new neo

[zraver]

Greetings, my wife and I are the parents of a 10 week old twanny colored Neopolitan Mastiff pup named Claudia.

First the bad, the pup was an impulse buy, so her parents health is unknown. The wife always wanted a mastiff and I have a hard time telling her no, so when Nikki saw Claudia it was game over.

Now on to the good,

Claudia has been to the vet and seems to be in good health and confirmation. She is crazy smart for a 10 week old puppy and learned her name and has begun to learn the come command in 2 days. She is rapidly bonding with my wife, the 3 kids, 3 other dogs and 2 cats as well as myself. Each day she is more inquisitive. Her potty training proceeds apace mostly good but some slip ups. She is also in a forever home, we are home owners and once an animal is in, its in. We have a geriatic pitbull, a severly inbred lab (found in a ditch by our house) who needed stomach surgery after injesting pine needles, a lab mix we had to nurse back to health with a syringe fed diet of honey, milk and egg, and a flea allegic half hairless cat. The other cat is the only normal member of the family with 4 legs.

The biggest problem right now is convincing Claudia to eat kibble and to take to her crate.

Part of the good is after I bought her I swarmed the net looking for information on the breed. I got a good chuckle when I found out about the slobber, gas and other bodily functions of the breed, the wife hates slimly, stinky or drooly. But she agreed to take care of Claudia and so far has been hard at work living up to it. I think with time, drool will be like baby poop, just one of those things.Me, I don't mind it, dogs are dogs and I have a pit and 2 labs.

Besides the vet and post-purchase net research we've also gone out and bought her quality toys and ropes, crate, quality food etc. We''ve also begun teaching her where she can sleep and sit, researched training classes etc.

Ok back to the kibble issue...

She doesn't like it, hopefully she will grow into it.

Our plan is to use a mix of natures choice large breed puppy and natures choice large breed adult both are lower protein premium foods. This should be about half her diet by weight (adjusted upwards as she grows). This should not risk her growing too fast. To this will be added liberal portions of mixed veggies and a daily raw egg. I've read that using low grain kibble with mixed veggies like this can seriously cut down the risk of GDV. Its not a BARF diet, but hopefully it will let her reach her potential.

[Sabrina]

first off...wanna see pictures...i love neos, especially tawny ones!!

second off...sounds like you are doing your research and thats great...have you tried adding a little bit of chicken broth to the kibble both to soften it up and make it more tempting? The crate takes patience...you need to help her trust it by putting iher in there for very short periods of time at first and not leaving her alone in it right away...put her in, hang around, as soon as she stops whining, take her out and super-praise her....it can be like a game...I have never made my puppies sleep in crates, but that's just me...once she learns to trust and love it, she might actually prefer to sleep in it...

---------- Post added at 07:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:58 PM ----------

by the way....the slobber and gas is going to happen get ready to learn to love it...

[Sabrina]

by the way....the slobber and gas is going to happen get ready to learn to love it...

[zraver]

We are working on the crate training, bought a neo sized crate which is too big and I may use an old smaller crate for now. However, when the whole house heads off for school and work she has an 8 hour day ahead of her. This means she is going to be getting lots of baths rights now as we have to clean her when we get home. Her first bath was struggle for my wife, but yesterday's bath was easier as Claudia gets used to it.

Its neat watching her learn, she is less timid and more puppy like every day. Going on to day 3 there is almost no timidness left. I am taking that as a good sign that she is bonding with the home and everyone in it. As for sleeping at night, she sleeps right below me as I sleep on the couch since I snore. Once she is just a little bit bigger she will move to the bedroom and sleep in there with my wife.

Pictures coming as soon as I can find my memory card adapter.

[Sabrina]

The puppy is in the crate for 8 hours???? There is your problem right there....a 10 week old puppy shouldnt be left in a crate that long...at this age, she needs to be let out every 2-3 hours to potty and run around... can anyone come home on their lunch break? That's what we did when our Corso was that young...what about a neigbor or friend? By leaving her in that long, you are setting her up for failure and could be conditioning her to potty in her crate...

