I have written a few notes about the my big friend, Sasha, who was rescued by Tamara and Gabe at Thunderhawk Caucasian Mountain Dogs.  I spend alot of time with Sasha and, in a few months, already have had some fun/unusual experiences with him: eating in restaurants together, taking him to work, even kinda accidentally doing ok in a very informal dog show put on by a local petfood store.  He goes really everywhere with me and as I have written, is a loving and lovable big bear of a fellow. "Good with children, other dogs, strangers.... good in obedience" are the kind of words I have used to describe him. 

Perfect pet, right? 

Well, the answer is actually "NO" in some ways.  As much as I love my big friend, I was recently reminded that the "happy, smiling, bouncy" Sasha stories neglect some VERY important topics.  Without knowing it, I was potentially creating a misconception that could lead people to buy CO's without really understanding the commitment that was involved. To complete the story, then: 
 

1. TEMPERAMENT: A CO IS NOT REALLY A PET AND DOES NOT HAVE PET REACTIONS: 
Your CO is not really that dependent on you. He will conform to your agenda by agreement, by practice, because he has decided it's his job to do so. He is not preprogrammed to do what a "master" wants.  He is independent, in a very catlike way. He is very serious, very focused. Typically, a CO will not play. He will stand guard forever.  He does NOT have a fear reaction. NONE ZERO ZILCH NADA  He does not notice hardship or respond to pain. (I have heard horror stories of police/military trainers, not experienced with CO's, trying pain in training - it really doesn't work). Most of the ways you learned to interact with your pet golden retriever as a child basically do not work. He is as sensitive to your mood as he is to your instructions.  He is a partner, not a servant.  He will guard you, as best as he can, and with a strong independent sense of what that "mission" entails.  He will do this by instinct, as the result of perhaps 1000 or more years of breeding for that task. 
2. PRECAUTION: You might decide to SPAY/NEUTER THE CO: There was an advertisement from a CO breeder that, rather appropriately, compared a CO to a firearm.  If an un- neutered CO is like a firearm, it is also a potential gun factory.  The un-neutered is CO harder to socialize (see below), AND the CO owner has to take responsibility for the next generation of puppies.  One CO to socialize and be responsible for is alot.  Litters full of them is a task for experts. 
3. PRECAUTION: THE CO DOES NOT GO OUT LOOSE: The house is secured, and/or a fenced area created so that the CO really cannot get loose.  Some details:  A fenced area should be so stoutly constructed that a strong man could not break out, given time to work on it. Think of a POW cage.  It must be roofed over or have stout fencing over the top (I have seen a 150lb. CO eagerly leaping 12-15 feet in the air when approached by a stranger - me - who was not posing any active threat).  Securing the house when not home: screened windows are not secure and neither are closed windows (my friend's Sar Planina - a Yugoslavian relative of CO's - has gone through both when left in the house alone) nor are lever operated doors (Sasha opens them easily).  Actually, other than in a very strong crate, the house really cannot be truly a secure place for the CO alone.  The Sar even tried to get out a second floor window when left in an upstairs bedroom.  Now, after some months practice and repeated tests (including sending strangers to the house to knock and open the screen doors like a delivery person), I will leave Sasha loose in the house alone for a few hours with the windows closed down to a small opening.  My friend says her Sar is getting better too (after a year).  But Sasha is left alone only with collar and ID tags on, because I know I am taking a chance/pushing the envelope. 
4.  PRECAUTION: THE CO BASICALLY DOES NOT GO OFF-LEASH:  First, what kind of collar/leash: enough to check/slow-up the most aggressive lunge the CO can do  and that's a BIG lunge.  This is also a question of the size, strength and reflexes of the owner.  A choke collar, a halti collar or even an electric shock collar may be needed.  I hate to write it, but if I wasn't a rather strong and kinda big guy, or if Sasha had ever shown a temperament to lunge, I would never have stopped using the choke collar I started him with.  And the restraint offered by the choke or shock collar is MOMENTARY only. It is a reminder, not a control like it would be with most dogs. If he really wanted to, your CO would continue to lunge with a bullet wound in his chest.  The collar really is NOT going to stop him. Only socialization will control your CO. 
