Lola, a puppy with energy

[wilken63]

I am jumping on this bandwagon of having a Cane Corso that is just too much for me.
We got Lola ( formerly June) in previous post of april that i did expressing concern about her being the runt of the litter.
We got her April 17, at 10 lbs, now she is 30lbs and growing so much that my minature schnauzer can now walk under her belly and flip her over in their playing.

Issue now is she is really just out of control...I have done the crate when i go to work. but of course she to be polite"relieves" herself in the crate and then gets it all over her so that when i come home i have to give her a bath as well as clean down the crate. I am only a short ride away from my home so i go home every 3 hours to let her out..
We have tried leaving her out of the crate when we go to work, she and henry (miniature schnauzer) get along wonderfully, playing to excess...
But in the course of the 3-4 hours that she is left alone in the house i have come home to things being taking off the table and or counter eatten, torn, etc etc..Today was a moment when i just said " i can't do this anymore" she got into a chocolate shake powder that was up on the counter and pulled it down, tore it open so i had to shampoo rugs for 2 hours...I can't take her to work with me, and leaving her at home is an exhausting experience for me when i come home...
She also, unbeknown to us can open closed doors that have nobs not handles...does anyone else have a cane corso eith this talent? There must be some method to training her....we have tried the stern tone, "no", we have tried the "treat" approach....but she seems to just have a mind of her own....The attached video was done last month, she has since put another 10 pounds... All help, guidance would be much appreciated.

[video=youtube;b1RK7iCHDMw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1RK7iCHDMw[/video]

Read more: http://www.mastiff-forum.com/showthread.php/20203-Need-advice-with-aggressive-corso#ixzz34X3ZXNhs
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[musicdeb]

Sounds like separation anxiety or boredom or not enough exercise. How old is Lola?

Separation anxiety requires consistency in training and LOTS of patience. The boredom requires activities/toys that require mental stimulation, i.e. frozen ice cubes with treats in the middle, Kongs with treats frozen in the middle, etc.

How much exercise does she get? A pup can exercise 5 minutes for every month of age. Do you walk her before leaving for work? Does she have toys in her crate? Is there a room you can close her in while you work, if the crate is not working? A pup usually will not go potty where they sleep.

Separation Anxiety in Dogs - Page 1


ASK A TRAINER: How Do I Gently Manage My Dog's Separation Anxiety? | i Love Dogs

 

[wilken63]

Lola will be 7 months this month....
The morning routine goes,
she is up at 5:30 to go out and " find your spot" she without fail will do both pee and poop at that hour...if we wait til 6 she has already gone in the house...I figured this out early on what the timing issue was..

After the 5:30 outside, she walks down the hall, pushes open my grand daughters room and jumps on the bed and snugs with her until 7 when she gets up...
At 7 i feed both the dogs...
8:00 i bring them to a canal and walk them, well actually henry the schnauzer is off leash and knows the routine...goes around the canal on his own, finds his spots and sits by the car waiting for lola and i to catch up and leave.
It is about a 20 minute walk.

Then the "what to do " scenario begins...i have put her in her crate, but she does surprisingly go in her crate and i have come home after 3 hours at work to let her out and ended up having to bath her instead...
I could leave her in the room that has the crate in it, close the door, but i think she would bark and bark and henry on the other side , though he would get a day off from Lola play, he too would feel like something was wrong and bark and bark.

I do have a kong, but she seems bored with it after a few minutes...what could i do to REALLY keep her entertained while i am not there? It is really frustrating because she is a beautiful dog, and when she is calm and not jumping all over the place ( is this normal with cane corso pups, high energy level) she is a good snugger, and at night when it is around 7:30-8 she loves to just crawl up and snug on the couch....course i do know that if she really gets as big as i am told she could, i may have to be on the floor if she won't give up the couch...

When i get home from work for the day i bring both her and henry outside to the back yard which is a few acres, and they play and play as you can see by the previous video i attached..so i believe she is getting her exercise...without being too much to be concerned for her joints, hips etc...
There must be something to reassure her that we will always be back, and that she doesn't need to be destructive when we are gone..she does know the word BAD..i said it for the first time the other day to her, and it was as if she had heard it perhaps at the rescue, she coward away and put her head down...

 

[Kimmarieh]

I would go back to crating when you are not home. How big is her crate? A smaller crate might keep her from soiling in it.

 

[wilken63]

crate size is 36x24x27 and would you suggest i leave her bedding in there or take it out...give her anything while in there?
Clearly if i leave water in it , it would get spilled, so i don't give her water..as i said, i come home after 3, 4 hours tops to let the dogs out..when i did have her in the crate i would come home sooner only because i felt like " doesn't she need a drink", but how long can she go without water? On a positive, the room with her crate isn't in the sun, so she has shade where she is.

 

[Kimmarieh]

If she has enough room to turn around and lay down comfortably (not completely stretched out) then the crate is the right size. Most crates come with dividers so that you can adjust the size as they grow. I would leave one chew toy in the crate and rotate the toys so she doesn't get bored with them.

 

[Kimmarieh]

If she is not chewing her beds then leave a (washable) bed in there. She can go without water for 4 hours, just make sure she drinks before going in and when you let her out. She should spend most of the time sleeping in the crate. She is still a baby and needs lots of sleep. Is Henry in the room where her crate is? If so, does he leave her alone when she is in the crate or does he stay by her crate?

 

[wilken63]

Normally henry is in the living room in his chair, and sleeps the day away basically until lola is out and about to play with, or i bring him for his loops at the canal or back yard...
Lola's crate is in my sons room, so closing the door is an easy task so henry can't get in there to distract her.
Any idea how long it takes to crate train ? With henry i got him when he was 2 and he was never in a crate..he learned quickly the routine of going outside to find his spot, woofed go out, so much so that even at night if he had to go he will come in my room and do this ever so woof and i wake up and bring him out...
Lola on the other hand is a whole different ball game, and i know she is a puppy, but i would think that since she was in a crate at the rescue that she would be familiar with it..and she goes in with no problem, just the energy level is incredible.

 

[Kimmarieh]

If Lola is going into the crate with no problem and staying calm in the crate then she is already crate trained. It sounds like she doesn't have the potty training under control yet. She is about 7 months old now, right? She should be about to control her bladder for 4 hours. Make the crate smaller and I think you will see improvements in no time.

 

[musicdeb]

I would increase her exercise before crating her in the morning, if possible. 20 minutes of walking sounds like it's not tiring her out. Try to increase her walking to 30 minutes, if possible. She can exercise 35 minutes based on her age.

At 7 months, avoid excessive running, jumping, playing and navigating stairs because he bones and joints have not matured to avoid injury.

"A tired puppy is a good puppy."