It Bites!!!! 

You may be wondering about the trial of raising such a dog as the beautiful, majestic Carpathian Shepherd dog. Having already discussed some benefits, such as it comes fully house trained :), I feel it is only fair to impart some...trials, as well...here we go:

And the Teething starts...NOW!

The little cutie-pie above...aka Czari...aka Monster-Pyranha... bites... a LOT!

Let me define "a lot": from the moment it arrives, at around 3 months of age, until the moment it matures in size, around 1 year, it will bite EVERYTHING!!

Monster-Pyranha vs Poor defenseless tree

"Everything" includes but is not limited to: your hands, your toes (say NO for these right away, it hurts considerably more then the hands!), your hair, your ears, nose, clothes, shoes, car seat-belts (replaced those, managed to bite straight threw them in a few minutes), any other pets you may have, wood (anything made of wood), toys...well you get it, basically anything he CAN put his teeth on...he WILL! This does not stop until the teeth are fully grown. As said teeth are quite big, it does take...a while. You may notice his head is very warm during this period (approx. 9 months), and that once in a while he whines for no reason while attempting to destroy anything is sight. Do not worry. That's just the teeth talking. It does help to give ice to chew :))).

*** Please note: While a lot of modern breeds tend to stay away from biting the face, this one, in my experience, has no such mental barriers. If your nose is within chewing range, it WILL be chewed! Also note, such an injury is difficult to explain to colleagues...SO, keep nose at a safe distance!

The poor soul above was the recipient of many such "love bites". While another poor soul, below, didn't quite succeed in keeping the face at a safe distance... though, please note, he did miss the nose! :D
Zuzi (fur-ball in picture below)...Well, her wounds were mostly psychological :P

 

Of course there were many more such love bites...this was just the first month :D

Why did we allow ourselves to be thus chewed mercilessly by Mr. Pyranha? --> "Soft-Mouth".

In short you do NOT, under any circumstances want this dog to grow up not knowing how hard he can bite before causing damage. It is as I mentioned previously, a very strong animal, so it is crucial that he is taught and imprinted as much as possible with the idea of how much he can bite before other things start yelping, or in our case saying "OUCH!!!". This is a crucial part of socialization and must never be skipped. This is a guard dog after all. Telling it simply "no" will only ensure that if it so happens it does need to protect you, it will end up doing far more damage then necessary. And I have noticed that he only uses the least amount of force necessary when trying to defend you...provided he knows what that IS!

And on that note...what happens if you and your Carpathian Shepherd dog, meet a pack of coyotes intent on not leaving you alone? Well...that's a story for next time ;)

Until then... :)

It was my fault you see, I had just washed him...