Breeds / Large
Romanian Carpathian Shepherd puppies
Calm, self possessed and slow to trust strangers, the Romanian Carpathian Shepherd is a mountain flock guardian that thinks for itself and bonds hard to its own people.
The facts
- Size class Large
- Country of origin Romania
- Adult weight 31.8 to 45.4 kg
- Adult weight in pounds 70 to 100 lb
- Adult height 58 to 74 cm
- Energy level Low
- Grooming Low
- Coat type Not published
- Typical lifespan 12 to 14 years
- Good with children Usually good
- Good with other dogs Fine with supervision
Where these come from:
- akc.org for adult weight and height, life expectancy, energy, grooming and the temperament ratings, coat type and health notes
- fci.be for country of origin
No published figure for coat type, so nothing is shown rather than a guess.
About the Romanian Carpathian Shepherd
The Romanian Carpathian Shepherd is a mountain livestock guardian from the Carpathians, bred to live out with a flock and stand off bear, wolf and boar. It is a large dog, 31.8 to 45.4 kg and 58 to 74 cm, with a dense double coat that runs short on the head and the front of the legs and long around the neck, chest and tail. The temperament is steady and unhurried, affectionate with its own people and instinctively suspicious of anything unfamiliar coming closer.
Without a flock to mind it still wants one to two hours a day of moderate activity: walks, nose work, puzzles and play. It is pack motivated far more than food or toy motivated, which makes conventional training slow going and rewards patience over repetition drills. Brushing is occasional, heavier around May and June when the undercoat comes out. Secure fencing is essential because it will patrol its territory. The common error is overfeeding, since the breed regulates itself well and stops when full.
What to expect at eight weeks
At eight weeks a Romanian Carpathian Shepherd puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A large breed puppy at eight weeks looks deceptively normal sized and will roughly double every few weeks for a while. Keep exercise short and low impact, the growth plates are wide open. Energy is on the lower side for the breed, but every eight week old puppy still runs in bursts and then crashes. Grooming is straightforward, but start handling the coat, feet and ears in week one anyway so it is never a fight later. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything it meets calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of its life.
Health worth knowing about
Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.
- Hip and elbow dysplasia, screened by x-ray evaluation of breeding stock as in any large guardian breed
- Bloat and gastric torsion, a surgical emergency in deep chested dogs
- Weight gain from overfeeding, tracked by regular weighing, since the breed otherwise stops eating when full
From Romanian Carpathian Shepherd breed information at https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/romanian-carpathian-shepherd/. Discuss any of these with your own vet.
Your Romanian Carpathian Shepherd puppy's first six months
- Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
- Worming and parasite schedule.
- Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Large for a Romanian Carpathian Shepherd.
- Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 31.8 to 45.4 kg adult range.
- Puppy names and the first week checklist.
Other large breeds
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Not veterinary advice. Breed information is general. Your own dog, and your own vet, always win.