Soon to be Cane Corso Owner - Advice, tips, suggestions wanted...

[Ober51]

Hi All,

First off, thanks for welcoming me to this site. It seems like a great place to learn with a plethora of information from great posters. I live in NNJ outside of Manhattan and will be bringing home a Cane Corso in the beginning of April.

I am looking for some suggestions, feedback, tips, etc., from current/past owners of this breed or something very similar. Is there something most people overlook that is important?

How far in advance should I contact a vet? I have a few options around me - and since I am only a few months away - should I start to call around and see who has experience with big dog breeds? What should be a deciding factor with a Cane Corso vet?

I plan to bring the puppy to socialization classes and begin training right away. Is there anything I should do in this area? The breeder suggested Leerburg: The Power of Training with Food DVD. Is there anything else?

I am sure I will continue to post questions, but I thought I would stop here and wait for some feedback. Thanks!

 

[Smart_Family]

Welcome! I don't have any suggestions besides the vet thing. I personally don't think a lot of giant breed experience is a must but it certainly does help. For me, a good vet is honest and listens. They don't bully me on things like nutrition and spaying/neutering. Granted if you found a vet who was like this and giant breed experienced that would be a gold mine!

 

[Cody]

Congrats!
What kennel did you decide to go with?
The biggest warning I have is to be very very careful! CC are very addictive and you will probably end up with multiples... lol.
My advice is to just enjoy your pup, don't push it to grow to fast
There is a ton of research on this forum, but we will all be happy to answer any specific questions you have. The best advice is to just socialize like mad and your breeder will be the best source of info. They know their lines.
Oh and post LOTS of pictures.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Definetly start researching vets! Giant breed experience is a plus, but like Smart Family said the really important thing is that they listen to you and are flexible. I'd suggest hanging around dog parks, or training facilities, and looking for giant breed owners and asking them which vet they use, and how they like them.

 

[Ober51]

Thanks for the vet tips, Smart Family. I am going to call around and see. The vet my parents use for their small Cairn terrier basically told me never to get a Cane Corso. I listened to his concerns but decided I am not going to bring my dog to someone with preconceived notions that this is a "pit bull."

I decided to go with Jessica Caster from Casanova Cane Corso in upstate NY. I researched like mad and talked to many people that have dealt with her and everyone had a great word. I also went to the All Breeds Fair at the Javitz Center and the woman there was very effusive in her praise for Jessica. So that sealed the deal I plan on going through her for all of my questions (I've already emailed her 10 times, ha) but figured some people here have extensive experience as well.

I will enjoy the heck out of the pup - I just want it to be well socialized and friendly.

Thanks, Ruth. I will talk to people when I see them walking their big breed dogs. Time to start the vet research - I want to be prepared.

 

[Cody]

There are lots of CC in your neck of the woods.
Many breeders would be more then happy to tell you what vet they use.
I agree is important to have a vet familiar with the breed

 

[Misfit36]

Ober. As soon as i saw the video recommended i knew it was jessica. We brought our girl home from her last weekend out of miragexpalermo litter. I too settled on Jessica after much research , she is FANTASTIC. Our girl Stella while now starting to exhibit more "littermate" actions towards us i.e biting she has been so good and a quick quick learner. Im in lower Westchester. My vet Im using is local and has dealt with the breed. Good luck with everything, they are a handful but worth it. I also suggest reading "bones would rain from the sky". Its a book jessica suggested and has a great approach to dogs and life in general. Let me know if I could help in anyway

 

[Ober51]

There are lots of CC in your neck of the woods.
Many breeders would be more then happy to tell you what vet they use.
I agree is important to have a vet familiar with the breed

Ok, that settles it, getting a vet with breed experience.

