Abel - new puppy, new owner for cane corso's, any help welcomed!

[Abel]

Hey guys, my name is Ray, here's a little about myself. I live in NJ, I have owned dogs, such as a pitbull and doberman, but never anything like this. I got him through a backyard breeder, friend of a friend, couldn't handle it so I got one of the puppies for free. I live in a 2 family house, 2nd floor, fairly big 2 bedroom 5 room place that I live alone in. It has a fenced in backyard, there's a german shepard downstairs that he shares the yard with, but they haven't played with each other yet.

I got Abel at 6 weeks of age, he was born Apr 27 2013. I have read online that 6 weeks is way too young to take a pup out, but the guy didn't want to deal with it anymore so I kept him. He has actually been doing very good. He didn't cry the first 2-3 nights, went right to sleep in the crate. I started him on wee pads as he didn't have any shots. I called and made an appointment at my vets office, they got me in that week and got his first set of shots. They told me that Abel would be able to go out in our yard so I stopped the pads and started carrying him out side every 1-2 hrs. We've had a few accidents here and there, but for the most part he was going outside.

He is now 10.5 weeks, has had 3 sets of shots, He has had about 3 accidents in the house in the past 2 weeks, he walks down the stairs all by himself. He sometimes gets into nippy moods, I basically say 'no biting' or 'ow', and he'll stop for the most part, or sometimes he goes at my hand and barks. He's a lot worse with my girlfriend who is with him a lot also. I have my own business and have a lot of time to stay at home. I'm home basically all day everyday, except for a few hours where I have to run to the store or at the gym early in the morning. He's been getting better with the biting but he sometimes snaps. I have crate trained him, he won't potty in the crate. He has learned basic commands such as sit, down, come and kind of stay. We're starting puppy basic obedience class on the 7/16, about 5 days away. After this week, I won't have as much time at home. As of now he's been staying in the crate the few hours that I'm away. I wouldn't like to keep him in the crate for more than a few hours during the day. I will be able to come home every 3-4 hours to let him out and will be home early in the day. So I've been researching that people use play pens to keep their puppies in a more open but confined area. I found this to be a good solution, but wouldn't allowing him to potty in the house reverse the housebreaking? As most people say to put a bed, food and water, and a pee pad for accidents?

I will reply to this thread with pictures of him from 6.5-10.5 weeks

 

[Smart_Family]

Welcome!

 

[Abel]

Abel 6.5 weeks old when I picked him up


Abel 7 weeks old, following me to the bathroom


Abel 7.5 weeks old, loves the bathroom carpet, picture blurry


Abel 8 weeks old, chilling, showing off his big blue eyes (no longer bright blue, more greenish now)


Abel 8.5 weeks old


Abel 9 weeks old, apparent growth of paws and length on legs


Abel 9.5 weeks old, sitting upright


Abel 10 weeks old, GF decked him out in a harness


Abel 10.5 weeks, brought him out on my small fishing boat, he seemed to love it, other than the fact that he really had to go at one point. Yes that's a life vest haha


Abel today at 10.75 weeks old


Abel today

 

[Iymala]

He is so cute. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Abel]

Thanks guys any help on the nipping issue? And playpen issue?

 

[CorsoCorso]

Welcome! Abel is a cutie! Our Gio is just under 6 months now and while he's still teething (and nibbling hands as a result) we've found that yelling "ow!" in a high pitched voice and walking away from him has worked. Also, redirecting with something that's OK for him to chew on also works. Unfortunately at this age he's going to want to chew so it's all about teaching him that he can chew toys - but not people If he's especially nippy try giving him ice cubes or a washcloth dipped in chicken broth, then wound up and frozen. These will ease the pain from teething and keep him occupied for a bit.

As far as the playpen issue goes, we crate Gio while we're out of the house so I don't have much advice here. He would jump over a gate in a heartbeat so playpens would just be another toy for him

 

[Francesco]

Abel is soooo nice

 

[coreyc]

Welcome

 

[DennasMom]

Welcome!

We used the "yelp" / "ow" and redirection methods for Denna's nipping, too. The yelp was what really worked for her. She has a very soft mouth now... since she learned her people have very, very sensitive skin.

Personally, I would stick to a crate and no wee-wee pads... we've just never used wee-wee pads. I'm not sure I'd trust a wire pen to keep a puppy secure, either, but that's just me.

Our first dog could hold it for 4 hours by the time he was 3 months old. Denna took a little longer than that, but we now leave her in her "condo" (54" wire crate) when we're gone (she still likes to chew things that aren't hers when we're not looking), and at one year old, she's survived up to 7 hours now in there... although more than 5 hours is very rare. We have a dog-walker that helps when we're going to be gone too long.

 

[Beretta]

He is very handsome! and I love his name! Sons of Anarchy?

 

[musicdeb]

Welcome aboard~ Abel is quite handsome. Kudos for you for putting a life vest on Abel! I would recommend teaching Abel the look/focus command which will help you when he enters the fear stage. The look/focus command will help Abel to focus on you when he is distracted by whatever he is afraid of. The fear stage starts about 7-8 months and lasts until about 1 - 1/2 yrs.

 

[Abel]

Thanks for the great information guys and girls yes I got his name from sons of anarchy. I will stick to crates for now, hopefully he can hold it. I will have to research look and focus commands, I have never taught those before, why does the fear stage start so late in his puppy life?

 

[Abel]

Also right now I have him in a small crate, that I recently put into a 48" crate to let him get used to it. Do you think I should just get a 54" and not use the 48"? I had the 48" just sitting around.

 

[musicdeb]

Here's some posts of the focus command and pup looking you in the eyes:

Retaining focus

Won't look you in the eyes?

A past member who was a trainer and vet assistant posted a video of teaching focus/look command but I couldn't find right now.

