Bullshit the CO isn't primarily a show dog in Russia. There are no Soviet factory kennels producing working CO anymore, that died off with the end of that era. And there are very few, if any, working CO in the Caucasus mountains. The police don't use them over there, the military doesn't use them over there... So, they are show dogs. In fact the are THE show dog, next to the CAO, in Russia. At least the Laiki breeds are tested in hunt trials as well as shown.
As for the "consistency with the guarding ability of a CO", I agree. That is why I chose the CO over the TM for my needs. However, I still stand behind my statement that most of the guarding display put on by COs are bluffs - this is proven over and over again once you actually test a CO on a guy in a suit. They have shit nerves when it comes to actually stopping a person. They put on a huge show - and that would scar 99.9% of any person off - but the few that can read dog language would walk right and cull the CO with no problem.
WRT a open or closed stud book, what does it matter? If breeders don't use it to improve the temperament of the breed, instead of just their looks, then it adds no value. Plus, I always read/hear about the "aboriginal CO" running around somewhere in the mountains that can be used to outcross to... Yet when someone actually shows me one, and their pedigree, come to find out they have the same stuff behind them that the rest of the CO do: Osman!
How are they merely show dogs if a breeder temperament tests them, makes sure the functionality is preserved and they end up being used as property/livestock guardian dog not merely a pet?
There are plenty of aboriginal CO's working as LGD's in Caucasus, but they are not called CO's over there. You already know all that.
I am not just talking about random LGD's on Caucasus, I am talking about aboriginal LGD's that would fit the CO breed standard.
I'm sure you have already seen this video, but I'm going to put it up for people who have not: [video=youtube;BVAvdrVoYac]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVAvdrVoYac&feature=related[/video]
How can you say the police does not use them over there when they are still used to guard factories and prisons?
Again, I'm sure you have seen this video before: [video=youtube;abi7Exva9Hg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abi7Exva9Hg[/video]
I have personally met and talked to people in former Yugoslavia, Hungary, Slovakia etc whose CO's was used strictly as a factory guard dog.
Some more pretty impressive video's of CO (this one has won a lot of dog shows btw): [video=youtube;ft5aD0bd_yQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft5aD0bd_yQ&feature=player_embedded[/video]
A CO from owner who worked with the very famous Ukrainian training facility Ares: [video=youtube;t5fb4lBoYEs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5fb4lBoYEs&feature=player_embedded[/video]
As for the open stud book. It is not used by the large, commercial breeders but there are other CO breeders out there who do make use of it.
But even if a kennel that breeds the more "aboriginal" CO's has Osman somewhere back in their pedigree's, why is that such a big deal? They are one and the same breed, I don't understand why it would be a problem to mix aboriginal with the more modern CO's?
To me it's important to avoid the genetic bottleneck, preserve the working ability/functionality and breed healthy, stable dogs while at the same time making sure your breeding stock confirms to the breed standard.
But all that costs a lot of time, money and energy and it is hard to find a breeder who thinks like this.