Now, the off-leash warning: unless you are a professional football line backer, you will not be able to stop your CO going at a run (I played college ball, as a linebacker, and I can't tackle Sasha, who is a low-energy CO) and unless you are a world-class sprinter, or on horseback, the CO will outrun you.  Off-leash is an indoor activity or a fenced area activity (see above 
about secure fencing). Maybe, maybe, maybe - after literally years of practice - you can try it in really LARGE open spaces.  Maybe never. 
6. TEMPERAMENT: TRAINING:  Training a CO is rather easy, I have found.  Quick example: Sasha was never housebroken before I got him at age 3 1/2 (never was a pet, only military/K9 training).  One mistake on carpet.  Got a quiet "no", with a frowning face.  One on wood floor, another "no".  One on tile floor, with a last  "no" and that was it. Housebroken - 36 hours. Done. Obedience class: always great at first.... does get bored with the routines after a while.  But it isn't really that the CO is being obedient in the normal sense. He's just decided that it is ok for the two of you to do this together, that's it is part of the job.  He doesn't constantly look at you for guidance and instruction and probably won't do some of the more "polished" posing kinds of sit or stand that most dogs will do.  He will just sit facing generally in the right direction and stand as he likes to stand.  Tugging the leash or yelling "no" at him has no effect.  Smiling when things are right and frowning when they are wrong are really enough. And you may never be able to get him to do a sit/stay when you leave his sight.  My friend's Sar will stay a little while, but Sasha just gets up and moves until he can see me again. 
7. THE REAL ISSUE: SOCIALIZATION:  If training is easy, socialization is the hard task.  The CO was once bred to kill.    It is that simple.  It can kill people (young or old), animals and other dogs. Your CO can kill anything that it thinks threatens what it is guarding.  It will decide what are threats, largely on its own.  It will often not seek to deter, in the manner of more pure livestock guards like the Kuvasc who scare off predators.  The CO may well attack, in the manner of a military dog.  They were village- guards/fighting/military dogs in their 1000 years of breeding as or more often than animal guards.  Your CO is not only unlike a golden retriever, he is also unlike a Kuvasc. 
Socializing the CO is a never-ending process of helping the CO to gauge what is a real threat. It is that and really nothing more.  But it is never-ending. For most people, there are no real threats: people shouldn't want their CO to actually kill even a burglar. In this sense, a CO is both not really a pet and not obviously a good choice as a guard dog in a modern, "civilized" world. 
Too independent, too willful and too potentially deangerous, if poorly socialized. Actually doing the socializing is not hard, but massively time-consuming. The CO may be potentially aggressive, but is not vicious by nature.  Socialization consists of exposing the CO to as many different situations as possible and reassuring the "guard" that there is no threat that requires a response. 
Among people, among other animals, at home, on neutral ground, in daylight, at night, in traffic, on subways, on farms.... on and on and on and on.... for the life of the CO. It starts with having the CO recognize that YOU are not a threat.  That can be a big step (taking several months!) on its own for a previously unsocialized, mature CO.  Then slowly (very slowly), under controlled and always supervised conditions, expand the envelop: other family members, other pets.  This may take months again. As an example: Sasha was a low aggression CO  that was rather well socialized by Tamara at Thunderhawk over a period of about a year, although she indicated he was rather "rough" on arrival at her place.  I didn't let Sasha loose alone with my cats for about 2 months after getting him.  I still worry about it some. 
After the immediate surroundings are "safed", you go on.  Obedience class is good practice, so are urban environments.  The fearless calm of the CO makes alot of the usual distractions to dogs in urban areas a non-issue.  Any opportunity to meet another dog is good too. The CO will sense your idea of threat pretty well, given enough time, and adopt/adapt to your view to a great extent.  But never completely. And you have to keep up this constant (really, truly constant, all the time) interaction with your guardian forever..... Forever assuring him that he doesn't have to face a threat today. Remember, the CO's were not bred to be pets! 

