreplaceable assistant, friend and the companion to shepherds in Central Asia.
Today even with rapid development of technology the Ovtcharka has not lost its
importance in the live of farmers and perpetually accompanies Shepherds out to
pastures. Loyal, tender, incorruptible,
surprisingly strong and wise the CAO is becoming the the most demanded breed in
the world. Such sudden popularities gives rise to many disputes, hypotheses and
myths about the breed's true origin. According to some experts the breed ranges
from three thousand to over six thousand years ago. Primarily the breeds development was influenced by the region's climate, environment and natural development of every day dog life. Human intervention was not a significant factor in the breed's formation. The CAO is considered a natural breed, or a breed without intervention of scientific selections and genetics. A livestock guardian dog (LGD) is a domesticated canine used to defend livestock against predators. LGDs are also commonly referred to as Shepherd dogs since they most often have guarded flocks of sheep, but most are capable of guarding other species of livestock. Unlike a herding dog such as the border collie, an LGD does not control the movement of the flock with aggressive actions causing bunching. Instead the LGD tend to blend into the flock and generally ignore the individual animals in favor of keeping an eye out for potential threats. While bunching behavior is observed, it is the livestock that tend to bunch around the LGD, especially on open range when predators are near. Training Livestock guardian dogs are introduced
to livestock as puppies so they imprint on the animals. This imprinting is
thought to be largely olfactory and occurs between 3 and 16 weeks of age. The
imprinting is critical because LGDs tend to behave in a non-predatory and
protective way only with animals species they have been raised and socialized
with. Proper socialization and instinct, not training, are the key to rearing an
effective LGD. The three qualities most sought after in livestock guardian dogs are trustworthiness, attentiveness and protectiveness, trustworthy in that they do not roam off and are not aggressive with livestock, attentive in that they are situationally aware of threats by predators, and protective in that they will attempt to drive off predators. We strive to breed top quality healthy animals for working, or just as loyal friendly family pets and family protectors. All breeding animals are health screened and hip and elbow Dysplasia certified.
The legal stuff All puppies come with breeding restrictions, that can be lifted should the owner be be prepared to go through all the right procedures for breeding good quality, healthy dogs. The dogs are registered with KUSA as "Central Asian Shepherd Dogs."
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