I can only support this opinion that has turned out to be right also with my personal experiences. Yes, the training or experiencing of real situations develop the Caucasian.
My CO Gero began to be sharper than ever before after I let him be teased and bite the helper on a leash (he almost tore the helper's throat, since he immediately released his mouth-hold on a biting roll given to him by the helper and switched on a deadly attack on his throat, the result of which were torn all the clothes protecting the helper's throat; if Gero wasn't leashed and if I wasn't slowing him down, the helper could have been killed). And having some opportunities to get into the conflict in real situations, which happened on the premise that he was guarding, he gradually became so efficient, that he was able to beat a man down when muzzled (the result was a lying human body on the ground without any movement) – such powerful was his pushing on the human opponent! He also managed to damage the skin of thief's legs with his claws, again, when fitted with a muzzle.
However, to let the dog fight with a muzzle is no good idea from the viewpoint of the dog's chance to win, because the dog is handicapped, since he cannot bite his opponent. However, when "unmuzzled", the result used to be quicker – one bite and that was all. Through this he had one time "paralyzed" a big guy who wanted to fondle him by biting his belly (Gero was tied on a leash). That's why I recommend to keep the dog without a muzzle all the time, because one never knows when the dog will have to fight some enemy.
Few pictures of my Gero:
Excerpt from a poem entitled Кавказская овчарка – моя душа (Caucasian Ovcharka – My Soul):
Характер взрывной и ярость в атаке,
Решенье всегда принимает сама,
Свободолюбива, сильна на захвате,
Неприхотлива и кладезь ума.
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Explosive character and angriness in the attack,
decision she always makes for herself,
freedom-loving, strong in the seize,
modest and the well of wisdom.
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One more very important thing has to be mentioned here, which is "самостоятельность" - the dog's "self-reliance". It is ability to independently "act by itself" without any specific command. And I am afraid, that this Caucasian's merit don't possess the utility breeds of dog in any higher extend. When the dog is at home alone without it's owner or if it's owner is near but was somehow suddenly paralyzed by the enemy, the dog has to be able to act without any support of it's owner or without any command given by him!
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Why I consider the Caucasian Ovcharka a better protector than the Central Asian Ovcharka? Instead of explaining it myself, let it be explained by the following proverb:
"Если лезет через забор человек, то кавказец эго сразу убьет, а азиат сперва подумает секунду, а потом убьет."
"If a man is climbing a fence, Caucasian will kill him immediately, but Central Asian will firstly think one second, and only then he will kill him."
This proverb says, that the Caucasian uses to attack the human enemy without any hesitation, which makes his chance to win higher. Moreover, this breed of dog often attacks the throat and face of human opponent.
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To increase the dog's readiness to deal with hostile strangers, it has to be learned to never accept any food from any stranger, no matter how the food is submitted (most often either thrown pieces of food or food given in the bowl). When the helper is submitting a food to the dog and at the same time is teasing it, the dog will learn to ignore the food and will only be attacking the helper.
However, any real bite work should start at a later age only in view of the fact, that Caucasians become mentally adult somewhat later than most of other breeds of dog. Although best is to train the bite work using a body bite suit, or a hidden body bite suit respectively, the fact is that the dog is not taught to attack the helper's face or throat - a thing which many Wolfhounds naturally do.
Because the majority of trainers of pastoral breeds "teach" these dogs not to attack the face and throat (or simply the head) of the helper, through this they take away the Wolfhounds' most effective way how to destroy a human enemy. If the human opponent has strong clothes if not straightly the protective ones and the dog will not attack his head, he has a larger chance to defeat the dog.
I believe that if the dog fitted with a muzzle and kept on a leash is repeatedly teased by the helper having normal clothes, who however wears a protective helmet and leans forward toward the dog so his head is the nearest and easiest target that can be attacked, the dog will usually soon start to attack the helper's head (but such an exercise can be dangerous for the helper, of course). I am convinced that such a Caucasian that will never attack the human enemy's head at no circumstances, ever, is a spoiled Caucasian. That is why do not train on the body bite suit too often in order to prevent your dog from being spoiled by skipping the so-important attack on the head.
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We start the first “protection training” at a young age. Little teasing by the helper can do good to a puppy, but only if the helper runs away every time, as soon as the puppy displayed aggression toward him, to support it's self-confidence.
Good rule is to never make your Caucasian familiar with your friends or neighbors, because later they could abuse it to break into your house (some bad neighbors can be even so clever, that every time you walk your dog about them, they will try to start some conversation with you or even touch your dog to make it become familiar with them). Your Caucasian should be kept distrustful and aggressive toward them all the time.
By it's nature, this breed is a so-called «охранник», which is a protector of premises, but when we widen it's aggression toward people to make it work behind “the zones of protection” as well, it is obtaining one more title – «телохранитель», which is a bodyguard.
Apart from a normal bite work training, there is a simple exercise (usable in many breeds) how to make the dog be on alert in other environments than only on the premise, which it guards. The owner walks his dog along the street in the town (in the middle of the white day), when more people are around him. One of them is a helper in normal clothes normally behaving. All of a sudden, he attacks the dog's owner, and his (muzzled) dog (on a leash) has to defend him. After several of such exercises the dog will begin to be on (a higher) alert all the time and always ready to protect it's owner even on a neutral territory (outside of it's premise) like on the town streets and similarly.
The helper can also put the hidden body bite suit under the clothes (which are the same like those) of the dog's owner, which the helper dressed himself. The dog will jump in front of the helper, will smell at him and then attack him as soon as the first scent differing from that of it's owner will enter the dog's nose.
Eventually, the dog can also be tested/trained to be aggressive even toward such strangers, who will take a bitch in the heat with them (from this reason better is to have your premise secured by two Caucasians - both male and female) or a recorded voice of the dog's owner (firstly the stranger having the bitch is teasing the dog and is attacking the dog owner so loudly and so much till the dog will not start to fight the stranger forgetting the bitch; the helper lets the dog listen to the recorded voice of it's owner and then will provoke the dog who will attack the helper, ignoring the recorded voice of it's owner, which is heard).
I believe it is good to train (with a muzzled and leashed dog) the protection work also in such environments as a railroad train or a trolley-bus (some stupid dogs are totally unobservant in these environments), where the helper will be finding himself among the other passengers and suddenly will attack the dog's owner.
One way or other, the dog-bodyguard should be taught to devote it's attention to the defense of it's owner, even if there are some other objects of interest like for example cats (in given case the owner with his dog can be attacked by the helper from behind just in the moment, when the dog is observing several cats in front of him).
By the way, it is useful when the CO is aggressive toward other dogs including small ones, since the enemy can approach the Caucasian's owner with a small dog if he knows, that the Caucasian will want to play with it only, forgetting to pay defensive attention to the approaching stranger.
Another training can be a helper in a car, which will suddenly stop at the dog's owner, the helper will storm out if it and will attack the dog's owner. The dog must immediately stop the helper.
All what I want to say is that I find it very useful to try, now and then, some exercise like these ones to increase the dog's attention and readiness to fight for it's owner anytime and at any circumstances.
I also believe that no too-often training is necessary. Several perfectly arranged and naturally-looking situations can do a better work then some stereotypical bite work, which is always-repeating in the same way round and round.
