15 week corso behaviors

[Jarena]

Hello I am new on this site and new to the breed. I have a 15 week old female corso named Lettie that I brought home at 8 weeks. I did extensive online research about the breed and about breeders for about a year before picking her. So far everything has been going fairly well. She is very smart, picks up on her commands quickly. She is consistent in following commands only at home without distractions.
There really is only one behavior that I am concerned about. I don't allow her on the furniture at all. When she puts her paws on the couch I tell her "off", pull her back, and that's it (no treat or "good girl") Sometimes I tell her "off", point to the ground, wait for her to remove herself, then "good girl"/ treat. But she seems to think it's a game and keeps putting her paws on the couch over and over. I will go up to her and tell her "off" again and again and after a few times of this "game" she starts getting growly and her fur between her shoulders stands up and she starts lunging at me and biting. She bites at my hands, arms, and clothes. Often ripping my shirts with her needle teeth.
She does not show her teeth or do her dominant growling/barking like she does when she is being a jerk to other dogs. (We are working on not being dog-aggressive). I know that we are not out of the puppy biting stage yet, although there has been obvious improvement in the last 7 weeks. It's really the raised fur and lunging that has me concerned. Also, the only way to snap her out of the lunging biting shark attacks is to firmly tell her to lay down while standing over her and then distracting with obedience work.
My boyfriend and I are trying really hard to raise this big girl "right". I should also add that my boyfriend and I are consistent about being on the same page with each other when it comes to our baby

 

[Smokeycat]

It sounds like she is getting over-stimulated. Jiggers (non-mastiff) was like that as a puppy. Typically it meant he was ready for a nap but couldn't calm himself down. He would get put into his crate and most times was asleep before the door closed.

 

[kingmark]

Hello I am new on this site and new to the breed. I have a 15 week old female corso named Lettie that I brought home at 8 weeks. I did extensive online research about the breed and about breeders for about a year before picking her. So far everything has been going fairly well. She is very smart, picks up on her commands quickly. She is consistent in following commands only at home without distractions.
There really is only one behavior that I am concerned about. I don't allow her on the furniture at all. When she puts her paws on the couch I tell her "off", pull her back, and that's it (no treat or "good girl") Sometimes I tell her "off", point to the ground, wait for her to remove herself, then "good girl"/ treat. But she seems to think it's a game and keeps putting her paws on the couch over and over. I will go up to her and tell her "off" again and again and after a few times of this "game" she starts getting growly and her fur between her shoulders stands up and she starts lunging at me and biting. She bites at my hands, arms, and clothes. Often ripping my shirts with her needle teeth.
She does not show her teeth or do her dominant growling/barking like she does when she is being a jerk to other dogs. (We are working on not being dog-aggressive). I know that we are not out of the puppy biting stage yet, although there has been obvious improvement in the last 7 weeks. It's really the raised fur and lunging that has me concerned. Also, the only way to snap her out of the lunging biting shark attacks is to firmly tell her to lay down while standing over her and then distracting with obedience work.
My boyfriend and I are trying really hard to raise this big girl "right". I should also add that my boyfriend and I are consistent about being on the same page with each other when it comes to our baby

Welcome to the forum relax she will grow up that behaviour just stay firm in your rules and boundaries. My girl who will be 11 months tomorrow was the same little shark like yours, she loved to bite and put her little teeth where they dont belong,but she grow up and stoped doing that. Just have many patience and calmnes it will be all worth later

 

[Jarena]

Thank you for the responses nice to know I'm not the only one with a shark. I have been paying more attention to when she does her shark attacks and it seems to be when she hasn't had quite enough exercise. It's like she just wants our attention to tell us she has too much energy!

 

[DennasMom]

My thought - you're telling her what NOT to do... and she's frustrated that she doesn't know what TO do.
Yes, she wants your attention! and all she's getting is the "no no" part... she hasn't figured out a way to get a "good girl" without doing the bad girl game, first.