One Sasha story to illustrate and close this long letter: We have had alot of thunder/lightning since I got him, and Sasha doesn't normally react to these storms.... Until we had a really big storm right over the house.  I got nervous of a tornado and went around turning off the power, opening interior doors and attic windows, bringing the cats in off the porches, etc.  Acting concerned, you see.  As the storm approached, Sasha posted to a standing guard position between me and the direction from which the storm was closing in.  As it hit, the trees around the house and the lightning rods on the house and barn were hit repeatedly.  The house (a big, old stone place) shook with the shock waves of the thunder. Sasha leapt to attack..... He ran to the side of the house where the storm was hitting and reached up to the window ledges:  snarling, spitting, barking and lunging at the storm... starting to break through the windows to attack it.  I pulled him off and reassured him, but as the storm moved, he repeated the attack as each side of the house was most threatened.  He had decided that the storm was a threat.  He had sensed that I was nervous and we had never practiced "tornado is not a threat". I guess he figured that one CO guarding his partner vs. all the forces of nature was a pretty even fight. 

All the best, 

Jonathan & Sasha 

[Ed note: An owner who with kind-heart rescued a Caucasian from a dog shelter (where the dog was given up for barking) finds she she too must find another home for the dog because she cannot devote the time and training necessary.  The Caucasian is a wonderful breed but is not an easy fit for every person's lifestyle.  Please learn all about the breed before making a purchase.]

6/12/98

Dear stacey and others,

Tomorrow will be a sad day for us. We will see jady offto her new owners. IN answer to your question about why we looked for an other home i can not answer very shortly, but will try:
 
 

Jady came origenally from Hungaria, and was sold as a pup to a breeder of different dogs. He sold her to a family close to us, living in a town close to a bar and a lot of people walkin by the windows at night. As a good guardian, she barked with her loud and heavy bark. Neighbours threathend and the family decided not to work on it, but bring her to a dogs-shelter (?). We found her there 1 1/2 hour later and took her home.
Jady is not a caucasian in character. She is NOT aggresive, very friendly also to visitors as soon as we open the door and welcome there she wiggles her big tale and greets them.
We have a 3, 6year old daughter that we trust her with completely and kids of 12 years old walkher in the dunes her and she obeys them!!! She will only be aggresive when: 1: being attacted, 2: smelling danger in people or dogs i.e. towards us. Then she can litteraly drag me over the street to tell them not to come near her flog. She also guards children playing in our dead-end street when a stranger enters. She is very on-guard then.

To the point: She is a big, very hairy friendly bear who will bark when:
1. a car which sound she doesn't know goes or enters at night, same with people..
2. She is alone for more than 3 hours. She than starts to call her flock, which off-couse we do not hear.Than she will go on for 30-45 minutes, which of-course bothers neighbours.

Why, after such enthousiasm, does she go away??

We love her so much that we wish her a better life than we are able to give. Full-grown she is big for our little house. She needs long walks. My husband used to be abroad alot and now he works whole days. I work too and our daughter is to little to walk a long time. In short: she is alone a lot, we cannot train or work with her as we would like to and as she needs and we are just not able to give her the attention and walks that she needs.

we contacted a shelter for animals and through them got intouch with a club for Hungarian and race-conected dogs wich included ovcharcas. Luckely, the son of the secretary there was just looking for a full-grown but young cauc. and his wife wanted a friendly dog as she is not very strict and the cauc. normally needs that. Hearing of a jady, they immediately came over to have a look..with people who know the race. they were amazed tosee her caracter.( they should be on leash all the time?? Jay walk freely in nature, not near gardens and houses, and plays with  almost all dogs) These people know the ovcharka, know what they get, and have all the time she needs...

So, you see, our jady is notyour  tipical cauc. Of-course, she has her own will, doesn't allways come when you order her to,but if you see our daughter walking her on-leash throuh the streets, the dog following even her command, you know she has a positiv character-fault...

WE are sad, but happy for our big bear that we have found her a home where she also will have other ovcharka's to play with in her neighbourhood. ( her new owners parents have south-russian ovcharka's) Hope we made a good decission,

greetings,

Mariska Botman/Zandvoort/Netherlands

Hawk is our 5½ month old CO.  His job is to be a puppy right now.  But he is in training for a couple of jobs.  We wanted Hawk to guard the bloodhounds who we use to find lost and missing people, and sometimes to locate criminals and find evidence in a crime.  They are good at it and we are proud of them.
 Right now Hawk doesn't guard much, he's too busy being a puppy.  His favorite playmate is Hadley our 3 year old female bloodhound.