Ober. As soon as i saw the video recommended i knew it was jessica. We brought our girl home from her last weekend out of miragexpalermo litter. I too settled on Jessica after much research , she is FANTASTIC. Our girl Stella while now starting to exhibit more "littermate" actions towards us i.e biting she has been so good and a quick quick learner. Im in lower Westchester. My vet Im using is local and has dealt with the breed. Good luck with everything, they are a handful but worth it. I also suggest reading "bones would rain from the sky". Its a book jessica suggested and has a great approach to dogs and life in general. Let me know if I could help in anyway

Misfit, this is great. I am glad to hear your dog is a treat thus far. Is she being housebroken relatively easily? What did you bring with you to pick the dog up? Thanks again, this is very helpful.

 

[Misfit36]

When we picked her up I used a truck and put the seats down, I then put the crate behind the front seats so the door opening was in between the 2 front seats so me and my wife could control where she went in the car. At first my wife held her on her lap, we never forced her into the crate but lured her in with treats. We also never closed the crate door the whole trip. We brought treats with us, toys we had brought her and a toy that Jessica gave to us that Stella had played with at Jessicas. We also made a "puppy bag" and put paper towels, some bottled water, extra blankets for the crate ( good thing bc she had one accident on the way home) The ride home went fantastic, she settled into the crate after a little while but occaisonally wanted to sit on my wifes lap. Once again, we never forced her in the crate. When we got home, I set the crate up where she sleeps in our office. First night she cried, alot. But that was expected, we took he to go potty alot as well. Second night was not a good one, the crate my father gave was for a husky and way too big. So in the middle of the second night we ignored her cries trying not to give in but when we went down to take her out there was 1 and 2 everywhere. It was our fault for not listening to her. To ease her into the crate we then started to lure her in with treats whenever we noticed she was starting to fall asleep on the living room with us. We started staying by the crate till she fell asleep, and then left. We also play "white noise" when shes in the crate which calms her down and mutes some of the household noise that might wake her. Now, sometimes she goes in the crate by herself so shes sees it as a safe den bc we never punished her with it. Weve had a few accidents in the house but they were our faults. We also bought a Life Stages crate which allows you to buy the biggest you need for an adult but use the divider panels so she only has enough room to turn around, this helps her not go to the bathroom in the crate. It works great. Anything else I can help with, feel free to ask. Good luck!

 

[DennasMom]

One thing that really helped our puppy was a blanket that the breeder gave us with her mom and littermate's scent on it. She still loves her 'woobie'!

And, the crate we had her sleep in at home was in the bedroom with us, and to shrink the size of it, we filled half of it with a pillow from our bed - so she had her 'woobie' from her littermates, and her fluffy pillow from her new parents to cuddle up with. The only time she whined was when she needed to go out. Which was about every 2 hours for the first few nights.

 

[jersey girl]

I agree with DennasMom, when we got our pup we had her in her crate, but in another bedroom. She cried all night for 3 nights. So we moved her crate into our bedroom....and finally we had silence....she only cried if she had to go to the bathroom. I think it's more important to find a vet that knows the Cane Corso more than a giant breed vet, since Corso's aren't giant breeds. Enjoy the puppy stage, it goes by so fast!

 

[Ober51]

Becoming a bit more real - Jessica just told me that the new pups are here and amazing. 5 males and 2 females!

 

[jcook]

Becoming a bit more real - Jessica just told me that the new pups are here and amazing. 5 males and 2 females!

yay! congrats on your new addition. I have a 9 month old CC and I have never loved a dog more than I love her. Plus I get endless compliments on her behavior, temperament, and looks lol.

There are so many amazing CC owners (and other mastiff owners) on here that are just full of great information and tips.

The one thing i regret the most with Stella was not sticking with the crate training. It was really, really hard for us in the beginning. She cried and in there and would instantly poop and pee, we got sick of cleaning the mess out of the crate and bathing her twice a day lol. however, the end result would have paid off in the long run, it was a rude awaking to have a puppy that can reach anything it wants on the counters (i grew up with small dogs lol). Plus, I get afraid that she will get into something that is harmful or dangerous while we are not home and she is not crated. It is just amazing what these large dogs can get into and destroy. needless to say we are doing crate training again.

