Extracts from "The Caucasian and Central Asia Shepherd Dogs and other wolfdogs" by V.Vysotsky

Let's start our talk before you buy a puppy. Too many dogs-owners to be make their decision of choosing a puppy on the spur of the moment while such extremely important thing like deciding on a human companion for 10 or 15 years should be taken more seriously. First of all, you should answer honestly the following questions.

Are you really ready to all those problems that a puppy will inevitably bring onto your life (scratched furniture and foot wear, its droppings and "puddles" during a young period, a pet walking it the rain and coming back dirty, problems with a holiday, dog food and training expenses, medical care, etc)? Are you ready to work hard both physically and intellectually? Will all your family be glad to have a puppy at home? Are you sure that you will cope with a strong independent dog?

Providing you have at least one negative answer to the questions above don't hurry to buy a sheepdog's puppy. It's worth consulting an expert but in any case you should bear in mind that the Caucasian Shepherd Dog and its "brother" Central Asia Shepherd Dog are very specific dogs. Their difference from other dogs is based on the fact that they are not a product of human activity.

First of all, you should take into account that the dogs are differentiated by their specific characters. There are fight dogs, which are quite indifferent to strangers. There are guardian dogs, which are very alert and sometimes even hostile to strangers.

Unfortunately, there are dogs (usually they are the product of a human activity) that can't confront neither dogs, nor people. Of course, it doesn't mean that a fight dog can't guard people's housing or a guard dog can't fight. But it's worth taking into account the dog's orientation. So, to make the right choice you should consult an expert.

At last, you have bought a puppy. What can you expect from it?

A dog-owner must be able to take the food from his dog or cope with its jaw at the moment when a bowl is in front of it. Underestimation of this fact can lead to irrecoverable situation! The matter is that in natural conditions the fight for food is essential. Having such genetic characteristic a sheepdog puppy reacts badly to any attempt to take the food from it.

Keep in mind, if the puppy protects its food from you it means your contacts with it isn't reliable and when the puppy gets mature you will be in trouble. That's why from the very first days you should start establishing your right as the leader. For this purpose use a command of prohibition, slap the puppy's nose or back of its head gently to gain its respect for you and the members of your family.

Remember, obedience of a sheepdog doesn't mean the performance of any of your command (silly from a dog's view) but recognition you as the leader. There are well known cases when the Caucasian sheepdog easily performed such command like "Sit", "Down", "Come-to-Heel", etc., however, immediately went for the owner once the owner made an attempt to take the filthy food from the dog, prohibited it from fighting with another dog or just tried to enter its area.

A strongly pronounced desire to be a leader is a strong point of the dog. By the way, this is the grounds of its reluctance to learn the commands of obedience and not the lack of its intelligence as amateurs might think. A natural instinct of being a leader combined with a weak relationship with the owner expressed in conflicts "around a bowl" is the main problem of a beginner in dog-ownership. It's worth noticing that the Central Asia Shepherd Dogs is more "amenable to discipline" than the Caucasian Sheepdog.

It's necessary to mention two more sheepdog's characteristics that are the strong points of the breed but might do the dirty on it. Excellent health and not being fussy about food may result in the puppy's owner negligence and result in catastrophic for the puppy situation.

Remember, a puppy's ability of not being fussy about the food doesn't mean that should cut down on spending on its food. All things that your puppy haven't been given properly lead to serious consequences.

There is a misbelieve that there is no necessity to vaccinate a sheepdog against infections and contagious diseases since it has a strong immune system. It does have a strong immune system but it means that having such system a puppy struggles longer with a disease and the fact that a puppy is unwell becomes obvious much later. Sometimes it's too late. Finally, the last and pleasant characteristic of the Caucasian Sheepdog. Its zealous attitude to its territory makes it go out for sanitation quite early. It is very convenient for the owner but in case of the owner's carelessness, it causes discomfort for a puppy, which may be harmful for the puppy's psychiatric system.

This period is very important to form a dog since during it a dog is given the first vaccination and starts first training, the milk teeth are replaced with permanent ones and, finally, its character has almost been formed. When you raise the Caucasian Sheepdog you should remember four specific characteristics of the breed.

First characteristic.
The Caucasian and Central Asia Shepherd Dog alike don't have a genetic adaptation to a big city environment compared to Alsatian, Rottweiler, Doberman, etc. In other words, they get used to cars, noise around them and a big number of people (neighbours) on "their" territory with difficulty. To destroy a puppy's psychiatric system is easy by just taking it to a holiday bonfire. You should be careful when making it familiar with irritants around it. It should be done gradually, especially protecting a puppy from a sharp and loud noise.

