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Croatian Sheepdog

The breeds · herding

AKC Foundation Stock Service · UKC Herding · FCI standard 277

Croatian Sheepdog.

FCI 277 utilization: a breed with combined habits; used for herding livestock as well as a guard dog or companion dog; a hundred years of breeding in the valley of eastern Slavonia, near house and yard, shaped a dog well adjusted to all conditions; an inherited sense for work with domestic animals. UKC: bred and used as a sheep and cattle herder in the plains of Slavonia for centuries. AKC breed page: an agile, helpful, humble shepherd dog, self-reliant to his owner; the true master of his flock..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
29–44LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 29 to 44 lb; breed bitches 29 to 44 lb.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 16 to 20 in · bitches 16 to 20 in

Breed clubFCI Standard No. 277, 2015

Low and high span UKC and AKC, which print one breed-wide band that counts in both sex rows. No ideal printed, so center is blank.

Weight

dogs 29 to 44 lb · bitches 29 to 44 lb

Breed clubAKC

One source; the AKC band is breed-wide and counts in both sex rows.

Coat

FCI 277: profuse, dense, relatively soft double coat; topcoat wavy to curly, 6 to 14 cm, standing off and elastic, no parting on the back; mane on the neck, fringes and culottes; short straight hair 1 to 1.7 cm on muzzle, forehead, ears and front of the forelegs. Colour black, small white chest mark allowed. UKC: soft, dense, double, wavy or curly, moderately long on the back, short on face and front of legs; black with limited white; woolly or overly long coat is a disqualification. Tails: puppies may be born tailless or short (FCI allows it; UKC notes customary docking in the US).

Breed clubFCI Standard No. 277, 2015

Shedding

AKC breed page: Shedding Level 2 of 5. FCI 277: the undercoat often goes greyish or brownish during the shedding of the coat, which is not a fault. No shedding season is stated.

Breed clubAKC

Heat tolerance

2 of 5 · Profuse dense double coat, topcoat 6 to 14 cm with a dense undercoat (FCI 277)

DerivedFCI Standard No. 277, 2015

Derived from the standard's coat description; the standard prints no heat figure. Long dense double coat reads as the heavy double / long tier, 2.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

AKC breed page: Energy Level 3 of 5, Mental Stimulation Needs 3, Playfulness 3. FCI 277 names endurance among the breed's working characteristics.

Breed clubAKC

No Royal Kennel Club page exists for this breed (the RKC A to Z list holds no entry), so no exercise band in minutes is recorded.

Energy

AKC breed page: Energy Level 3 of 5, Trainability 3, Barking Level 3, Watchdog/Protective Nature 5, Openness to Strangers 2, Good With Other Dogs 3. FCI 277: lively temperament, balanced, devoted to the owner, neither aggressive nor nervous, interested in everything around; astuteness, courage, liveliness, endurance, patience and level-headedness during work; easy to train. UKC: lively, attentive, modest and easy to train.

Breed clubAKC

Grooming load

1 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming

AKC breed page: Coat Grooming Frequency 1 of 5, Shedding Level 2 of 5. FCI 277 and UKC describe a profuse wavy-to-curly double coat; felted or corded-like coat is a disqualification (FCI). The AKC score and the standards' coat descriptions do not obviously agree; both stand.

Breed clubAKC

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI 277 utilization: a breed with combined habits; used for herding livestock as well as a guard dog or companion dog; a hundred years of breeding in the valley of eastern Slavonia, near house and yard, shaped a dog well adjusted to all conditions; an inherited sense for work with domestic animals. UKC: bred and used as a sheep and cattle herder in the plains of Slavonia for centuries. AKC breed page: an agile, helpful, humble shepherd dog, self-reliant to his owner; the true master of his flock.

Breed clubFCI Standard No. 277, 2015

Primary game

Sheep and cattle (UKC). FCI 277 says livestock and domestic animals without naming a species.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2017

Stock worked, not game.

Also used on

FCI 277: guard dog and companion dog. AKC breed page: watchdog/protective score 5 of 5. UKC names no role beyond herding.

Breed clubFCI Standard No. 277, 2015

Search pattern

AKC breed page: often runs through the back of the herd to reach the point of intervention as soon as possible. FCI 277 gait: the trot is the preferred gait as it tires the dog least when working with livestock; reach is substantial with strong drive. No source read states voice on stock or whether it works singly or in pairs.

Breed clubAKC

Field trial standard

FCI 277 classification: Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs, Section 1 Sheepdogs, without working trial. No herding trial rules were read.

Breed clubFCI Standard No. 277, 2015

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 3; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 5; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 2; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 2; Coat Grooming Frequency 1; Drooling Level 3; Affectionate With Family 3; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 2.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 3 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Hrvatski Ovčar, Croatian Shepherd Dog

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