How to teach a Caucasian Shepherd a foreign command. Training the Caucasian Shepherd. Teaching the Caucasian Shepherd basic commands

Start of training

Basic training of a Caucasian Shepherd dog, which will allow it to instill obedience skills, can begin at the age of 7-8 months.
In this case, by 9 months she will have already learned to carry out all the basic commands:

• "Near";
• "Stand";
• "To me";
• "Teeth".

The education process should begin before the Caucasian reaches the age of seven months. By this time, the puppy should respond to the name and be able to carry out several simple commands - “Sit”, “Lie down”, “Give me a paw”, “No”, “Place”. After this, the dog will be ready to begin more serious training.

During training, all skills of behavior and command execution that are instilled in the Caucasian Shepherd must be repeated constantly. Classes can be held every day in the morning and evening.

Recommended: wait 2-3 hours after feeding or exercise before eating. Daily short training is much more effective than training that is carried out rarely and lasts a long time.

Basic rules of training

To properly raise a Caucasian Shepherd, you need to follow these rules:

• You cannot scold or beat a dog for not listening or following commands. Otherwise she will become embittered. Training with an electric collar will also not be beneficial.
• A treat will not force a Caucasian Shepherd to follow a command if it does not want to.
• It is important to clearly set tasks for wolfhounds. They will not perform an action if it is not logical and there is no motivation (praise and treats).
• Many shepherd dogs do not have a retrieval reflex, meaning they will not catch a stick or toy. To teach him this skill, you need to take a ball and fill it with meat.
• Before you train a Caucasian Shepherd, you need to establish contact with it. To do this, you should play with your pet, go for walks and treat him with treats.
• Wolfhound training should be done by one person.
• It is important to immediately stop the dog’s aggression towards other family members.
• At first, it is better to carry out training at home so that the Caucasian Shepherd shows guarding qualities. After about 2-3 weeks of training, the dog should be moved to an unfamiliar place.
• In order for the pet to show instincts, you should realistically recreate a situation in which its owner is in danger. He will not pointlessly throw himself onto the training sleeve. It is important to know that the wolfhound tries to quickly neutralize the enemy, so he will try to bite in a place that is not covered by training equipment.
• First you need to work on one command, and then move on to another.
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Correct intonation, facial expressions, clear commands and systematic training will help you achieve your goal. After long training, a person will receive a devoted guard who follows commands and instantly acts in defense of the owner.

Interesting! Inexperienced dog breeders are advised to buy a Caucasian Shepherd female, which has a more docile character than a male. It is much easier to train a female.

Recommendations for training and raising a puppy

The character of the Caucasian Shepherd is distinguished by a high level of intelligence, the ability to independently analyze the situation and make decisions. In addition, the behavior of Caucasians has a pronounced tendency towards dominance. Therefore, the puppy must immediately be given a place in the family hierarchy. First of all, he must learn to trust his master and obey his orders.

1. Your dog's obedience must be achieved with patience and daily exercise. In order for the puppy to quickly go through the period of adaptation to new conditions, in the first days of its stay in the house, the owner must spend a lot of time with the pet.
2. Lessons are conducted with the baby Caucasian Shepherd in a relaxed manner. They feed by hand so that the dog gets used to it and is not afraid of humans. During play, the toy is carefully taken away from the puppy. The dog's reaction must be adequate. For exemplary behavior he is praised and treated with food. The selected item is returned. This technique develops trust in the owner and obedience.
3. The owner must clearly explain to the ward what is allowed and prohibited to do in the house. Pampering is strictly suppressed, but without violence and cruelty. In the first days, the puppy learns where his place is with his bed and food.
4. Up to 5-6 months, the owner trains the commands independently. The main training course begins at 6 months under the guidance of an experienced instructor. A distinctive feature of the upbringing of Caucasians is that their behavior is genetically based on protecting their own territory. Therefore, it is not advisable to conduct classes in another place; the dog will not react correctly.
5. In addition, it is important to remember that Caucasians have a wolfhound instinct. The animal aims to immediately fatally hit a dangerous person, and clings to the most vulnerable exposed parts of the body. It is difficult for an inexperienced owner to cope with a massive large animal.
6. A shepherd dog should not develop in isolation, otherwise it becomes overly aggressive and uncontrollable.

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When to start parenting?

Once your pet reaches nine months of age, you should have no doubt that the dog is well-mannered and capable of obeying you. Therefore, raising Caucasian Shepherd puppies should begin at seven months of age. Commands such as “Sit”, “Lie down”, “Place”, “No” should be instilled before this moment. These are the main steps of the “educational block”.