[zraver]

The puppy is in the crate for 8 hours???? There is your problem right there....a 10 week old puppy shouldnt be left in a crate that long...at this age, she needs to be let out every 2-3 hours to potty and run around... can anyone come home on their lunch break? That's what we did when our Corso was that young...what about a neigbor or friend? By leaving her in that long, you are setting her up for failure and could be conditioning her to potty in her crate...

As of today, not on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I might be able to cut Tuesdays and Thursdays down to 5 hours if I swing by the house and pick her up to take with me to collect all the kids from school. I will begin digging for a solution today, bad conditioning in any area is what we don't want. The only area where we want bad conditioning is bed sleeping. With my wife's disability she needs a warm body next to her during the colder months even if the heat in the house is on. With my snoring I can't always do it so one of Claudia's duties will be giant 101 degree body pillow. Some people might also object to the couch, but our house our rules.

Other than that we are dedicated to turning her into the best dog ever. My wife is already interested in starting the journey to getting Claudia her AKC Good Citizen degree. Given what I have read on Neo's this is even more important than for most breeds. Even throwing out the absurd overly romanticized tripe about Neo's begin gladiator dogs the truth almost demands the Canine Good Citizen training. As far as I can tell the breedstock came from the rural areas around Naples. While not ancient Rome, this area was populated with brigands, marauders and at times invading armies. For farmers and peasants in such an environment, a stranger was a potentially lethal threat. Thus the Neo was bred as a defender of hearth and home. So while a lot of molosser dogs are gentle giants the Neo is not, at least not outside the family. The Neo may be the worlds greatest natural guard dog its natural wariness, high pain tolerance and total devotion to its family. However, without proper training and socialization the Neo is a walking time bomb that is quite capable of killing an adult human, let alone a kid.

The good news in my mind at least is that puppies are unfired clay. I do not believe that a dog given proper care, consistent and proper training where good and or desired behaviors are reinforced is a danger. That is our plan with Claudia, with a teenager two toddlers and a baby on the way a dog too wary of strangers is not wanted. However, with a tiny disabled wife, two toddlers and a baby on the way a good natural guard dog is desired. A lot of my net surfing says the Neo's are a thinking dog so a good program of training and socialization should give the dog the skills to tell the difference between good and bad situations.

My other findings are not nearly so cheery. As a historian by training I am pretty good at reading between the lines. Since the breed was nearly extinct following WWII, the small breedstock supply meant lots of inbreeding. This was made worse as people bred for specific physical traits instead of vitality. Even the lines of other dogs crossed into and out of the breed were often done so to add specific physical features as often as not. This meant dogs that were likely just as genetically damaged with pronounced physical traits created by inbreeding which then got passed to the Neo. The Great Dane might be the heart break breed with its short lifespan, but Neo's may be the wallet breaking breed with all the health problems they seem to suffer from. I think good nutrition and proper care can cut this down, but I have a sneeking suspicion Claudia is going to be one hell of an expensive dog.

If any of my info is wrong, or you have tips feel free to chime in, I am learning as I go.

[Bentley]

My advice is get insurance for her and I so support your opinion about the damage done by breeding for specific physical traits. What I say next may well be considered heresy but is crating neccesary at all, Ben has two well defined areas to sleep in and has been trained out of chewing, leaving me far happier with him at least having the run of the house whilst I'm away, except for the kitchen which is kept shut.

Incidentally I'd love to see some photos.

[zraver]

Well, we put her in a smaller crate and covered it on 3 sides so the low light would invite sleep. No such luck, she busted out and I found her asleep in her spot. I need to figure out what to do. If I run home like I did today and then take her with me, she is only alone for 5.5 hours.

The big crate is too big right now and the small one isn;t strong enough. If I start training no crate I have more puppy piddle and poo to pick up and she is already going in the same spot over and over again. If I take up the water and walk her till she goes good it might cut that down. I also need to seriously puppy proof, she ate my daughters hobby bead bracelet and a pair of my youngest sons underwear pulled out of clothes basket waiting to be put away.

I took her with me to pick up the kids and it seemed to help with leash training. In the yard she just plops down and wants to go back inside. In the school parking lot the strange smells and new look had her moving around on leash, assuming looking for home.

She also got to smell a bunch of kids and adults and met two strangers who scratched her ears as I told her good girl.

