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