Good sport for young CC

[Simms87]

Wanting to start my 17 week old male on the basics for a good sport... Anyone have any suggestions as to what dog sports are good for cane corsos? I really just want to grow our bond even closer... I'm not an overly good trainer but I am willing to spend time till we get it right together! Any suggestions are welcome!

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

You don't have to be a great trainer, that is one of the best things about the breed. They are just happy to be doing stuff with you that they don't care what you are doing. So try some various stuff out and see what suits you both. Corso are being used for obedience, Rally, agility, protection, dock diving, lure coursing, etc.

 

[irina]

It really depends on the dog's specific temperament, activity availability in your area and your personal preferences. I would recommend visiting a group class on the sport you want to try and watching first. If you think it looks like fun and your dog will enjoy it, sign up for classes, and then go from there.
We did rally for a bit, but his heel was not as strong as I'd like it to be, so we switched to competition obedience to hone the stills and positions. Might go back to rally again, will probably try agility at some point. Ajax was not suitable for schutzhund.

 

[Alla Zilberg]

Wanting to start my 17 week old male on the basics for a good sport... Anyone have any suggestions as to what dog sports are good for cane corsos? I really just want to grow our bond even closer... I'm not an overly good trainer but I am willing to spend time till we get it right together! Any suggestions are welcome!

Some sports will allow to create a bond, while some won't. I cannot imagine a lure corsing making the bond stronger, for example. Obedience, if you make it fun, will create a strong bond imo. Same with agility and protection sports. In the end, it depends on what your dogs natural abilities are and how much available time you have, as well as access to training resources
good luck!
Irina, not many Corsos are suitable for IPO sadly

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

We are training one of our older ones for both sports, and then will be working on the others, one at a time to see what each one excels at. Let me know if you have get any great tips which can firm stuff up really nicely. Sometimes dealing with a big dog is a like trying to position a Mack truck.

It really depends on the dog's specific temperament, activity availability in your area and your personal preferences. I would recommend visiting a group class on the sport you want to try and watching first. If you think it looks like fun and your dog will enjoy it, sign up for classes, and then go from there.
We did rally for a bit, but his heel was not as strong as I'd like it to be, so we switched to competition obedience to hone the stills and positions. Might go back to rally again, will probably try agility at some point. Ajax was not suitable for schutzhund.

 

[Avitus]

Bob loves tracking.....which helps make it less boring for me

 

[Simms87]

I was checking out some websites I found here in the Dallas area for weight pulling I think that would be fun lure coursing also looks like fun. I've never heard of any "protection games" that sounds interesting does anyone have any websites to recommend for that?

 

[irina]

We are training one of our older ones for both sports, and then will be working on the others, one at a time to see what each one excels at. Let me know if you have get any great tips which can firm stuff up really nicely. Sometimes dealing with a big dog is a like trying to position a Mack truck.

I will be happy to share our limited experience. What are you having difficulty with?

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

I will be happy to share our limited experience. What are you having difficulty with?

We are back to fundamentals on the stays as he seems to have forgotten what those were last class but it is firming back up at home.

Do you have any pointers for slowing down a recall without sacrificing his eagerness to come straight to me? He come so fast and is such a big boy that he almost takes me down on the recall, so I have been working at slowing him down but don't want to loose his eagerness.

 

[irina]

We are back to fundamentals on the stays as he seems to have forgotten what those were last class but it is firming back up at home.

Do you have any pointers for slowing down a recall without sacrificing his eagerness to come straight to me? He come so fast and is such a big boy that he almost takes me down on the recall, so I have been working at slowing him down but don't want to loose his eagerness.

We had the same problem, and still do occasionally, but the trainer instructed me to give him a sit command, when he is about 5 feet away from me, depending on the speed at which he is coming. This way he will be thinking about the command hopefully sit by the time he gets to you. This helped us, you can try. Also with our current trainer we are using "front" for recall. We have trained the hell out of this command separately, so Ajax has enough muscle memory to remind him what exactly his body should be doing by the time he gets to me. Hope it helps.

