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Paranoid CC puppy owner

RY86

Member
Hello everyone, I was hoping to ask other forum members about puppy play. My little Cane Corso is 15 wks old now. We watch over him very close when it comes to things like not getting up on the couch, not jumping up on people, no stairs on his own etc. However there has been two occurrence where our pup has snuck his way up on the sofa. When we tell him “off” and I walk towards him he has jumped off the sofa. From everything I’ve read online about raising a mastiff they say that permanent damage could be done to the puppy at a young age. Both times that I’ve seen him jump down he is fine, no limping no crying...... just Dad(me) running over to him to check him over to make sure he is alright. We also have a 6 yr old Boxer in our home as well. Her name is Karma, I have to give it to Karma she puts up with the puppy constantly being in her face nipping and barking at her. My little Cane Corso Major likes to play rough with Karma. I don’t mind if they lightly play but if things get too intense We are quick to stop them and calm them down. I don’t want to do any long term damage to my little guy at a young age. Am I being to paranoid?? I take him for a 10-15 minute long walk up our street everyday, trying to get him used to sights, sounds, people etc. This is all on Asphalt, I also take him to a park right around the corner from our house and walk him there on the grass. I’ve read allot about mastiff puppies and how frigile they are, I do throw a ball well at the park which he loves to catch and bring back. I just don’t want to do any damage to our little pup. Am I just being an over protective dog owner? Is it ok to let him go up and down “steps” like the entrance to my house? Is it alright to walk him on asphalt? I don’t run with him or allow him to run on asphalt. Grass I would let him chase his ball, but even that he does slowly.


Any insight or advice would be tremendously appreciated

Thank you
 

DQNASTY

Member
you definitely need to walk/exercise longer then 10-15 min a day. i would try to get a good hour in the a.m. and a hour and a half in the evening. they need lots of exercise from what ive learned. its ok to let him run and to run and play with you would be awesome for both of you.:)
 

Smokeycat

Well-Known Member
The two things I went by for walks were: 1. 5 minutes for each month of age for the duration of each walk and 2. Never walk farther away than you are willing to carry him. Even now when Kryten has decided he's had a long enough walk he will just stop and lie down. It certainly makes people laugh.
Mastiff puppies are fragile but then so are all puppies when they are rapidly growing. It just is a longer period of time for the bigger dogs. Controlled steps are important for them to learn I think. My guy was doing the front and deck steps when I got him at 11 weeks. I just made sure he took them slowly.
As for 2 dogs playing I just monitored and if things were getting rough or too boisterous then I would start a training session to calm things down. My older dog is a perpetual puppy and to be honest he was/is usually the problem
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
1 hour walk in the morning and 1.5 hour walk in the evening??? Are you kidding??? Wow. Our dog has NEVER has needed that much exercise.
If you're suggesting this is PLAY time not formal walks... sure... but let the puppy be your guide.

If you have a place where they can be off-leash, you'll know when they've had enough - the puppy will just lay down and take a breather... hopefully you can entice them for a short walk home, but the saying "never walk a mastiff further than you can carry them home" is a mastiff saying for a reason! :)

A four month old puppy should not be subjected to an hour of constant walking on pavement, either. At that age, you want plenty of free-form movement, not repetitive stress. The 10-15 minutes on asphalt is fine, followed by some free-form play on grass is great. Sounds all good, to me! A few steps here and there are good for learning how to manage them and get the muscles built, too - just encourage the puppy to take them slowly and not 'launch' himself off the the bottom few. Find all sorts of different surfaces to introduce your puppy to - if there's a kids big toy in the park with a hanging walkway, that's a great thing to have your puppy learn how to navigate. The more different surfaces the better... asphalt, gravel, grass, dirt, sand, wood, etc.

Also, the playing with the boxer should be fine, too... as you're doing it now, step in when they get too excited our rambunctious. It's your house, they get to play by your rules!
 

DQNASTY

Member
1 hour walk in the morning and 1.5 hour walk in the evening??? Are you kidding??? Wow. Our dog has NEVER has needed that much exercise.
If you're suggesting this is PLAY time not formal walks... sure... but let the puppy be your guide.