[Bentley]

What a charmer!

[zraver]

What a charmer!

Thank you, though last night she crawled on to the couch and slept on my head....

[Cody]

What a cutie!
Now, not to instigate anything, but did the breeder tell you she was a Neo or an Italian Mastiff?
The only reason I am asking is her skin looks tight to be a Neo, they usually have way more wrinkles. Where as the Cane Corso (the other Italian Mastiff) has a lot tighter of skin and less of the dewlap (among other differences). I am an avid fan of the Mastino Italiano, if you research and go back not that long into history, ie the 60's they 2 breeds were fairly similar in appearance. Again, not trying to start anything
Not that it matters, she is beautiful!
We have a Cane Corso, and someday I hope to add a Neo to the family, if my husband would let me lol.
Enjoy her, both breeds are extremely intelligent and dedicated to their family!

---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:27 PM ----------

Oh and I agree totally about the CGC!
Our Corso just got her CGN (Canine Good Neighbor) Canada's equivalent to the CGC and is doing her 1st of 3 tests to qualify for Therapy work with the group here that goes to the Children's Hospital weekly.

[Cody]

[zraver]

What a cutie!
Now, not to instigate anything, but did the breeder tell you she was a Neo or an Italian Mastiff?
The only reason I am asking is her skin looks tight to be a Neo, they usually have way more wrinkles. Where as the Cane Corso (the other Italian Mastiff) has a lot tighter of skin and less of the dewlap (among other differences). I am an avid fan of the Mastino Italiano, if you research and go back not that long into history, ie the 60's they 2 breeds were fairly similar in appearance. Again, not trying to start anything
Not that it matters, she is beautiful!
We have a Cane Corso, and someday I hope to add a Neo to the family, if my husband would let me lol.
Enjoy her, both breeds are extremely intelligent and dedicated to their family!

---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:27 PM ----------

Oh and I agree totally about the CGC!
Our Corso just got her CGN (Canine Good Neighbor) Canada's equivalent to the CGC and is doing her 1st of 3 tests to qualify for Therapy work with the group here that goes to the Children's Hospital weekly.

We were told she is a neo, we get the papers on the 10th when the check clears. You made me wonder so I looked up pictures of both breeds pups and she doesn't have the more fluffy double coat of the Cane Corso, but matches the satin smooth single layer puppy coat of a neo perfectly. She does has a massive dewlap and flews, and the required haws (red rim around the bottom) in the eyes only seen in neo's and bloodhounds. She is more wrinkley than she appears in the pics and looks like a minature shar pei.

oh, and she has gas.....I slept amidst a cloud of backdoor puppy kisses.

Speaking of the dewlap, how do I get her collar to stop rubbing her raw, or do I simply let her skin toughen up? Any looser and it won't stay on her head. When she stands the dewlap billows out and fills the collar taking up all the slack.

[Cody]

Cool.
I hope I didn't offend, from the pictures she looks quite tight.
My CC has a dewlap, not quite as excessive as a Neo, but she is an old school Italian Corso, so still has the skin
I leave her collar off in doors and when she is in the yard with me. I kept it on for a while when she first came home and it rubbed her neck raw as well.
I also got her a thicker double padded leather collar so that seems to help.

[zraver]

Cool.
I hope I didn't offend, from the pictures she looks quite tight.
My CC has a dewlap, not quite as excessive as a Neo, but she is an old school Italian Corso, so still has the skin
I leave her collar off in doors and when she is in the yard with me. I kept it on for a while when she first came home and it rubbed her neck raw as well.
I also got her a thicker double padded leather collar so that seems to help.

Ok thanks, i may look into that type of collar, of I may go with a harness to move everything back onto her shoulders.

[CoolHandJean]

Welcome.

[Mongo]

I agree, she doesnt look neo to me either.... this is why people should do research for a good while and find a reputable breeder who is bettering the breed and not just trying to make some money :/

[zraver]

I agree, she doesnt look neo to me either.... this is why people should do research for a good while and find a reputable breeder who is bettering the breed and not just trying to make some money :/

When I google a pup her age she looks just like them, her body has the right build, the coat is right down to the reverse brindling and single coat. I guess we will see when she gets older.