I am not the best at dog training (we recently just hired a professional in home trainer to help us train our dogs) but my advice for puppies is socialization. Stellas puppy class focused mainly on appropriate play and interactions with other dogs. Stella is 94 pounds and 9 months, so it is extra important for her to play properly and nicely with other dogs. I also wish i would have brought her to more "strange" places when she was young. We had a rough period where she was afraid of everything (strollers, bikes, surfboards, tall men, people carrying large objects, etc...).

CC's are very smart and they are all about their owners. Overall a wonderful breed that I am certain you will fall in love with

 

[Ober51]

The puppy comes home this Saturday (4/20). Needless to say, I am very excited. I have to make the 5 hour drive to get him, which is what I am looking forward to least, although the excitement level will be through the roof.

Any last minute suggestions? I contacted Jessica for her thoughts on what to bring, but would love some advice.

Picture of Gio (Jess calls him Wasabi) is attached.

 

[Ober51]

How is the puppy 3 months later?

 

[Misfit36]

Oh man he is handsome. Stella is doing well, shes growing too damn fast though. She does well in obedience school and is very good now with her housetraining although she realized if she rings the bell hanging on the door she can go outside so she likes to play games with us. Lol. She is a confident pup and is starting to get into her "Im not listening all the time " phase but consistency has been key in her training. As far as what to bring : a crate ( covered crate with blanket to help her not get carsick, which she never did) towels, paper towels, bottle water, couple toys, treats ( we didnt give any though to avoid an accidents, we also told Jessica not to feed her in the am), thats pretty much what we brought. We stayed overnight in hotel night before which helped so we didnt have to drive too much in one day and we got to Jessica early as well. Are you crating him at night?

 

[Ober51]

Thank you - he's pretty cute ha.

Wow, great list, will definitely bring all of those things. I am definitely crating since I will not be home most of the day. We thought of staying over the night before, but I don't mind driving.

I have a smaller crate for when he is a puppy so I can bring that, then will transition him into the bigger crate. I have a soft krate, and ideally I'd love for him to simply use that, but I need to wait to be confident he won't chew it up at first. Thanks again. So glad to hear Stella is doing well - post some pics!

 

[Misfit36]

Theres a lot of info regarding crating out there. Stella hated it for a few weeks but I think it was mostly due to her being seperated from her mom and her crate is not in our bedroom. Now shell sleep from 10:30-6:30 no problem in her crate and when she has access to it (we keep her in living room and kitchen with baby gates) she will go in it to nap. The first night we decided to ignore her cries based on what I read about not "giving in" to her, biggggggg mistake. We ignored for about 20 minutes and found her covered in 1 and 2. Nasty

But here is a recent pic of our girl.

 

[Ober51]

Yeah, the more I read, the more the first few nights and weeks I should not ignore their cries. I will try and make the crate positive, so lets hope that works. I spoke at length with Jessica yesterday, she was so helpful. Do you follow her on Facebook? She told me that Pat Hastings called her current litter the best she's ever seen for Corsos. It's amazing how much she loves the breed; very comforting as someone about to bring home a puppy.

Stella is beautiful - how is she behaving?

 

[Misfit36]

Some tricks for crate is to put some treats in it and let him go in on his own and do t close the door. Then next time close it for a few seconds and gradually increase time. We also only give her kings with peanut butter in her crate so she looks forward to it. And yes I follow Jessica and saw that post, great news. She is such an ambassador for the breed. Stella behaves very well, some issues we are addressing is her jumping up on people when she greets them, especially people she knows bc she gets super excited. She will also sometimes play bite with us which has lessened recently but its usually due to her wanting to play and us not wanting to lol. Socialize the heck out of him. Ive taken Stella everywhere I can i.e home depot, local paint store, work, puppy play group( i can recommend an excellent one in mt kisco on saturdays).