Hawks training consists of having completed two obedience courses, constant exposure to new and different situations and groups of people and dogs, agility training on AKC sized equipment, but with a different motive in mind, and puppy runaways, the first stage of search dog training.

Over the past two weekends Hawk participated with our search team in our demonstration at the Memphis/Shelby County Mid-South Fair.  Hawks role was to demonstrate puppy obedience along with a 4½ month old Collie.  They did very well.  Hawk also did his runaway, off lead, in the midst of lots of people and noise distraction.  The area we were assigned was surrounded on all sides, on one side by the exotic animal petting zoo, on the opposite side by a childrens train ride, the third side was open to the crowd, the back side was a chain link fence.  We did six performances, Hawk did his runaway everytime with exhuberance and no side trips to visit the other dogs or the crowd.  He also participated, with the adult dogs, in the agility course.  We had the little dog walk, the teeter totter and the big dog walk.  I have to watch him on the big dog walk, he tends to get going too fast.

One of the main things we do at the fair, both before and after our demo, is visit with the people about our dogs and the search and rescue work we do.
 Needless to say, there are many children who come up and want to "pet the doggy".  Hawk endured the uneducated hugs, pats and rubbings of more children and adults than we could count and he did it with grace and patience.  The last night, a toddler, perhaps 15 months old came up to Hawk while he was laying down.  The child got between Hawks front and back legs and plopped down on his fanny and leaned back against Hawks flank and smiled.  Hawk didn't flinch, or object at all.  In fact he looked at the child and layed very still so as not to disturb him.
 

I continue to be amazed at the coolheadedness of this puppy.  Nothing yet has upset him, or even alarmed him.

This coming weekend our team will be participating, with dogs, in the Kroger/St. Jude World of Dogs.  A giant dog show/exposition to promote dogs and to benefit St. Jude's Childrens Research Hospital which was founded by Danny Thomas.  This will be yet another opportunity to socialize Hawk in a new environment.  We do not plan to do a demo here, just answer a million questions about that curious dog that looks "kind of like a ......." but isn't.

We had an interesting thing happen at home.  Hawk is one of 7 dogs.  One of our dogs is a Pug.  He's must not have seen the commercial about your brain on drugs being akin to fried eggs.  Lance seems to have a screw loose, but he is harmless.  Paulette was on the lawn tractor mowing the yard outside the fence.  Lance doesn't like the tractor, he charged the fence and barked furiously at the tractor.  Hawk stood back curiously and observed for a time, then he began to bark.  Not at the tractor, but at Lance.  Then he walked up to Lance and barked at him some more, Lance ignored him.  When Lance ignored Hawk and persisted in barking at the lawn tractor Hawk took Lance by the tail and dragged him back away from the fence and the mower.

Lance was quiet for a few minutes.  He couldn't stand it for long though and began, again, to charge the fence and bark at the lawn tractor.  Hawk sounded his warning again, which was ignored so he again took matters in hand and dragged the barking Lance by the tail away from the fence.  This time Lance agreed it might be better to find another pursuit.

We are training our puppy, a Thunderhawk Caucasian named Hawk, in K9 SAR.  We run bloodhounds for missing persons search and other work for the local sheriffs departments.

At 9 months Hawk is a just starting his training.  Since we only do scent specific work all our dogs start off working in harness, just like a bloodhound.  We have found that this teaches the dog the important things we want them to know about search and builds their confidence in their own abilities.  After Hawk reaches a certain level, (each dog is different in the time to get to this stage) he will begin to work off lead.

He is still all puppy, albeit at 9 months and 130 lbs+, no stranger sees him as a pup.  He works very eagerly and with great accuracy.  His attention span is still not a match for a mature dog, but he's growing.   Our bloodhounds have stayed on a trail for as much as 4-5 hours on occasion with no decrease in drive.

