Puppy bonding

[enzo_canecorso]

Hello - I was hoping to get some help/advice from other CC owners. My 15 week old puppy, Enzo, is very very attached to me and I am not sure how healthy it is. He will not lay/snuggle with my boyfriend or my step daughter if I am in the room. He will wake from a dead sleep to follow me into another room and back. This has kind of been more extreme in the past week or so and I am not sure what exactly is the cause of this. I have had other dogs in the past (he is my first mastiff) but never one who was so attached to me. I would like him to be comfortable and confident with whoever he is with and not need to be right next to me at all times. I am not saying that I dont like him being near me at all times, because I absolutely adore the little guy, but I dont want him to have insecurity issues when he is older. Any advice on this is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[musicdeb]

Generally, a mastiff will latch on to the female in the house. It's especially true for DDB's. Socialize and socialize some more so he becomes aware of others. Cherish this time...

 

[enzo_canecorso]

Thank you, and I am totally cherishing it. I just want him to be a well rounded, confident dog. I did have my boyfriend start feeding him as of yesterday so hopefully that will make a difference. He's very very food motivated

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

You are experiencing the corso velcro syndrome, they tend to bond more closely to one member of the family. They will follow you every where, bathrooms get crowded at our house the key is to make sure that you don't end up with a dog that has separation anxiety so make sure that while you are home and going out your dog is comfortable in their own skin and able to be alone without panic.

 

[HeatherA]

my pups are very stuck on me, i started having my 14 year old boys take them out to potty more my 10 yr old son helps at feeding time and my younger girls play with them. once I stopped doing all of the feeding and potty runs on my own the pups formed nice relationships with the kids and its amazing how much these dogs love their kids!! and if their "daddy" walks in the room everyone goes wild little butt wigglers <3. they will fuss if they can hear me and not see me they need to see mommy all the time but i know when i am not around they are ok with the rest of their family.
So i sugest letting your hubby and step daughter do a little more and take a step back and let them

 

[sjdavenport]

Yep, corsos are velcro dogs. Owning one means you will never go to the bathroom alone again, lol. Of all the CCs we've owned or fostered, the majority have bonded more closely to one member of the household, while one CC wanted nothing to do with anyone but their chosen person. It didn't mean they didn't love and have a good relationship with the other family members though. I adopted my pit bull Mazey from a horrific situation, and she is definitely overbonded to me. Trust me, you want to avoid this. It can get to a point where it's really unhealthy. When I leave, but my boyfriend is home, Mazey just sits by the front door and whines and shakes, refuses to eat anything, and doesn't listen to anything my boyfriend says. My seven month old corso Rhaegar has always preferred me a little bit to my boyfriend, but a while back I noticed things escalating. Like one day I went to go nap with our bedroom door closed, with Rhaegar closed out in the living room with my boyfriend watching tv. Rhaegar just sat at the bedroom door and cried til Kerry let him in with me. So we upped the things he did with Rhaegar like feeding him, walking him, doing some of his training and some engagement exercises (all reward based), and sometimes I'd ignore him when he came over hoping for affection, so then he'd go seek out Kerry. Kerry also made sure to put in a lot of time playing Rhaegar's favorite games with him. It's really helped, so those are maybe some things you could get your boyfriend and stepdaughter to help with. You can also look up engagement exercises on youtube or the internet for them to do with Enzo. They can be great (and fun) relationship builders and will encourage Enzo to want to be with them and interact with them.

 

[enzo_canecorso]

Its funny that a few of you mentioned never going to the bathroom alone again because that's already happening...little creeper. I will get my boyfriend and step daughter to be more involved in feeding him and taking him outside. Thank you for the advice! Hopefully we can balance things out a bit.

 

[Bailey's Mom]

Bailey is the poster child for klingon. I encourage my husband to walk her and she does love Lisa next door and will go to her without reservation. Additionally, she loves Dentasticks, so I get her Dad to give those....it's their special treat 2 times a day. When I'm away, she clings to her Dad. When my step son is here, she gravitates to him (he's getting more trustworthy with her.) But, yeah, by in large they try to live inside your skin and must always be touching you. It's incredibly sweet...they'll never let you feel lonely.

 

[DennasMom]

Denna is more of a velcro dog now than she was as a puppy. I was actually surprised how well she did being independent in the back yard pretty early on.

I made sure to give her "alone time" in her crate every day (as much as I could stand, which was maybe 30 minutes to an hour at a time), and we tried to see and/or visit one new thing every day in the beginning for confidence/socialization practice. As we got more busy and were doing obedience classes, that dropped off a bit... but I still try and get her out to new places - at least monthly, now, though (she's over 2.5 years old, but still very much the spoiled puppy).

One thing that helped Denna and her 'Daddy' with bonding, were my business trips... the two of them had some total 1-on-1 time for a few days at a time then. Daddy definitely gets the wiggle-butt syndrome here, too - it starts when Denna hears his car pull into the driveway in the evenings.

 

[teodora]

my 3 1/2 months CC puppy is exactly the same.

 

[PrinceLorde13]

Yes very normal, they are absolutely bonders, my girl was stuck to me like glue, I made sure to give her time outside alone in longer and longer intervals, started having other family members play and cuddle with her while I went upstairs, little things like that add up over time, now she still prefers to be by my side but doesn't become anxious or whine if she's not though and even chooses to go on her own rarely but sometimes. She also took way longer to bond with my girlfriend and now I never see her more excited then when I say kimmy's home! Now I'm working on my boy, he knocked my bathroom door off the frame last week to get to me!

 

[enzo_canecorso]

Thank you everybody, it has been great to browse the posts and get advice. I have always had pitbulls and am finding that my sweet little Enzo is much different than any dog I've had before. He is so attentive and so smart. I just want to do the best I can to help him be a confident, well rounded adult dog. We've both been taking him places and introducing him to all sorts of new things. Keeping him from eating socks (and anything else he can find) is our newest challange. I really appreciate everybody's advice and input on this.