If you have a place where they can be off-leash, you'll know when they've had enough - the puppy will just lay down and take a breather... hopefully you can entice them for a short walk home, but the saying "never walk a mastiff further than you can carry them home" is a mastiff saying for a reason! :)

A four month old puppy should not be subjected to an hour of constant walking on pavement, either. At that age, you want plenty of free-form movement, not repetitive stress. The 10-15 minutes on asphalt is fine, followed by some free-form play on grass is great. Sounds all good, to me! A few steps here and there are good for learning how to manage them and get the muscles built, too - just encourage the puppy to take them slowly and not 'launch' himself off the the bottom few. Find all sorts of different surfaces to introduce your puppy to - if there's a kids big toy in the park with a hanging walkway, that's a great thing to have your puppy learn how to navigate. The more different surfaces the better... asphalt, gravel, grass, dirt, sand, wood, etc.

Also, the playing with the boxer should be fine, too... as you're doing it now, step in when they get too excited our rambunctious. It's your house, they get to play by your rules!
I wasnt kidding. id get up and take him out for an hour before id leave for work he goes to the bathroom and walks around plays etc. in the evening same thing but we have more time to walk, socialize, play or chill but hes outside . he seemed to like the routine and still does and has no issues.
 

Courtney H

Well-Known Member
Puppies have a lot of energy and it’s important to let them play and exercise. I was careful with my dogs when they were puppies because I was nervous about joint damage. We have a big yard so they run and play in the yard. Always keep a close eye on them in general, but especially when they are playing with another dog. If my pup started getting too out of hand I would say, “easy” and slow them down. Walking a puppy on asphalt is fine, just don’t go crazy. 10-15 minutes should suffice. I wouldn’t let them jump off the couch, but if they do it once...don’t panic. As long as they don’t cry or limp they are ok. Adequate rest is equally important. I also rubbed my dog’s joint area while they were growing. I just remember when I was a kid, I had horrible “growing pains” and my mom would rub my legs and it felt better! Not sure if dogs experience that or not, but it couldn’t hurt, right? (P.S. I am a crazy dog mom lol)
 

CiCi

New Member
Wow I guess I never really gave it that much thought (timing walks and such). This is my first Mastiff but not my first large dog but I've just gone by what he tells me in terms of what he can handle and I don't go for really long walks and limit jumping and rough play. Capone is now going on 7 months and is doing great but I am still careful. I'm lucky to be able to work from home so his play is spread out throughout the day which also makes it easier. I have noticed his energy level increasing as he grows so I might need to be a little more cautious to get his energy out without overdoing it.

Snow days with his sister seems to now be his favorite activity although 15 minutes of that and now he's passed out snoring at my feet :)

 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone, I was hoping to ask other forum members about puppy play. My little Cane Corso is 15 wks old now. We watch over him very close when it comes to things like not getting up on the couch, not jumping up on people, no stairs on his own etc. However there has been two occurrence where our pup has snuck his way up on the sofa. When we tell him “off” and I walk towards him he has jumped off the sofa. From everything I’ve read online about raising a mastiff they say that permanent damage could be done to the puppy at a young age. Both times that I’ve seen him jump down he is fine, no limping no crying...... just Dad(me) running over to him to check him over to make sure he is alright. We also have a 6 yr old Boxer in our home as well. Her name is Karma, I have to give it to Karma she puts up with the puppy constantly being in her face nipping and barking at her. My little Cane Corso Major likes to play rough with Karma. I don’t mind if they lightly play but if things get too intense We are quick to stop them and calm them down. I don’t want to do any long term damage to my little guy at a young age. Am I being to paranoid?? I take him for a 10-15 minute long walk up our street everyday, trying to get him used to sights, sounds, people etc. This is all on Asphalt, I also take him to a park right around the corner from our house and walk him there on the grass. I’ve read allot about mastiff puppies and how frigile they are, I do throw a ball well at the park which he loves to catch and bring back. I just don’t want to do any damage to our little pup. Am I just being an over protective dog owner? Is it ok to let him go up and down “steps” like the entrance to my house? Is it alright to walk him on asphalt? I don’t run with him or allow him to run on asphalt. Grass I would let him chase his ball, but even that he does slowly.


