Hi there

 Two weeks ago, when my CAO female puppy was a bit over 8 months old, I asked a friend to stare at her across the fence, without me being present. The outcome was signs of submission and avoidance. The test stopped here. I wasn’t expecting my puppy to lunge at my friend but was hoping that she would simply show more confidence.

 During text messages exchange with one of the breeders, when I told him about what I did, it turned ugly, and he told me off telling me that by doing what I did I am making my dog submissive and could ruin her and that CAOs take a long time to mature.

 My reply was that if an 8 months old puppy would be ruined by a stare, then this puppy is genetically ruined. I added that blaming the owner for the failure of the breeder to produce dogs with thick nerve and authentic traits is classic. This was the point which I was trying to communicate to no avail, that is a stranger staring at an 8 months old puppy would not cause the puppy any harm or damage unless the puppy is genetically no good.

 Unfortunately, this breeder kept beating around the bush and started to be disrespectful, so I blocked him. By the way, my understanding is that this is a hobby breeder who has only had one litter.

 Then a week later it was brought to my attention that this breeder had made a big fuss of our discussion on the ‘Central Asia Shepherd Dogs: Australia’ Group on Facebook.

 This breeder didn't mention my viewpoint to the audience, or the age of the puppy.

 I am not into Facebook. I used my son's Facebook to take a peak and was amazing by the amount of support this breeder received. None of the audience asked about the age of the puppy. The overwhelming response was: How dare this idiot to get a stranger to stare at his puppy!

 I sent a text message to my puppy’s breeder to tell her: “We get extra-good night sleep now, as my puppy rarely barks; I don’t remember when I last hear her barking :)”.

 So my puppy’s breeder offered to take her back, and give me a big aggressive male pup from the next litter.

 In Australia, no breeder would dare to say the word 'aggressive' to describe his/her dogs. I felt that she was being cunning and that she must have heard about the argument I had with the hobby breeder. It is a very small CAO community in Australia.

 So, I told her that I am not interested in an aggressive dog and that I am interested in tick nerve, confidence an alertness. I added that I like the bloodline of my puppy’s mother but not that of her dad, and asked the breeder if she has another male to breed from.

 The breeder got worked up as a result of my text, and I ended up telling her I am not interested in a CAO Jack Russell strain. I am not really interested in a puppy from the type that she now breeds. I don't think this breeder will ever give me a puppy again, as most breeders in Australia take breeding like a religion.

 Then, the breeder replied that I have offended her and that I have a top-quality puppy.

 Previously, even before I got my puppy, the breeder described the past and my puppy’s litters as 'perfect'. She also said something like: she finally achieved what she was trying to breed after her numerous years of breeding – Recently, the breeder imported a stud that produced two litters so far; all his puppies are almost identical except some have the mum's colour. This stud is my pup’s father. He must have very strong gene. None of the puppies look like the mum, which is a more traditional thick boned type. This breeder is the one who brought the breed to Australia and has been breeding for at least 20 years, but not on a large scale.

I am very disappointed with the breeder as I was hoping to get something close to Tzar, whom I lost to bloat less than 3 months ago. I think breeding extreme types of smaller and submissive CAOs, and shying away from mainstream types should not be described as ‘perfect’, whether the extremity in traits or physique. It might be that the breeder meant that her puppies are perfect for the CAO type that she likes.

I believe that my puppy will become a good guard dog in time; my wife also wouldn’t let her go; however my puppy’s submissiveness might make her more dangerous, if she ever needs to defend as a result of her lesser level of confidence; unlike Tzar who used the absolute minimum level of force when he had to defend in a couple of unfortunate occasions; Tzar had mega confidence as compared to my 8 months old female puppy, who still wees out of excitement greeting a visitor visiting us for the first time.

 Like yourselves I have a special interest in dogs; I like to learn more and more, so please feel free to share your thoughts openly.

 Thank you for your time.

 In memory of Tzar

http://molosserdogs.com/Tzar