[quote=isla49"][quote="EsqCaucasians]I like the aloof pups for myself. My Bruno (first ATTS TT breed earner) was so aloof as a pup that when i got down and the floor, patting floor and calling happily he would walk right by me as if I wasnt there. Aloof may need to be distinguished from avoidance. Personally, I lke the cool, calm ones.[/quote] Is this what you breed for? Lets consider then two scenarios in evaluating a litter of traditional protection dogs. If a particular pup ran back/away from a stranger approaching the puppy pen and stayed away it is a sign of avoidance. An undesirable trait, the pup is clearly afraid of new stimuli and this will always be present even as an adult dog. Although it can be masked to a degree by later conditioning and become not so obvious it's still a fundamental part of the makeup of that dog and will surface when the dog is pressured. In another scenario if it simply stayed back while other puppies ran to a stranger coming to the puppy pen you're saying that it's not avoidance but the puppy is aloof. The puppy may be aloof but all I see is a dog that is not interested in checking out a new potentially threatening situation. This makes for a disinterested dog as an adult. Disinterested in everything including suspicious or threatening actions by people. Granted I've said these tests work for the traditional protection breeds and I don't know much about the CO. Can you please explain what it is about aloofness in an adult CO that you like? Maybe describing a situation and how an aloof and not aloof CO would behave. Or maybe you're not looking for a protection dog at all in which case this is a moot discussion. If you're using a temperament test to select for aloofness then you're really not selecting for anything. BTW I think if someone appreciates aloofness in an animal a cat would be another great option :)[/quote] Do I breed for calm dogs versus say hyper ones? Sure. You wrote: "In another scenario if it simply stayed back while other puppies ran to a stranger coming to the puppy pen you're saying that it's not avoidance but the puppy is aloof." Actually I don't read me saying much other than sharing an anecdote and suggesting that so-called aloof may need to be distinguished from avoidance. Keyword: may. To sum it up, some Caucasians are very catlike, and I have enjoyed that in some of my personal dogs. Just an anecdote. My Bruno was an example of a pup that some might have considered rather aloof at 49 days with a traditional pup temperament test, who developed into a confident, uncorruptable guard, a conformation champion, and the first ATTS TT dog in the US. At age 6, he was aloof at the ATTS as well, ignored the friendly stranger, kicked over the can of gravel, and pulled me off course to look behind the blind to check out the source of the gunshot without a startle. No big deal, just an anecdote, nothing to set off leaping conclusions. Certainly my import Faraon KS-1 (KS is a Russian protection cert) was very catlike and aloof too. I didn't know him as a puppy but imagine he may have been an aloof seeming pup as well. Are you a breeder? I've found breeding to be more art than science, with a feel for knowing it when you see it. I don't put much stock in puppy testing per se, but do believe that that G in LGD refers to Guardian and not lawn and Garden ornament. You wrote: "BTW I think if someone appreciates aloofness in an animal a cat would be another great option" That is a really silly statement regarding Caucasians (this is a thread in the CO forum) and regarding LGD in general as well.