From the earliest puppyhood, you must clearly and undeniably make it clear to the Caucasian that it is you who dominate “in the pack”, that you are the leader.

In order to become a real owner of a wolfhound, you simply need to be an unconditional authority for him, a full-fledged leader. To achieve success, you yourself will have to feel like “a little bit of a dog” for a while.

The puppy must initially understand that in your pack (family) there is an unbreakable law, and this law states that you, the owner, are the undisputed and sole leader. This is non-negotiable. The hierarchy of the pack is built once and remains quite stable in the future. Caring for Caucasian Shepherd puppies should include not only proper balanced nutrition, but also, which is mandatory, a constant reminder of “who’s boss.”

Raising a Caucasian Shepherd puppy

Training for guard dogs

A well-developed desire to protect the territory and members of its pack is inherent in the very nature of the Caucasian Shepherd Dog. The age at which the Caucasian begins to guard is not defined, at approximately 5-6 months. Classes aimed at developing guarding skills help these dogs realize their potential. In the process of such training, basic skills are gradually developed:

• ability to bite a person;
• the ability to properly protect the leader and members of the pack;
• training in independent performance of security and protective functions.

These skills are inherent in every Caucasian at the level of instincts, so they only need to be developed in the learning process.

Preparation and training of guard and protective service (SPS)

As mentioned earlier, a wolfhound does not need protection training, but it happens that the owner wants to be confident in the skills of the ward and decides to take a guard course. This is where reproaches begin to pour in against the Caucasian - it doesn’t work, doesn’t understand, stupid dog. No matter how it is! You try to come to the territory of this “idle Caucasian” and if you escape from the arms of the wolfhound alive, everything will fall into place. So why is training a PCL so difficult? The answer was given above, the Caucasian Shepherd is not a campaigner!

Teaching the Caucasian Shepherd basic commands

The first command with which they begin to train a puppy is a response to the nickname. It is equivalent to the word “Attention!” and means concentration on the owner’s further actions. In order for the pet to learn its name, it is pronounced whenever the animal is addressed. Pronunciation must be clear and complete, without diminutive forms.

During the walk, the commands “Come to me!” are taught. and “Walk!” Correct behavior is reinforced with encouragement.

Starting from 3 months, the child is taught the order “No! (Ugh!)". It is served with a strict intonation. Before the exercise, call the dog by name to attract its attention.

Most basic commands are taught at 4-5 months of age:

• "Sit";
• "Lie";
• "Place";
• "Stand";
• “Nearby” (video author sobakaUdachi).

First, the puppy performs them at home, and then reinforces them during a walk. From 6 months they begin walking with a muzzle. The baby should be accustomed to this accessory gradually.

Caucasians do not have an fetch reflex, so playing games with bringing thrown objects makes no sense.

Does your Caucasian Shepherd follow commands?

You will learn the basics of training Caucasians from the video from Evgenia Inozemtseva.

Raising a Caucasian Shepherd requires a particularly sensitive and at the same time strong, sometimes harsh approach. The breed is definitely not suitable for beginners and people who have not had experience with independent dogs. Also, an owner who is not ready to give 100% or has a weak character cannot cope with upbringing.

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If you decide to train a Caucasian Shepherd at home, be prepared for a number of problems:

• In canine practice there are simply no effective systems for training wolfhounds.

• Popular domestic and foreign general training course systems are not suitable for Caucasians.

• A four-legged animal will not repeat a command 5-6 times to reinforce it; from its point of view, this is a waste of energy.

• Almost all wolfhounds do not have a retrieval reflex; they simply do not need it.

• The Caucasian does not accept demonstrative commands, for example, “Aport” or “Somersault”. A dog may know the technique perfectly, but refuse to follow the command after the first approach, and this is normal.

• The dog carries out only those commands for which the energy expenditure is justified.

You are not ready to perceive the dog as an equal, you are not ready to put in a lot of effort, you are not ready to spend 2-3 years on gradual training - this means that the Caucasian Shepherd is not for you. Also, you should not consider the option of boarding training; a “Caucasian” is a dog of one owner that suffers real mental trauma when separated from its person.

Character and temperament

The character of Caucasian Shepherd dogs can be characterized by the following words: fearlessness, independence, stubbornness and unpretentiousness.

They adapt to any conditions. But caring for and maintaining Caucasian Shepherds requires a lot of time if a person wants to raise an obedient dog. Outwardly they are calm and indifferent, but in reality they are sensitive and loving.

Wolfhounds tolerate children's pranks with patience and do not offend other pets. But due to their enormous growth and strength, it is not worth leaving them with children.