One of the things that and LGD could do in concert with other search dogs is shown in the example of a recent success our team had in an evidence search. The suspects in a carjacking/attempted murder ran from the scene and threw their sawed off shotgun in the brush.  Since they were less than truthful about their route we were asked to help.  We used Hadley, my wife's bloodhound to establish the trail the shooter had taken and a Lab doing an article search sweep behind.  The Lab found the shotgun.

The point being team work with dogs works just as well as team work with people and we are determined that our LGD will be a fully functional member of our team.

If any one has any specific questions about our training methods please feel free to inquire.

Bob & Paulette Weible
Search Dogs South
Byhalia, MS

I am the happy owner, most of the time, of a Caucasian Ovcharka. His name is Gorbi, the German nickname of Gorbachev - I mean he is a real Russian. Next month he has his 4th birthday. 4 years with happy days but also shocking experiences. It all began one day, 5 years ago, when I saw a big, beautiful dog at the dogs world show in Kopenhagen. My son showed his Rottweiler, who became a world winner that day, that was the reason we were there. I hated dog shows, now we travel 100 of kilometers to show and see Caucasians. Here he was, a Caucasian Ovcharka. Big, quiet and beautiful. I even was allowed to touch him and lay my arms around his neck. I fell in love. At that time we had our old German Shepherd. The last one of three male dogs. 

A Caucasian is NOT a Shepherd. 

A year after our loved old dog died, and now we started a detective work. Nobody knows a Caucasian in Denmark. There has been two, now dead, but the owners warned us, never buy a dog like this, they are "killers". 

But I am a "Berliner", as Kennedy said, born and bred in this city. And we have our own way to do things. After many telephone calls I found a breeder in Berlin, my old hometown. Off we went. Ten days after my old dog was dead we had a Caucasian shepherd, we thought. He was at that time 4 months old. A teddybear to look at. 

A Caucasian is NOT a shepherd. 

The first month he was very quiet. It was impossible to play with him. When I kicked to a ball, the best I could do to my old dog, he showed me his tail. Here I was with the ball, and he looked in the other direction. Later I became wiser. At that time I thought, oh a Shepherd, only Caucasian. The first 8 month he walked right behind me, oh I thought, a Shepherd, only Caucasian. Since that time I started to learn. 

My Ovcharka is NOT a Shepherd. 

We took him to a school for dogs, and he did fine. He even has a diploma, 71 points, 70 would have been enough, he always likes to show himself (hi-hi). It was not the number of points, but was it necessary to pee on the wooden stick he was supposed to bring back?? Was it really necessary to jump over the barrel and disappear, when he was supposed to come back to you, happy to be with you again, like all the other dogs did? 
 
 

My Gorbi is NOT a German Shepherd. 

As mentioned before, he is the most quiet and lovely dog at home. BUT as soon we take a walk, it is stress. I act as a Mars- woman with all antenna wide open. Now, when he is 4 years old he is changing again. Until a year ago, he played with other male dogs and was very friendly. Suddenly he hates all male dogs and acts like a lion when he meets some. Maybe the reason is, that he is going to be a father. We expect little "Gorbis" in a week. He is now a Danish champion, but since he is the only Caucasian in Denmark (who wonders??) we had to go to Germany to find a wife for him. I mean one Caucasian is not a club. Therefore I am member of the German club. At the German exhibitions he is always between the 3 best. But the Germans are a bit unsecure about him, he is too nice and quiet. At the exhibitions there is a difference between German and Danish dogs. My Gorbi does not have a dog house, he hates closed doors, and he is around us 24 hours a day. All vacations are with him. There they still want more sharpness. I have worked with my dog to diminish this character. In a way with luck, we live 8 kilometers outside Kopenhagen, I can't have a dog who is aggressive. I do not have sheep, and after we bought Gorbi no wolf or bear has been seen around. So he has done his mission. 

By the way, our Gorbi is the son of Robert and Carola Funk/Fechner's King. They are both good friends, and our Gorbi looks like their King. They are looking forward to the little "Gorbis", because they want one of his children. Maybe a new "King" is born. 

