Quote:
Originally Posted by TimoleonVieta
Can I ask a couple more things? Was it exactly 60 days when you took him with you? & do you know if he was the dominant alpha male of his litter?
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If I remember correctly, he was 61 days old. I wouldn't know about alphas, but he was quite "bossy" with his littermates... I also remember he growled to his mom when she tried to scold him
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rona
1. vlcaks are meant to teach their owners humility - and thus people who have more distance to themselves and are able to take things with humour are more prone to enjoy their vlcak pups. They take a lot from their owners, but always give more, that's why it's so easy to forgive them all their mischiefs. When they're young every day's a bit like this:  General principle: never boast about a young vlcak because this is asking for trouble 
2. They are exteremly rational in their "reasoning", though the reasoning is not necessarily human-like. Thus the ability to understands what the vlcak wants to tell you is crucial for training. The owner must remember that in case of CSVs communication is a two-way process to much greater extent than in case of other breeds. Vlcaks never destroy things for fun - it is one of the methods they communiate things to their owners - a signal that the communiation channel must be improved. They learn by doing, so whenever they do something bad, don't give them any chance to repeat that.
4 If the owner manages to build a sound relationship with the dog, the dog will behave in a rational way in genuine circumstances. GSD trainers often say that CSVs are dumb because they don't obey 100%. But then, why should they? They have their own brains and know when obedinece is vital, and when they're only doing things for fun and sport. That's why it's good if a vclak has a job - does something which is imporant for the owner and "genuine" in the dog's perception. |
I pretty much agree with Rona's picture of the breed, especially with these three points...
I think their "rationality" makes them extremely good at learning from real life experiences, and also makes them "wiser" as they live, learn and make mistakes. Personally, this is something I absolutely love about my dog.
I believe there are some breeds whose behavior is very conditioned by their genetics and by what they are selectively bred for, and this makes them very "instinctive" in some circumstances, they shut down their brain, and this makes more difficult to modify some parts of their behavior. For example there are some breeds that are genetically inclined to be aggressive with other dogs, breeds whose prey drive is stronger than their reasoning, or breeds who don't have any sense of danger and self preservation when they are doing what they are bred to do.
I would say (at least from what I can see with my dog) Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs are less "instinctive" and more rational in a lot of situations, and even when you may not be able to control them, they basically control themselves (depending on what experience taught them). I find this extremely useful in "real life", because if you manage to expose them to the right experiences in the right way, they can become very "trustworthy".