I would recommend buying the biggest crate you can find so he can use in the future but the 48" should be ok as a pup.

 

[musicdeb]

Since this is your first mastiff pup, here's some info that may help you out:

First, you want to crate train the pup. Make sure you have a blanket, stuffed animal (about their size) and white noise (ticking clock or ipod with soft music) so the pup can sleep. The pup is used to cuddling with siblings.

Second: you want to keep the pup in a room with a family member. Mastiffs need to be near their family members.

Third: you want to start the pup’s food regimen. Are you feeding them what the breeder fed them? If yes, ok. If not, you need to do a slow transition to the new food. Mastiffs are allergic to chicken and grain in kibble. Slow transition is to feed 1/4 of new food with 3/4's of old food for 3-4 days. Transition to 1/2 new and 1/2 old food for 3-4 days. Transition to 3/4 new and 1/4 old for 3-4 days. Transition to 100% new food. If at anytime the pup has diarrhea, return to former transition amounts until diarrhea stops.

Osteochondrosis: An Orthopedic Disease in Large Dog Breeds


Fourth: You want to keep the leash on the pup for a few hours each day while in the house so they gets used to it.

Fifth: Keep the pup away from dog areas unless they have had their 2nd set of shots leaving the pup prone to getting parvo or other illnesses. Keep the pup in your yard and place newspapers down where they will walk on the ground. This is very important!

Sixth: Start basic commands. Train for about 5 minutes per day and slowy increase the training time. Teach one command at a time. Once they master one command, move onto another command.


Mastiffs can be extremely stubborn and if you get frustrated with them, they will shut down. Mastiffs do not do well with yelling or hitting. Hitting can result in some unwanted mastiff behavior meaning fear aggression, which equals biting.

Number one command is sit. Teach the pup to sit, by placing a treat in front of his head and move it to the back causing him to sit to get the treat. When the pup sits, tell them good sit and give them the treat.

Second command should be "focus/look" This will help you tremendously when the pup is over 100 lbs. Put the pup into sit. With a treat in your hand (let the pup smell it), put the treat up to your eyes and tell the pup to look or focus. They may only do this for about 1-2 seconds. As soon as they look at your eyes, tell them good look or good focus and give the treat. Some mastiffs (DDBs generally) do not like to look anyone in the eyes for long because that means a challenge to them. Titan is up to 35 seconds of looking at me.

Other commands to teach is stay, come, leave it and drop it.

When you are training and when the pup does not do as you ask, then tell him no no no and redirect back to command in a normal voice. The only time a stern and somewhat loud NO should be used is when they are doing something that can cause harm to themselves or others.

For example, when I'm doing the look at me training with Titan. He will look at me and then his eyes will move to the left or right. I say, "no no no, look at me" and he returns to the look to my eyes.

When they do what you want them to do, get all giddy and excited and say, "Yes, good look!" I clap, giggle, and sometimes do a little dance. My dog looks at me like, really woman?

Puppies should not do any heavy exercise or walking for the first 1-2 years. Stairs should be maneuvered while on leash (even in the house) especially going down the stairs. Stairs should have carpet or rubber matting to give the pup traction. Most mastiffs (DDBs especially) can be very lazy but they still need to exercise. Puppies should not be walked for more than 15-20 minutes for the first 6-8 months and do your best to avoid heavy running or jumping for the first 1-2 years. Excessive jumping, running and long walks (1-2 hours) can cause hip, elbow, knee and joint injuries.

Remember, mastiffs do not tolerate heat. In the heat, reduce walk/exercise times. Have clean water available at all times. I freeze towels to either place on Titan or put on the floor for him to lie on in the summer to cool him off. Buy a kiddies’ pool for the pup to play in to keep cool.

Mastiffs should not be neutered/spayed until 18 months to 2 years. NO MATTER what the vet says. Early neutering can cause growth problems.

Enjoy your baby! Have lots of patience! The pup will reward you with love and loyalty!

 

[Abel]

Wow musicdeb, awesome information, I will start training him look/focus. As of now I'm feeding him blue wilderness large breed puppy 3 times a day. Any suggestions on that? I have read the dog food thread on this forum, everyone has their own opinion, but is there a proven healthy meal? I basically chose the only 5 star food from petsmart as they stopped carrying evo, also, anyone live in nj that could suggest a advanced trainer?

 

[musicdeb]

YW. There are a few NJ members on the forum. Post a separate post in training part of the forum and title the subject, Looking for trainer in NJ.

I do not feed Titan kibble so my information is based on what is posted on the forum. Smart_Family is the resident food guru. You can check out Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor for the best dog food.

For a pup, the calcium and protein levels are important. Search for Smart_Family and she posted a great list of foods in a recent post.

I feed Titan raw diet. Dr. Becker has a lot of videos on youtube.com explaining why the raw diet is the best diet for dogs because she believes and I concur with her opinions regarding kibble vs raw diet.

There a few Dr Becker videos on the forum as well. Do a search and you'll find them. I believe there are 3-4 of them

 

[Abel]

Sounds great, could I mix raw meat with kibble? I will research more into it after I post this, thank you again for the great information! And I will post in the training section after this as well!

 

[musicdeb]

It's advisable not to feed both raw and kibble because it confuses the system. The dog's digestive system processes kibble differently than raw food. One of Dr Becker's video goes in depth about feeding kibble and raw and the biological reasons to avoid it. There are a few members who feed their pups both kibble and raw.

With Titan, I have to sear/brown his meat before he will eat it and I have to cook his chicken/beef livers completely or he will not eat it. He will eat his chicken feet and turkey necks raw but that's about it. I have to sear/brown the other meat. I know, he's a PIA.

 

[Lori]

Good name choice My boys name is Abel too!