This is how I have been told the raising of an lgd goes... Start with an adult dog of even mediocre type because you have picked one of the best breeds at it, the Sarplaninac. The pup spends all its tine with the stock and older dogs during the day OUTSIDE of socialization with your family. At night you pen the pup because it is just a pup and can't properly defend itself or anything else against a threat. If its a male, usually they are neutered early on to keep from roaming tendencies and excessive aggression. If the dogs show aggression to people, rocks are thrown at the dogs to discourage it. If they show any signs of any type of aggression or chasing to the stock, they are severly taught right and wrong. When the pup becomes about 12 months of age it is tested against predatory animals to see which type of lgd it will be, and then placed accordingly. By this time they are big and strong enough to be left loose at night with the adults to help in guarding. And then when they get it, they get it and have become an lgd. Ofcourse, getting a dog from lgd stock rather than lgd breeding is most important in this situation. Hope that helped