I'd teach her "place" - so when you say "off"... you can follow that with a "go to your PLACE"... once she's on her bed (her "place"), praise and treat. Give her a BIG treat that she only gets to eat when sitting on her bed. Go visit her when she goes to her place and praise her randomly just for being there. She'll choose to get your praise over the 'no-no-off' game, once she knows how (by going to her 'place' first).

We always stuff the 'shark' mouth with a toy, then play with said toy... it didn't take Denna long to learn to bring us a toy already in her mouth, so we could play a little soft game of tug (she pulls too hard, I just let go... she always comes back for more). They're quick learners, for sure! Just have to make sure you're teaching them the right games to play.

 

[Jarena]

DennasMom, thank you for the advice. I actually mentioned this couch game problem to our puppy trainer and she suggested the same thing but now another little issue.... she does well with the 2 blankets that are in her crate (in our bedroom) but that's all she does well with lol.
We bought a crate pad thingy and she just plays with it and chews on the zipper. We bought her a big pillow bed but she won't stop peeing on it. She doesn't pee anywhere in the house except for that bed, even though we use Nature's Miracle on it and wash it every time. We are considering buying the NM no marking spray- don't know if it will work. In her crate she has 2 blankets, she will move them around and sometimes chew on them but so far she hasn't ripped them up.
So I tried to grab one of the crate blankets and put it in the living room for a "place" but she just drags it around wherever she wants. I feel like "place" needs to be a stationary object/bed, but maybe I'm wrong? Is it ok for her to move her "place" wherever and when ever she wants? Or does anyone have any tips or suggestions for this?

 

[DennasMom]

"Place" needs to be something stationary... she shouldn't be able to move it. Eventually, you want to be able to visit friends/relatives, put the 'place' mat/bed/towel in a corner, and tell her to 'go to place' and have her be content to sit there for a good long time. (eventually!)

Denna decided to rip through anything with stuffing when she was about 8 months old (she finally gave up on that activity around 14 months old). She did ok with blankets in the crate, but no beds.
One 'bed' that has always been a favorite of hers is the cot-style bed - we have 3 "coolaroos" (https://www.amazon.com/Original-Elevated-Pet-Bed-Coolaroo/dp/B000BQN9LA) - two in the backyard and one in our RV for camping. Back in her 'destuffing' days, we had a 54" crate, and found out (to our joy) that the coolaroo just fit in the crate. That worked well for quite a while, until a treat got stuck under the cot and she 'dug' a hole in the cover... the covers are replaceable, and not expensive, so we have a newer cover on that frame now.

Put a towel or blanket in a spot, tell her to go to place, have her sit once there and TREAT/PRAISE. If she steps ONE foot off the 'place', give her a gentle 'no' (or 'uh-uh') and return her to the blanket. Have her stay there for just 5 or 10 seconds (stand in front of her if you have to) then give her a "release" command ('release', 'ok', 'break', 'free', whatever word you want to use for "we're done, do whatever you want") with a wave of your hand, party a some, then let her wander a bit, and repeat. Slowly build up the duration on the 'place'... don't expect too much too soon.

Here's one youtube on teaching 'place' or 'go-to-bed'. She uses clickers, which can be really, really helpful in communicating with your puppy.

 

[Nik]

"Place" needs to be something stationary... she shouldn't be able to move it. Eventually, you want to be able to visit friends/relatives, put the 'place' mat/bed/towel in a corner, and tell her to 'go to place' and have her be content to sit there for a good long time. (eventually!)

Denna decided to rip through anything with stuffing when she was about 8 months old (she finally gave up on that activity around 14 months old). She did ok with blankets in the crate, but no beds.
One 'bed' that has always been a favorite of hers is the cot-style bed - we have 3 "coolaroos" (https://www.amazon.com/Original-Elevated-Pet-Bed-Coolaroo/dp/B000BQN9LA) - two in the backyard and one in our RV for camping. Back in her 'destuffing' days, we had a 54" crate, and found out (to our joy) that the coolaroo just fit in the crate. That worked well for quite a while, until a treat got stuck under the cot and she 'dug' a hole in the cover... the covers are replaceable, and not expensive, so we have a newer cover on that frame now.

