It was selectively bred in the Soviet Union from the German Shepherd to create a larger dog with better resistance to cold conditions, and was intended for military and guard work.

Over several decades of selective breeding, a distinctly different form of shepherd had been created from that known in the West;[2][3] from 1950 this was named the Vostochno Evropeiskaya or East European.

[4] While initially the breed was centred in Ukraine, it soon spread throughout the Soviet Union, although its fortunes suffered at the Eastern Front during the Second World War.

[4] The East European Shepherd was used heavily by the military and police within the Soviet Union as a guard and sniffer dog.

[1][2] The coat is dense and of medium length, with a well-developed undercoat, and often with longer soft hair on the ears, neck, limbs and tail.