Central Asian Ovcharka Helpful advise
Before you buy a puppy, or look to adopt a full grown CAO, you must know and understand this breed. Our advice to you, is that you not just read the history of this breed, or find out who is the best breeder on the market; you will need to ask yourself "...are you ready to take this responsibility on yourself and on the new addition to your family...?"
Since this dog, on average, weighs 90-150 pounds, we recommend that you feed your pup with a excellent quality food. We also suggest that you may need to switch from a puppy food to adult food at an earlier age ( based on the size of the pup and the country of birth... )
Exercising this dog is recommended from puppy hood (constant small increases of exercises, as puppy grows). Swimming, running up and down a hill, running along the shore, these are some of the simple ones. If you live in an apartment, avoid walking downstairs with a young puppy. Wait until the bones are fully developed, or you will develop arch back in your dog. Here is a tip for those who live on higher or lower levels of the apartment: you may exercise your dog by walking to the top of the floor of your building and coming down by using the elevator. Roza Saksoniya Owner Vadim Boutym Do this a few times, based on your dogs age, health and levels. This exercise is very good for the chest (upper body) and it strengthens of the legs.For the CAO daily long walk is required,3 times a day, for a 90 (in the same rhythm) minutes each time you walk you dog.
We advise you not to teach you CAO to jump over a barrier, this way he will quickly learn how to go over your fence, and then... Some of the breeders have signs on their web page which says:"...this dog is not for everyone..." The history of this breed is about 4000 years, and for all that time the CAO lived with people, protecting their family and their flock. Once you have owned a puppy, and given it proper training, you and your family and property will be much safer then ever before.
Certainly this dog is not a Golden Retriever, but certainly this dog is NOT a pit or Caucasian Ovcharka ( Caucasian Mountain Dog), Rottweiler or western mastiffs. E. Mychko, and B. Belen'kii wrote in their book of Central Asian Ovcharka on page 29: "...basic competitors of Central Asian Ovcharka are- Caucasian Ovcharka (CO,CMD), western mastiffs, Rottweiler, Moscow watch dog...
Questioning previous buyers have revealed the qualities that make it more preferable: they often come in larger sizes, have excellent guard abilities, have the ability to live in the house and outside, have a quiet and patient attitude in relation to children.
When we compared these traits with those of the competitors, we can tell, that Caucasian Ovcharka despite its terrible** look, loses on the last two positions.
- The CO is excessively aggressive, very noisy in protecting their territory and his hearing is easily affected by dirt and prickles.
- The Moscow Watch dog has a wide opinion on working qualities, which always badly characterizes a breed, and quite often the public opinion works having spoiled these dogs.
- The Rottweiler obviously loses in their size.
- Western mastiffs are poorly adapted to severe conditions and raising them is much more difficult.
Thus, competitiveness of Central Asian Ovcharka is rather high, and in our opinion, the future of the well-being of this breed is optimistic.Certainly it is necessary to keep high working qualities and unpretentiousness of these dogs..."
**"Terrible" , in Russian mean (GROZNIY), like Tzar, Ivan Grozniy.
Used with permission from Vadim Boutym. Vadim died suddenly in 2007 and his kennel Almaz.us was sold.