Just as socialisation is so important during these first 20 weeks, so too is your puppy’s early education. He was born without any bad habits. He does not know what is good or bad behaviour.

The Caucasian Mountain Dog is a freethinker! He is not one to revel in mindless repetition of the basic commands. He responds to positive reinforcement and encouragement, and he admires a trainer who knows what he wants. With a Caucasian, you must be prepared to train him in the most specific, direct manner possible. If you are a beginner, you may bore your Caucasian Mountain Dog to sleep. You have been forewarned.

While this is a most intelligent breed (perhaps a bit too smart at times), it can be a challenge to train. You, as the master and trainer, must impress upon your self-possessing puppy that you are the alpha because you are bigger, stronger and smarter! Obviously, you want to make this impression as soon as possible—before your Caucasian is the size of a little bear and less likely to be impressed by your mere human frame.

The best way to obedience train your Caucasian is to enroll it in an obedience class. The instructor and the presence of other owners and their dogs will add to your dog’s socialization experiences while teaching your dog basic behaviors. The class is helpful for you, too. You will be able to teach your dog good manners as you learn how and why he behaves the way he does. You will find out how to communicate with your dog and how to recognize and understand his communications with you.

There’s a big difference between training an adult dog and training a young puppy. With a young puppy, everything is new. At nine or so weeks of age, he will be experiencing many things, and he has nothing with which to compare these experiences. Up to this point, he has been with his dam and littermates, not one-on-one with people except in his interactions with his breeder and visitors to the litter. 

When you first bring the puppy home, he is eager to please you. This means that he accepts doing things your way. During the next couple of months, he will absorb the basis of everything he needs to know for the rest of his life. This early age is even referred to as the “sponge” stage.After that, for the next 18 months, it’s up to you to reinforce good manners by building on the foundation that you’ve established. Of course, your reinforcement of his good manners will be ongoing for his whole life.

Once your puppy is reliable in basic commands and behavior and has reached the appropriate age, you may gradually introduce him to some of the interesting canine sports, games and activities.Raising your puppy is a family affair. Each member of the family must know what rules to set forth for the puppy and how to use the same one-word commands to mean exactly the same thing every time. Even if yours is a large family, one person will soon be considered by the pup to be the leader, the alpha person in his pack, the “boss” who must be obeyed. 

Training begins the minute your Caucasian puppy steps through the doorway of your home, so don’t make the mistake of putting the puppy on the floor and telling him by your actions to “Go for it! Run wild!” Even if this is your first puppy, you must act as if you know what you’re doing: be the boss. An uncertain pup may be terrified to move, while a bold one will be ready to take you at your word and start plotting to destroy the house! Before you collected your puppy, you decided where his own special place would be, and that’s where to put him when you first arrive home. Give him a house tour after he has investigated his area and had a nap and a bathroom “pit stop.” 

Whether a dog is trained in the structured environment of a class or alone with his owner at home, there are many activities that can bring fun and rewards to both owner and dog once they have mastered basic control. Teaching the dog to help out around the home, in the yard or on the farm provides great satisfaction to both dog and owner. In addition, the dog’s help makes life a little easier for his owner and raises his stature as a valued companion to his family.

It helps give the dog a purpose by occupying his mind and providing an outlet for his energy. Caucasian Mountain Dogs are quick to learn and enjoy time spent with their owners. However, they have an independent streak and quickly become bored with everyday routine obedience training.If you are interested in participating in organized competition with your Caucasian Mountain Dog, there are many activities in which you and your dog can become involved.

At obedience trials, dogs can earn titles at various levels of competition. The beginning levels of obedience competition include basic behaviors such as sit, down, heel, etc. The more advanced levels of competition include jumping, retrieving, scent discrimination and signal work. The advanced levels require a dog and owner to put a lot of time and effort into their training. Caucasians have low prey drive, so fetch and retrieve exercises may be difficult to train. However, the titles that can be earned at these levels of competition are very prestigious if you progress to these levels with your Caucasian.

Agility is a popular sport in which dogs run through obstacle courses that include various jumps, tunnels and other exercises to test the dog’s speed and coordination. The owners run beside their dogs to give commands and to guide them through the course. Caucasian Mountain Dogs are sure footed and may do well in agility if they can be motivated to participate.