# Opinions on Central Asian Ovcharkas?



## Carrosaur (Mar 7, 2016)

Im thinking of getting another dog and very interested in CAO's. Been doing a lot of research for the past 5-6 months, but want opinions. Does anyone here own them or did own them in the past? How are they with poultry?


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## Southern by choice (Mar 7, 2016)

They are family /property guardians not LGD's.
More of a protection dog.

You will need to have fully fenced property 6'.

You will need to check with your insurance company as well.. you may need additional policy or you may be dropped... this is a breed on the "do not like to insure" list.

If you want a poultry dog get a dog and just train it. You don't need a LGD for poultry. 

Did some looking for someone else... I liked the theory, and the fact that she is a trainer as well as does behavior rehabilitation. 
http://www.rockhillcaucasians.com/


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## Carrosaur (Mar 8, 2016)

Oh not looking for a poultry dog, Moose is great with the birds. Just wondering if there was anyone here who maybe had them around poultry and how they were. More looking into a working pet, we don't need a guard dog necessarily but would love to train one. The woman I did CGC with does protection too. We have a 6 foot fence, so should be good there. 

Thank you for the link! Very interesting.


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## tressa27884 (Mar 11, 2016)

There is a man on Facebook (John Del Rio), he breeds CO's and is happy to talk about them.  There are lots of people who use them as LGD's.


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## tressa27884 (Mar 11, 2016)

https://www.facebook.com/NorthwestCaucasianOvcharka


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## Southern by choice (Mar 11, 2016)

I will have to check him out. 
Curious as to them utilized as LGD's in this country. Don't see it often and those that say theirs are end up having 2 sheep. LOL

Thanks for the link!


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## Beekissed (Mar 24, 2016)

My sister got one of these from a breeder who had brought them over from Russia...wouldn't say what she paid for it but I think it was over a thousand.  Got him as a pup.  Tied him up to an old horse trailer and that's where he's lived for the past 4-5 yrs as she kept waiting until she had her farm situated in such a way that she could use him with the sheep....and, of course, that will never happen and, meanwhile, she keeps losing sheep to coyotes and bears.  

She finally got him neutered this past year.  Poor dog has been on that chain for his entire life.  Nice dog too, probably could have been taught to watch livestock just fine if started as a pup.  Beautiful dog.


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## Latestarter (Mar 24, 2016)

Being chained his entire life, I'm surprised he hasn't gotten mean/have behavior issues. That's a real shame.


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## Ferguson K (Mar 25, 2016)

If I spent that kind of money on a dog it would live in a mansion, not on a chain. 

I see them pop up in discussion on this forum from time to time. I had never heard of them before. 

Aren't they property guardians, though?


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## France@smiley7farm (Mar 30, 2016)

We have a CO cross that was brought up around the chickens and rabbits and accepted the goats when we got them. Also from day one we taught her to react to the guinea fowl warning call so whenever a fox or buzzard is in the vicinity the dog knows something is wrong even when she is in the house  one thing i will say is find a low energy dog so that it doesn't upset the balance as they can be soppy and boisterous


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## Mike CHS (Mar 30, 2016)

I don't know a lot about them other than the folks we got our Border Collie from has two of them they use as LGDs.  When I first saw them I thought he had a couple of small horses in with his sheep.  He keeps them in with electric netting but I can only guess they dont get out only because they don't want to.


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## Grazer (Apr 14, 2016)

Hi Carrosaur, sorry for resurrecting your slightly old topic (I rarely frequent forums anymore), but I'd like to try and answer your questions.

First I'd like to point out that other posters on this thread confuse the CO (Caucasian Ovcharka) with the CAO (Central Asian Ovcharka). 
This happens very often in countries where these two breeds are rare. The CO and the CAO, while closely related, are *two different breeds.*
And both the CO and the CAO *are in fact LGD's.*
With that said however, they're a lot of dog and aren't suited for everyone. I go into this in more detail on my website here: http://caucasianovcharka.wix.com/info#!caucasian-ovcharka-as-lgd/c1f36
What I wrote there is in regard to the CO, and keep in mind the typical CAO is generally speaking a lot more accepting of strangers than a typical, well bred CO.
But still most of what's written there can be applied to the CAO as well.
And I briefly explain here: http://caucasianovcharka.wix.com/info#!misconceptions/mainPage how the CO and the CAO are two different breeds.

There are unfortunately a lot of bad CAO breeders out there, a lot (_the same goes for the CO of course, but you mentioned you're interested in the CAO_).
Both overseas and in the U.S. and it's getting harder and harder to find a well bred CAO from working lines.
There's a number of CAO breeders in the U.S. that use them to guard their livestock and/or poultry, like for example this one: http://www.grandcentralasians.com/about-the-breed.html
I don't know this lady personally, so please keep in mind I'm not recommending her or anything and you should always do your due diligence before you get a dog, but I do hope you'll find their website helpful in your further research.


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