Stalin's dog is the youngest of the raised service breeds. In catalogs, it is called the Russian Black Terrier. Its history is calculated not in hundreds of years, but only in decades, but around the black there are already so many stories and myths, sometimes even contradictory, that even those dogs whose roots go back centuries should envy them. So what are the speculations surrounding blackies? Let us dwell on three main ones.
The first myth. Stalin’s dog is a vicious, uncontrollable monster who does not mind having breakfast with passers-by and having dinner with his master. This dog is bred for killing.
The second myth. The black terrier dog is incredibly stupid and should be in the category of decorative dogs, whose fate is to run in the rings and lie on sofas.
Refuting these most common statements, let us return to history.
The “Father of the Nations” really gave a command to get a special, universal dog, hardy and capable of training. The new breed was not only to “wipe the nose” of the West, it was planned to work with it in all corners of the Union - from the northern borders to the deserts of Asia.
The experiments were really started during the life of Stalin, but the crown of his work was never seen. And the black terrier formed the pedigree group much later, and he became a separate breed only in 1981. Therefore, this dog has a very, very indirect relation to Stalin. The only thing that connects this surname and the popular name is the fact of the "order" of a universal dog.
What does this concept mean? “Universal”, that is, “applied to everything”, in this case - for any type of service. Of course, such a dog should have a very strong nervous system, and excellent health, and good working capacity (endurance). That should have been Stalin's dog. That’s what they did. And nature, having appreciated the titanic work of the cynologists of the "Red Star" (the nursery where the breeding work took place), decided to give out its bonus as well: selfless devotion to the owner.
Little black is like plasticine, from which you can sculpt everything - and a working dog flying with a black core on the person involved, and an affectionate nanny, and a guide, and a lifeguard. It will not work to make a killer machine, thoughtlessly executing orders, since the black terrier is able to analyze and attack only with a real threat.
“But what about the pronounced distrust of strangers?”, You ask. Answer: incredulity and unwarranted aggression are two different things. You won't beat every stranger, right? So the black terrier will not show fangs without reason.
The third myth. Stalin's dog is so clever that it absolutely does not require training, and the ZKS course generally turns her into a killer.
Speaking frankly, training is, first and foremost, the training of the owner. Both are working on the training site: both the dog and the owner. And blacks, being really smart and easy to learn, learn with pleasure. And to everything. The main thing for them is close contact with the adored owner. And no matter what the work will be like - riding a child on a sled or attacking two people at once.
Many newcomers rely on this intellect and desire to work, reaping their mistakes, being satisfied only with a “cutter”: “My dog is so clever, it will be enough for him to learn to bite.” But such skills must be manageable and controllable. You must understand that your “boy” is not only an obedient beast, it is also more than 60 kg of muscles, and therefore it is sometimes extremely difficult to keep it. A dog that can only bite is really dangerous, but a dog that has successfully completed training courses is not. That is why no self-respecting instructor will go to the “bite” if before that the dog has not passed at least a course of obedience.
An untrained terrier is prone to see a threat in a stumbling person, and a properly trained terrier will first assess the degree of threat. Not only that, you can manage a trained dog, but not an untrained one.
The black terrier dog really has no equal among relatives, but it requires compulsory training, at least a course of obedience, with a serious approach to which you will get the perfect companion.