The Czechoslovakian wolfdog (CSW) can be a great dog. It depends on what you are expecting from him. You can meet with shy wolfdogs, as well as with friendly and enthusiastic ones. It is very important to choose well the kennel, visit it personally and to see the parents of the puppies (or at least their mother). If the mother of the pups is shy and hiding in front of the guests, there is certainly a chance that the pups will learn this behaviour from their mother. If the pups are bred and kept alone in the kennel with very few contact with people, they might also be very shy. It is clear, that everyday life with such dog is not easy at all and in case you plan to work with the dog, this might be quite difficult.
Let’s say you chose the right kennel, which has friendly and self-confident dogs and now you can choose a puppy from a fine, happy and healthy litter. It is very important to never buy a puppy CSW without pedigree. The explanation is simple.  A puppy without pedigree comes from parents that were not matching the standard and so they were not allowed to breed.  Because CSW´s are still a breed with a small population, only wolfdogs that have severe faults against the standard are not allowed to breed. Such faults can be aggressive behaviour, extreme shyness, kryptorchism, heavy dysplasia, missing teeth and other faults.  All these things are can be and usually are inherited by the pups - so think twice if you really want to have such a dog at home. Besides, pedigree gives you a guarantee, who are the parents of your puppy and that your dog will really grow up to be pure Czechoslovakian wolfdog. Without the pedigree, you are merely buying a mongrel, as you have no guarantee whatsoever who are really the parents of the litter.

When you bring your wolfdog home, you can be sure it will not behave like a normal dog. Wolfdog puppies require an incredible amount of attention in their early age. It is very important to give the best socialization possible. That means that you have to take them out as much as you can (even if the vaccination program is not finished yet). CSW puppy has to see the world – other people on the street, other dogs than yours, cars, trains, trams, buses, schools, playgrounds, children, old people, prams and caddies, well everything. Everything that they will meet later in their life. The best age for socializing the puppy is from 7 weeks till 3 months of age. Do not miss it! The earlier they see everything, the bigger chance that your wolfdog will grow up into a calm and self-confident dog, that will not get scared of anything.

Now, how to train Czechoslovakian wolfdog. The Czechoslovakian wolfdog is not a great worker unlike the German shepherd, malinois or other hard working breeds. Czechoslovakian wolfdogs can be trained and can work perfectly, they can even pass working tests, even hard ones like IPO. It depends only on you and him. However, your CSW will work well only if he wants to and only for reward, or if he’s really having fun. The training must be a game for him and he must enjoy it. If you want to push your wolfdog into something, beat him or be hard on him, he will work badly or he will not work at all.
You cannot train your wolfdog in such a way that you will ask him to repeat one command over and over. CSW will get bored soon and he will refuse to work. The best way is to train for short periods, praise a lot (they work only when they know they will get food, anyways) and to play with your dog a lot.The Czechoslovakian wolfdog is a very intelligent and curious animal. It will make you think a lot. You will have to figure out, how to explain tricks to your wolfdog and make him to do this or that. Meanwhile, your wolfdog will try to make you believe that in fact, he does not have to follow your commands at all.
The Czechoslovakian wolfdog is very good for some types of training and rather worse in others. He has an excellent nose for tracking. A well-trained Czechoslovakian wolfdog does not have a competitor, when it comes to tracking. CSW can follow a several hour old track without any problems, even in very difficult conditions. On the other side, defense training is usually the Achilles heel of CSW, as well as some specific obedience tricks. The Czechoslovakian wolfdogs usually does not like to bite when training defense and if they do, they don’t do it well (in comparison to GSD or malinois). In obedience, retrieving and barking on command are usually the most difficult commands. However, with patience and good training it is possible to overcome these problems, which is shown in the increasing number of dogs who pass working exams.

One word of advice before the end, always be the alpha to your wolfdog – the leader of the pack. The Czechoslovakian wolfdog is an animal with a very strong sense for the pack, and will respect you and follow you only if you prove yourself a good leader. Then the CSW will love and protect you and follow you everywhere. If you fail, in the worse case your CSW will try to lead your pack instead of you and he might try to claim his leadership from you with force or aggression. Else your CSW will ignore you and will not follow your commands. As the right leader of the pack, you always have to make clear to your dog, where is his place in the pack (family) and always remind him about that. Your wolfdog will be most happy, if he knows, where his place in the pack (family) is, what he can do and what he cannot do. Once something is forbidden, it is always forbidden. If you follow these rules, your wolfdog will be always your good friend and companion.