Every day is different when you have a Caucasian. I could write a book about him which I have actually done, so if you like to write about your experiences with this special dog (a Caucasian is not a dog! but a personality) I would be glad to hear from you. My English is not to good, but a Caucasian fan always understands a Caucasian friend. Not only are our dogs special, and they are, but we have learned to tackle unexpected situations. So don't hesitate to write. I write back, but a better idea is to write about your problems/pleasures in your own magazine. By the way, our Gorbi is not gray but has the most fantastic golden brown tones with white and black. His markings colours are changing at the moment the golden brown tones get more deep and the other colours are getting more intense. He is so beautiful. 
 
 

[Note - The COCA advocates early, consistent socialization while maintaining the integrity of the guardian nature of the breed and also promotes the usage of the common name "Caucasian Mountain Dog" to avoid confusion with shepherding dogs.]

I have really enjoyed Evan's ongoing stories of his CO, Sasha, and the friendship that is blossoming between them.

The question of COs as "pets" has plagued me too.

Without arguing semantics, I tend to see dogs in these broad categories: Pet Dogs; Field or Hunting Dogs; Working or Utility Dogs; and Companion Dogs.

A Pet Dog is an animal that fares well in a one or two owner household or a family.  This is a dog that can remain friendly and easygoing in most social milieus (grandma's house, the park, a bunch of kids), a dog that can be left alone occasionally or daily, without too much concern as family members pursue other interests.  A pet dog should be an "easy keeper" in all ways, temperament, grooming, training, exercise, and feeding.

The Hunting or Field Dogs are those which seasonally spend up to 16 hours a day in the field, seeking game, retrieving, standing steady to gunfire, non aggressive to other dogs in the field, and able to handle all kinds of weather conditions.  These breeds tend to mature slowly insofar as their "human" social skills go (e.g., housebreaking problems, wild behavior, etc.) and are too active for the average, over-extended family lifestyle of today.

The Working/Utility Dog spends most or all of its day on duty.  This can be a military dog, drug finding dog, herding dog, livestock guardian dog.  The breeds are intense, often stubborn and bold, somewhat obsessive, and highly active or extremely powerful, sometimes both.  The Working/Utility Dog requires a Leader and will rise willingly to that role when one is not forthcoming.  These breeds produce some of the most challenging, interesting, and rewarding canine personalities.

The Working/Utility breeds require much more handling skill and time, and the Hunting/Field breeds more space and energy, than the happy little mixed breed pet.

But what of the Companion Dog?

Whatever the breed, the Companion Dog goes everywhere with its owner or family.  It's manners must be impeccable and predictable.  It must be under control in every situation. Its owner must be fully prepared to undertake responsibility for the Companion Dog at all times, whether carrying a doggy-duty-bag in the pocket on every walk, or carrying proper insurance for doggy indiscretions.

The Companion dog is on-leash and in control at all times when in the public domain. S/he must be able to walk politely on leash, neither pulling nor lagging, sniffing or lunging, and Sit, Down, (or Sit-Stay Down-Stay), and Recall on command.  S/he should also quickly respond to Leave It, Drop It and No.

Although s/he need not be overly friendly, the Companion Dog is tolerant of neutral strangers, and does not mistake the hurrying passerby for a potential attacker. S/he is always reasonably well groomed, clean and flea free in public.

Due to inherited breed type and temperament, the Companion Dog may be dog or animal aggressive, even when properly introduced and socialized at an early age.  Should this be the case, s/he is either fully obedience trained, completely on-leash controlled and always responsive to the handler, and/or appropriately restrained with a Halti or Gentle Leader or similar head-harness, and/or is obedience trained, generally predictable and controllable, but also muzzled in case of any provocation that might result in an unfortunate incident.

The Companion Dog is understood and accepted by its owner to be a much a responsibility as is the owning and driving of an automobile -- but more fun -- and a lifelong commitment.

THE CAUCASIAN OVCHARKA AS COMPANION DOG

The Caucasian Ovchark fits into both the Working/Utility and Companion Dog categories when the above provisos of OWNER RESPONSIBILITY are strictly adhered to.

However, generally speaking, the size, power, unusual temperament, housing and training demands required to meet the responsibilities inherent in the ownership of a CO would make the breed a very poor choice as "pet" dog.  For those that love a big dog, either the more teddy-bear-like Newfoundland, or the Mastiff or St. Bernard, both fine watchdogs, would make a far better choice.