They do not require constant human company. Dogs can spend the whole day in the apartment. They try to take a position in which they control the territory from all sides.

One of the most amazing properties of the Caucasian Shepherd is to determine whether its owner is in danger or not.

Important! Caucasian Shepherd puppies require early socialization and training from the age of six months.

Smart, proud and wayward dogs do not like to follow commands and are difficult to train. It is important to show your pet who is boss and not to show aggression. The owner must be strong, strict, fair and kind. Patience, persistence and regular training will help you train your Caucasian Shepherd dog to obey.

How to train at home

At home, you can teach your Caucasian Shepherd to carry out the basic commands - “Sit”, “Lie down”, “Stand”, “Give me a paw”, “No”, “Teeth”. Subsequently, they need to be fixed in different conditions. Initial training in the skills of performing the commands “Come to me” and “Nearby” is also carried out at home.

Recommended: If it is necessary to train a Caucasian in security, guard or shepherd work, it is better to entrust the classes to an experienced instructor who will work with the dog in suitable conditions.

Training scheme by month

The main goal of raising a Caucasian Shepherd puppy is to establish the owner's leadership. It is easier to make this clear to a baby than to an adult dog. A dog breeder needs to learn that even a small wolfhound is capable of identifying a person’s weaknesses and using them against him. Therefore, training is mandatory.

It is important to draw up a set of rules that the puppy and owner must follow. After all, dog breeders often break their own rules, which confuses their students. For example, they feed a pet from the table for several days, and later scold it for begging. Or they sleep with the puppy, and after a few days they don’t let him into the bed.

Dog owners should understand that once a dog has developed a habit, it will be difficult to unlearn it.

From 2 months to 2 years, Caucasian Shepherd puppies need to learn basic commands, such as “Come,” “Near,” “No,” or “Ugh.” Only after this can you begin to master security and protective skills.

2–4 months

After establishing contact with the owner, you can begin raising the puppy. The Caucasian Shepherd can be trained at home by the owner of an apartment or on the street by the owner of a private house.

Important! If the puppy lives on the territory of a private house, then it must be allowed inside periodically so that it can see what it is protecting.

Stages of training a puppy 2–4 months:

Important! When walking, the Caucasian Shepherd must wear a muzzle and collar. If this measure is observed, the pet will not be able to escape and will not eat poisoned objects.

4–6 months

You need to raise a Caucasian Shepherd puppy so that at this age he already knows how to behave well on the street and at home. After this, it’s time to take your pet to places where other dogs are walked.

Dog training scheme for 4–6 months:

For Caucasian Shepherd Dogs that will participate in the exhibition, additional training is carried out:

After training, the Caucasian Shepherd puppy follows the owner’s commands and does not pay attention to the surrounding dogs.

From six months to a year

At this age, you need to work with the dog in order to consolidate and maintain the acquired basic skills. If Caucasian Shepherd Dogs are stubborn and do not respond to commands, then daily training will help them survive the critical period.

From the age of 6 months, the Caucasian Shepherd is trained in the UGS (controlled city dog) course. According to the program, the puppy must learn the following commands: “Stand!”, “Sit!”, “Near!” and “Come to me!”

From one to two years

At this age, the Caucasian Shepherd is an obedient trained dog that can carry out all the commands described above. If this condition is met, the owner proceeds to training in security and protective skills (ZKS - Protective and Guard Service).

The ZKS system consists of the following points:

• protection of the owner and other family members;
• searching for things and people by smell;
• property protection;
• search the area and detain the criminal.

If the puppy has completed the basic training course and UGS by 8–10 months, then you can immediately move on to UGS.

Useful video

https://www.youtube.com/video/00zhibgxl8U

During the training process, the Caucasian Shepherd learns to be obedient and follow commands. She can also be taught special skills that are necessary to perform special work, such as guarding or shepherding. Teaching Caucasians is not an easy task, but it is worth taking the time to do. With the right approach and patience, classes will definitely bring good results.

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Training in security and protective skills

After completing the ZKS course, the Caucasian Shepherd is able to stop an intruder who threatens its owner or personal property. Dogs older than 1 year are allowed for training after mastering basic skills. Training is carried out only under the supervision of a specialist.

The ZKS course consists of the following stages:

• identification of a person or personal objects by smell;
• guarding the owner and repelling the attacker's attack;
• mastering the skill of protecting the owner’s personal items;
• refusal to accept treats from strangers;
• accustoming to sharp sounds (including gunshots);
• search the territory and detain the intruder.

After training, the Caucasian Shepherd will become a real service dog.