See also Ovcharka (disambiguation)
Ovtcharka (овчарка [afˈtɕarkə]) is a term [1] of Russian origin used to describe the working dog specializing in working with sheep. Originated from ovtsa (oвца, sheep in Russian), ovtchar (sheep herder, or farm employee maintaining sheep).
Though the term itself does not specify whether the dog is a herding dog or a livestock guardian dog, it refers in this case to livestock guardian and protection breeds of Russian origin for the simple reason that there are no herding breeds originating from Russia. At the same time, it is used as a part of breed name in Russian for shepherds or sheepdogs imported into the country.
When Russian cynologists named dog breeds, they often used a combination of country of origin and the term Ovtcharka, meaning that this shepherd dog came from a specific region. For example, a shepherd of German origin is known in Russian as Nemetskaja Ovtcharka, which translates as German Shepherd.
Over the years, the term Ovtcharka has become common outside Russia and other countries where Russian is commonly spoken because of three livestock guardian breeds of Russian origin: Caucasian Ovtcharka, Central Asian Ovtcharka and South Russian Ovtcharka. The reason for the continuing use of this term instead of “shepherd” or “sheepdog” is the necessity to differentiate between a livestock guardian dog (especially of Russian origin) and a herding dog (commonly called Shepherd in English). All three breeds have different mentalities and much greater protection instincts than a German Shepherd or other popular herding dogs and use of a different breed name avoiding a common and potentially misleading term helps to distinguish such traits.