KAZBEK:  CO AND "COMPANION DOG IN TRAINING"

Kazbek, Thunderhawk's Kallishnikov, is an intact male Caucasian Mtn Dog, currently 19.5 weeks of age, who has been my companion since exactly 9 weeks of age.  Kazbek has been described by his breeders as a "high octane," high ADR pup but also with high sociability.

At 60# and almost 5 months of age, Kazbek still wears only a flat collar and leash for all his training and socialization.  He is entirely Clicker Trained and has received approximately four corrections, in the form of firm reprimands, three occurring in his first week in my home. He has received no collar or leash corrections at all.

While Kaz has been extremely responsive to all his training and socialization, I find I am constantly putting more and more into the dog as he grows and changes.  The foundation work put on Kazbek thus far must surely equal in time and intensitiy that which most obedience trainers or Schutzhund aficianados put into a promising puppy.

CONDITIONED RESPONSES

For instance, Kazbek did not arrive at my home and go immediately to the vet for his next set of innoculations.  Instead, I called all around until I found a vet who would at least attempt to follow my instructions on how this pup was to be handled in order to desensitize him to the vet's office and to assure that his first "imprint" experiences would leave him with good memories.

We then went to the vet's office for a look over and to meet the vet (at full price, I might add).  But no discomfort was forthcoming and Kaz was merely handled, petted, and cooed over by the staff. The vet, against my advice, did roughly pet (maul) the puppy and received a warning growl for his trouble.  At that point, I dropped a friendly "I told you so" and the vet revised his handling and reevaluated the little fellow, realizing that this @20lb puppy might one day be a 145lb dog that didn't like him much.

Following vet "socialization" included several visits to the office, the parking lot, the office girls, and finally on our second visit, when Kaz had also become used to his new home with me and had several socialization walks and opportunities to meet new people, he came in all awag, greeted the office staff happily, and gobbled hotdogs while he was innoculated from the side, with the tech at his level (not on a table), and without her grabbing his scruff to hold him still. He never even knew a needle was inserted.

The result of all that work, including a bit of huff-n-puff I got from various vet staff who felt they knew better than I how to handle my dog, is that last week, when I dropped by the vet's office to pick up some medication, Kazbek climbed happily on the scale, "Waited" while he was weighed, then sat beside me in the (not busy) waiting room while we practiced tricks, including Wave, Take a Rest (= sloppy Down) and Roll Over. The Roll Over was a test to see how relaxed he really was, and he passed with flying colors.

In the vet's office, a door in front of us led to an exam room behind which a dog whined nervously.  Kaz' reaction:  mild interest, then dismissal.

Next, a sad gentleman and his son hurried in with what turned out to be a large dead dog wrapped in a blanket. Kaz merely watched them, probably sensing their grief, as he has shown INCREDIBLE intuitiive powers.

Then he rolled over and fell sound asleep.

After about 10-15 minutes, the exam room door opened and a small, female Lab came out. Kaz was interested in seeing the dog and her family was interested in Kaz. Ascertaining that healthwise and behaviorally, the young female was not a threat, I allowed Kaz to meet her and he and the young female shared a friendly moment.  Kaz seems to meet dogs and people in the same way, raising or lowering his intensity in relationship to the timidity of the individual.  His intuition is quite the most amazing thing.

WHAT IT TAKES [HAS TAKEN ME] TO SOCIALIZE A CO

While socializing a pet puppy is just as necessary as socializing any other dog, it is a fairly easy task.  You teach the pup to walk on a leash, make sure his innoculations are current, and off you go.

But with a CO, in order to avoid the disaster of a negative situation arising that may imprint forever (or so it would seem) on their elephant-like memories, you never just "take the puppy to the park."

When Kaz and I go on an outing, Kaz is in his collar and leash and I am equipped in full training gear. We scope out the parks in advance for children, ballgames, large groups of people, oddly behaved people, dirty parks, loose dogs, in fact, any dogs at all.