Second characteristic.
Wolfdog's puppies being boisterous by their nature quickly forget thrashing by an old dog but a petard thrown to their legs may destroy their psychiatric system for ever. Nevertheless, don't forget that your 5-month old puppy may scare to death even a mature man.

Third characteristic.
Caucasian and Asian dogs are largely kept in houses. The classical mistake is that the owner thinks that his/her puppy spends the whole day walking and for this reason doesn't take it out at all. In such situation there is a problem with cleanliness of the puppy but also the puppy doesn't get enough loading. No doubt, that having walked from one side of a yard to the opposite, it will lie down or sit dawn.

Remember that neither Caucasian nor Asian dogs should be loaded with different things or need "running tracks". This may result in injury of their loin. Running after a bicycle doesn't agree with the dogs at all for a number of reasons. Ideally, a puppy should have an even walk for 90 minutes on a lightly loosen lead. A 5 or 7-month old dog should have such walk 3 times a day not including 5-minute walks for sanitation.

Finally, the fourth characteristic relates to the puppy's teeth and a specific approach to feeding it up, which directly affects its bone system. A Caucasian puppy grows up quite quickly. A 4- or 5-month old dog looks very impressive and its owner is pleased with the way it's progressing and overlooks the fact about a characteristic specific for all heavy breeds, namely, a disproportion between the puppy's weight and its copulas. Aiming at getting more muscles the owner gives a puppy food rich in proteins and fats making the problem worse: the weight goes up while copulas remain weak. This results in abnormal development of the pup's fore legs and hind legs.

When the changes are becoming obvious, the owner goes to another extreme: he gives the puppy a super dose of calcium and by this means fixes the changes.

By the way, responsible producers of dog's food take into account this potential danger and recommend that puppies of breeds of a small or average size should consume 30% proteins and 20% fats and 28% / 17% correspondingly for big breeds. For a example, American dog's food producer Eagle Pack in the first situation offers the food "Growth" with a proportion of 30/20, for the second type of breeds - the food "Puppy" with a proportion of 28/17 and thus takes into account the development of bones first and foremost and only then an increase in muscles.

In any case, it would be desirable that a vet looked after a puppy during its first months to notice unwanted changes in its bones if any.

Remember what was lost during the puppy age is impossible to correct later.

Your puppy is becoming mature and it's a subject of admiration of passer-byes. You have managed to protect it from the dangers we outlined above.

Your sheepdog puppy is growing strong (thanks the right diet and walking enough) and psychiatrically (thanks the right brining up, good contacts with you). Now the most responsible moment is coming when you have to form a base without which your dog-ownership and a dog's carrier (like breeding, contests, etc) are to fail. Besides, it's the moment when the leadership is being established in your relationship with the dog. To be quite honest, this is the time that beginners in dog-ownership are afraid of most of all and they have a very good reason for it. The Caucasian and Central Asia Shepherd Dogs are famous for their independence, love for freedom and craving for leadership. In case of a mistake made during brining up a dog the dog may want to test its owner's leadership. Under these circumstances, some owners decide that there is something wrong with their dog's mind. In fact, it's only the evidence of the following;

• a contact with the dog isn't strong enough


• the dog has the strong makings of leadership

An experienced dog-owner will not let such situation happen. Nevertheless, if it has happened then his actions should be tough and taken immediately. Any attempt to take over the leadership should be immediately suppressed so the dog would not dream of it ever again. Any means are allowed to achieve the purpose.

Many beginners make the same serious mistake: leaving a disobeyed dog they go for "a powerful" argument like a stack or things like that to a different room. Let's have a look at the situation from the dog's point of view. It has made an attempt to take over the leadership, which was quite justly (from its view). The opponent (from our view it's the owner while the dog doesn't even have a hunch about it) is leaving the territory and by this recognizes his defeat! For the dog it's obvious. What happens then is the defeated opponent comes back and for no reason attacks the winner! No doubt, there will be serious consequences for the owner since under such circumstances any dog will be fighting to the bitter end. That is why we would like to make it clear once again: you should establish a clear relationship with a dog from the very beginning with no chance for the dog to change it! The easiest way to do it is not to let it happen at all.

One more unpleasant thing for beginners: mismatching the size of a 1,5-year old dog with the progress of its psychiatric system . At this age the Caucasian or the Middle Asian Sheepdog puppy may be scared by a mongrel ten times less that it is. After 2 or 2.5 years you will see what it's meant. Some dogs at the age of 1.5 can defeat any enemy. At the same time there are different dogs whose psychiatric system is progressing slowly but their life expectancy is 2 years longer. By the age of 2 your dog should have already had basic training in guarding and undergone a working trial.