So to start off I just want to say that I am no stranger to this breed or big dogs in general, my first dog was a Rottweiler and after he passed a Cane Corso. The Cane Corso in particular was a dream to have, perhaps the most well behaved dog we could have wished for.
Our current pup is now 14 months old, and since the age of about 8 months he started acting out. This was manifesting in extreme separation anxiety (which was strange since he never before had a problem), and on from that it has spiralled into aggression. We are putting him through rigorous training and have been doing so for the past 6 months. We have had multiple trainers, a dog behaviourist, group sessions, you name it. Everyone has said that we're doing the right things, we just have to keep at it.
He is muzzled in public and seems to have calmed down with the aggression towards other dogs (he still acts up a little but with the muzzle and the training we think it's manageable and not too difficult to deal with).
However, now he's moved away from dog aggression he seems to be taking it out on people. He'll never behave aggressively with people in the street, the problem is when they enter our home. We put him away when people come inside but there have still been instances where he has snapped the air or even nicked at someone. In these cases the dog behaviourist could give specific reasons as to why he did it, such as one person knelt down and tried to pet him while inside the kennel (invading his space) etc.
But the culminating incident came a few days ago when a friend came over who he has seen multiple times and has always been very friendly towards (loves to play with her, pounces around and generally shows off whenever he sees her). She was at the end of the drive, and as I opened the door she called out 'Hi!', and he seemed to assess the situation for a split second before bolting towards her and physically going for her. She ran and we restrained him, thankfully she wasn't hurt, but the incident is extremely worrying as there was no reason for his behaviour, and the dog behaviourist couldn't deduce one either.
My question is after everything we've been doing with him, training for hours a day, bringing in one to one training sessions, dog behaviourists etc etc, what more is there that can be done for him? He's so young I don't want to consider the possibility of putting him down, I'll feel like I've failed him. And I've raised him exactly as my two previous dogs whom I never had a single problem with. So why the aggression, is there something I'm missing here?
My greatest fear is that one day he'll act without warning and hurt someone. But he's such a beautiful loving dog with us that I can't bear the thought of putting him down, I don't understand what we're doing wrong.
Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.
Our current pup is now 14 months old, and since the age of about 8 months he started acting out. This was manifesting in extreme separation anxiety (which was strange since he never before had a problem), and on from that it has spiralled into aggression. We are putting him through rigorous training and have been doing so for the past 6 months. We have had multiple trainers, a dog behaviourist, group sessions, you name it. Everyone has said that we're doing the right things, we just have to keep at it.
He is muzzled in public and seems to have calmed down with the aggression towards other dogs (he still acts up a little but with the muzzle and the training we think it's manageable and not too difficult to deal with).
However, now he's moved away from dog aggression he seems to be taking it out on people. He'll never behave aggressively with people in the street, the problem is when they enter our home. We put him away when people come inside but there have still been instances where he has snapped the air or even nicked at someone. In these cases the dog behaviourist could give specific reasons as to why he did it, such as one person knelt down and tried to pet him while inside the kennel (invading his space) etc.
But the culminating incident came a few days ago when a friend came over who he has seen multiple times and has always been very friendly towards (loves to play with her, pounces around and generally shows off whenever he sees her). She was at the end of the drive, and as I opened the door she called out 'Hi!', and he seemed to assess the situation for a split second before bolting towards her and physically going for her. She ran and we restrained him, thankfully she wasn't hurt, but the incident is extremely worrying as there was no reason for his behaviour, and the dog behaviourist couldn't deduce one either.
My question is after everything we've been doing with him, training for hours a day, bringing in one to one training sessions, dog behaviourists etc etc, what more is there that can be done for him? He's so young I don't want to consider the possibility of putting him down, I'll feel like I've failed him. And I've raised him exactly as my two previous dogs whom I never had a single problem with. So why the aggression, is there something I'm missing here?
My greatest fear is that one day he'll act without warning and hurt someone. But he's such a beautiful loving dog with us that I can't bear the thought of putting him down, I don't understand what we're doing wrong.
Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.