Put a towel or blanket in a spot, tell her to go to place, have her sit once there and TREAT/PRAISE. If she steps ONE foot off the 'place', give her a gentle 'no' (or 'uh-uh') and return her to the blanket. Have her stay there for just 5 or 10 seconds (stand in front of her if you have to) then give her a "release" command ('release', 'ok', 'break', 'free', whatever word you want to use for "we're done, do whatever you want") with a wave of your hand, party a some, then let her wander a bit, and repeat. Slowly build up the duration on the 'place'... don't expect too much too soon.

Here's one youtube on teaching 'place' or 'go-to-bed'. She uses clickers, which can be really, really helpful in communicating with your puppy.

So you are telling me that there is hope that one day Kahlua won't want to destroy any bed we give her? We currently just put bathroom floor mats in her crate as she leaves those be.

 

[Jarena]

I will look into buying her one of those! Thanks so much for all of the great advice

 

[AurorasMom]

Your Lettie is so pretty! And brought back so many memories of our early puppy days. They were the best of times and the worst of times. Ha ha. It will get better! Our Aurora drove us crazy with her sofa antics. And she loved to pee in her bed too. We eventually had to throw the bed away and only used old towels (thanks to DennasMom's advice). Fast forward over 1 year later and we finally invested in a big fluffy bed for our girl. A part of me keeps waiting for her to pee in it. Ha ha.

As for her raised fur I agree with SmokeyCat that she is probably just too hyped. Our girl sometimes worried and scared me with her "Cujo" like exhibitions as a young puppy. Thankfully with patience, gentle firmness, redirection and time-outs she outgrew them and is now absolutely docile.

We might have sent mixed messages to our girl about the sofa because we could not resist letting her up and cuddling, but we did not want her up on it when we ate dinner or were snacking. We never really got the hang of teaching her "place" so based on our trainers advice during dinner we secured her to a 50lb weight near her "place" (a bath mat) and set her up with a treat filled Kong or bone. She now weighs much more than the weight, but she doesn't know that so she stays put and chews on her treats.

We recently have been trying to keep her off the couch so we've just put objects she doesn't like on it when we are not in the room (like her nail clippers, the DustBuster, etc). So far they've worked as deterrents while she enjoys her new fluffy bed on the floor. I would not recommend being inconsistent like us, but it's not the end of the world if you are. When we were raising our girl I tended to worry too much about being the perfect dog parent and/or worrying something was wrong with her. It's a relief to learn a year and a half later that many of the behaviors that would keep me up at night have resolved themselves with just time. Our girl is close to being an angel these days which I would have never believed a year ago.

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

Welcome to the wonderful world of excitable corso! Great advise everyone, I hate to bear the bad news but this is the first of many tests, it doesn't stop. It might become less frequent as she learns her place and roll in your household but this breed is always one that will test.

 

[Boxergirl]

... this breed is always one that will test.

I couldn't help it. I start giggling when I see these words. Not because they aren't true, but because I always think of The Far Side.

 

[Jarena]

Thank you all for your responses, it's nice to know I'm not alone! My Lettie is 5 months old now and she is getting sweeter every day. She doesn't puppy bite much anymore, maybe a few times a week when she is crazy hyper. Also I found a "place" that works for her! It's a big fuzzy blanket that we folded to her size and for some reason she leaves it alone. She loves laying on that blanket even when I don't tell her to. The only problem is human dinner time, we bought her a big tasty bone that she only gets when we eat and that keeps her busy.
We are very consistent about not letting her on furniture (we spend a LOT of time on the floor now) and I believe it's paying off. But it is nice to know that it's not the end of the world if we mess up! It's also nice to know some ideas on keeping her off the couches if she decides the couches are hers.
I also spend some time worrying absout being the perfect puppy mom and it's great to hear your story, I needed that! And thanks for the comic relief too, I keep reminding myself just because she's good today doesn't mean she will be tomorrow! Thank you all so much!