It is of particular concern that no off-leash dog have an opportunity to attack the puppy.  Obviously, no one wants their dog to get hurt, but should Kaz suffer even one attack, he will be set back very far on the scale of "doggy socialization," possibly permanently.

Some of the objects, people, and situations we have worked hard to desensitize/socialize Kazbek to include: People (young, old, black, white, challenged, healthy), children in play mode (roller skates, roller blades, skate boards, full hockey skating regalia, bicycles, basket and baseballs and bats), a variety of dogs, new foot surfaces, stairs and stair climbing, pools, water and hoses, foot and auto traffic, body handling (ears, teeth, feet, etc.); and also handling encounters in the dark rather than daylight hours.

When there are dogs in the park, on leash, I set up sitiatuons so that Kaz can meet, or ignore, them as appropriate, and also get past them within the bounds of our training and conditioning program, which is generally based on Alert=Good=Reward, then redirect and reward again.

This approach allows the pup to scope out the situation and Alert according to his interest and understanding, while he is also being conditioned to follow any Alert by looking to me for a reward.

The first question that pops into most people's minds is "would this conditioning interfere with any situation where, as an adult dog, the Alert would appropriately be followed by threat behavior?"

Absolutely not. Genetics, as they say, will override training.  What it does teach him is to take time to think rather than to just react to every new situation with threat displays or lack of self confidence.

BTW, since Kazbek is always "right" (Alert), there are no corrections. If he goes into full threat display due to MY handling error, then I simply remove him from the situation.  At his age, the distance he needs to go in order to "forget" about the other dog is not far and he can then be redirected into an appropriate behavior for which he can earn a reward. Due to the lack of correction and his being allowed to assess situations to the best of his ability, Kazbek is extremely self-confident during all his forays and has exhibited this high self-confidence since about 10 weeks of age. While I have never owned (or even seen) a CO puppy before, I can say that Kazbek shows none of the typical Mastiff shyness or timidity exhibited by Mastiff breeds during the 10-16 week fear period and beyond.

Every once in awhile, something really unusual will appear and then the tail drops, but usually either Kazbek's eyesight kicks in or I can tell him what it is (for instance, when he saw his first hockey-geared child, complete with stick and helmet, he was not too sure what it was or what he should do about it.  I said "children, new friends" and because of the wonderful bond of trust built by the clicker, Kaz immediately changed gear [i was as surprised as anyone that he spoke English] and tried to drag me off to play with "the children.)

BTW, for those unfamiliar with it, clicker training is operant conditioning using the sound of the clicker to mark the desired behavior.  The dog is conditioned to do what you like because he is rewarded when he does what you like.  He is ignored or redirected when he does something you don't like, and it is up to the owner to avoid situations where the dog MUST do wrong (such as bringing Kaz face to face with any dog before he has a chance to decide how confident he feels in proximity).

Because the dog is never punished and never (or almost never) corrected, and because YOU are forced to constantly observe the dog for the postures and attitudes that tell you what he is thinking, the dog builds a lot of self confidence, an ability to discriminate, and the freedom to offer intelligent behaviors that MAY get him rewarded or to discard behaviors that get him nothing. Further, the lack of conflict between pup and handler creates tremendous trust, particularly in the sensitive, sulky, independent yet loving Caucasian Mtn Dog.

Training this way, and with this type of animal, also takes a tremendous amount of time.  The results however have been incredible.  I have a beautiful, confident, trusting, intelligent, FUNNY (he could have been a Marx Brother), happy, willing worker that I can take anywhere.

And this is the Caucasian Ovcharka as Companion Dog.

QUESTIONS

The most common question (or jibe) regarding the above methods of socialization and desensitization usually is "that's okay when he is a puppy -- what will happen when he is an adolescent?"

The answer for now is, "I honestly don't know."

What should happen, however, is that while the foundation laid on a base of constant conditioning and reward should shudder under the earthquake of adolescent change, while repair and adjustment will be necessary, the foundation itself should stand steady.  In the end, with about five times more of the same kind of work we have already done, as Kazbek begins to mature into adult personality, the foundation will, I hope, again stand rock solid, and Kazbek will become what I believe he was meant to be, a truly great companion and a Great Dog.