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

Cool thanks, we have started trying the sit command a few paces out from us, he hasn't got it yet but hopefully persistence will pay off. My trainer uses front as well, we have been using here but I am thinking with some of the different things we will need for Rally we are going to have to add commands for the different finishing moves and such.

We had the same problem, and still do occasionally, but the trainer instructed me to give him a sit command, when he is about 5 feet away from me, depending on the speed at which he is coming. This way he will be thinking about the command hopefully sit by the time he gets to you. This helped us, you can try. Also with our current trainer we are using "front" for recall. We have trained the hell out of this command separately, so Ajax has enough muscle memory to remind him what exactly his body should be doing by the time he gets to me. Hope it helps.

 

[Alla Zilberg]

Cool thanks, we have started trying the sit command a few paces out from us, he hasn't got it yet but hopefully persistence will pay off. My trainer uses front as well, we have been using here but I am thinking with some of the different things we will need for Rally we are going to have to add commands for the different finishing moves and such.

Mary, your issue isn't in a recall, its in front. You need to go back a step and do fronts till they are perfected. Do a front from you standing to the sides, with your back to the dog, etc and they have to be fast, straight, close, energetic and no pumping into you. Once they are perfect he will have no issues on recalls bumping into you. Giving him a "sit" command while coming to you and allowing to continue walking is a real bad idea and will only create bad habits...

 

[Alla Zilberg]

a

 

[irina]

Alla, any tips for achieving consistently straight fronts?

 

[Hector]

Alla, any tips for achieving consistently straight fronts?

Maybe these two videos will help

[video=youtube;zrhRkczgBaA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrhRkczgBaA[/video]

[video=youtube;i71itN2MjzM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i71itN2MjzM[/video]

 

[Hector]

Alla, any tips for achieving consistently straight fronts?

I just use a target on my stomach (open palm over my belly). If the dog isn't straight when he hits the target to front, I just take a step back and front again.

 

[Alla Zilberg]

Alla, any tips for achieving consistently straight fronts?

I can only find the second part of this video
[video=youtube;tVp2gjvQ2g0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVp2gjvQ2g0[/video]

I would recommend buying her DVD. This is the method I used and my dogs fronts are always straight. Another DVD would be Michele Ellis. Please do not give your dog a "sit" command hoping it would sit in couple steps. Its real bad training.

 

[irina]

Thanks Hector! The first video is from the kennel where we are training. She is the founder. I might try the rods, interesting idea. As far as the target on the stomach or the closed hands as in the second video... Then you would have to transition somehow to hands by your sides, because that is the only acceptable presentation in the rink. I was told the dog is supposed to look at your face, not your hands for a front. That's why many trainers feed from the mouth for fronts and recalls.

 

[irina]

I can only find the second part of this video
[video=youtube;tVp2gjvQ2g0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVp2gjvQ2g0[/video]

Please do not give your dog a "sit" command hoping it would sit in couple steps. Its real bad training.

View attachment 47443View attachment 47444

I don't. This is something our old obedience trainer told me to do. We did not stay with her. I did not like her training methods, but she is supposed to be accomplished and everything. Here is her website:keltierlang.com I am by no means an obedience expert, that's why I pay other people who are supposed to know what they are talking about. Apparently, some do and some don't.
Anyway, thanks for the tips.
When we switched kennels, I was still not happy with his recalls. So rather than correcting "come" I started teaching "front" as a brand new command. It's getting better.

 

[Alla Zilberg]

I don't. This is something our old obedience trainer told me to do. We did not stay with her. I did not like her training methods, but she is supposed to be accomplished and everything. Here is her website:keltierlang.com I am by no means an obedience expert, that's why I pay other people who are supposed to know what they are talking about. Apparently, some do and some don't.
Anyway, thanks for the tips.
When we switched kennels, I was still not happy with his recalls. So rather than correcting "come" I started teaching "front" as a brand new command. It's getting better.

You are welcome. Good luck in your training. You should keep an eye open for IPO seminars close by and attend those if you want precise and quick Obedience