[quote=rafi]hi,i`m from Romania and i own a caucasian ovcharka;as far as i know,the romanian shepherds,who use carpathian,mioritic and bucovinian dogs for protecting their flocks,don`t seem to train them;instead,they train those dogs who are suitable for herding the flock but who are less aggressive against predators.this holds also in caucasus i would say;[/quote] Thank you for this post. It is so nice to read input from other countries. edited: I am trying to understand the question in full. So herders think that if they train the dog it lowers their rank? Ok, I would like further clarification. However, if only the one dog is trained I could see how this might lower his rank. He now listens while the other dogs and flock for that matter don't listen. However, the problem that I have is that if I trained one dog I would tend to rely more on that dog than any of the others. The herder must always be the pack leader. It would seem to me that now that dog would rise in rank, because as the leader I now rely on that dog more. If that dog stays with herd while I am gone I don't know what would happen. I image the other dogs picking on him because he is now the teachers pet. I can't really see a plausible reason to believe that the dogs rank will be lowered. I hope some of you can.