Any insight or advice would be tremendously appreciated

Thank you

I wasn't planning on doing IPO training at all. But found out real quick that Corso's are much different from their French cousins. One thing you can do that we did, was began to train her every day for around 15 minutes indoors plus a short walk right after. I find that she loves to work, loves to learn and be told what to do. I started with a competition style heel everyday for the first month using turkey dogs as lures. Inbetween each heel is a play break for moments with the treat or toy. I think out of all the mastiff's Corso dogs are the best trainee's and you find many of them doing IPO work.

So now when she jumps up (often), or wants to mouth or has a zoomy session, I redirect her into a place, then heel and she loves it. From mouthing, she automatically redirects to her antler bone that has been a lifesaver.
 

Nik

Well-Known Member
I wasn't planning on doing IPO training at all. But found out real quick that Corso's are much different from their French cousins. One thing you can do that we did, was began to train her every day for around 15 minutes indoors plus a short walk right after. I find that she loves to work, loves to learn and be told what to do. I started with a competition style heel everyday for the first month using turkey dogs as lures. Inbetween each heel is a play break for moments with the treat or toy. I think out of all the mastiff's Corso dogs are the best trainee's and you find many of them doing IPO work.

So now when she jumps up (often), or wants to mouth or has a zoomy session, I redirect her into a place, then heel and she loves it. From mouthing, she automatically redirects to her antler bone that has been a lifesaver.

Steven -

I am so curious about your experience with corsos versus DDB (the french cousin)? I actually have two mastiff mixes and one is a Corso mix (though she has much more boxer in her) and the other is a DDB mix (1/2 DDB). They have extremely different personalities but I attributed a lot of that to just them as individuals. So I am really curious to hear about your experiences to see how much is breed related versus simply them being individuals.

I can tell you my DDB mix is the smartest dog I have ever owned. And I have had bright dogs but Diesel is just ridiculously smart. Kahlua (the corso mix) is not dumb but she (s0 far) just isn't at his level for intelligence. He learns things nearly instantly but mostly hides what he has learned until it suits him. She is more eager to please which makes training easier but it also takes a longer time to learn what we want. That isn't to say she is slow. She is still pretty sharp but Diesel's level of perception and intelligence is like nothing I have experienced with a dog before (so is his stubborness). Diesel is more protective of me then Kahlua. But, Kahlua is more wary and distrusting of strangers and strange dogs.

Kahlua can relax easier than Diesel. She has no problem lounging with us. Diesel always feels like he has to be on the job and alert so getting him to just settle and relax is nearly impossible.

Anyways I could go on and on but you just sparked my curiosity when you mentioned the difference between them so I'd love to hear your experiences w the DDB vs the CC.
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
Steven -

I am so curious about your experience with corsos versus DDB (the french cousin)? I actually have two mastiff mixes and one is a Corso mix (though she has much more boxer in her) and the other is a DDB mix (1/2 DDB). They have extremely different personalities but I attributed a lot of that to just them as individuals. So I am really curious to hear about your experiences to see how much is breed related versus simply them being individuals.

I can tell you my DDB mix is the smartest dog I have ever owned. And I have had bright dogs but Diesel is just ridiculously smart. Kahlua (the corso mix) is not dumb but she (s0 far) just isn't at his level for intelligence. He learns things nearly instantly but mostly hides what he has learned until it suits him. She is more eager to please which makes training easier but it also takes a longer time to learn what we want. That isn't to say she is slow. She is still pretty sharp but Diesel's level of perception and intelligence is like nothing I have experienced with a dog before (so is his stubborness). Diesel is more protective of me then Kahlua. But, Kahlua is more wary and distrusting of strangers and strange dogs.

Kahlua can relax easier than Diesel. She has no problem lounging with us. Diesel always feels like he has to be on the job and alert so getting him to just settle and relax is nearly impossible.

Anyways I could go on and on but you just sparked my curiosity when you mentioned the difference between them so I'd love to hear your experiences w the DDB vs the CC.


For us there were many similarities but also some great differences. After the Bordeaux I didn't want another Bordeaux although he was amazing, loving, smart and protective. Hated all other men and loved women. Always respectful of anyone I spoke to male or female, he would stand there and be quiet unless there was a threat. Nothing bothered him unless he felt it was a danger, he ignored all other dogs unless they postured him, then he would pee on them. Was agile but not IPO agile, off leash would never wander more than 20 feet from me. He was a 125- 135 pound beautiful Bordeaux, lived 9 years. One of the reasons for not wanting another Bordeaux was the risk of very short life spans, very often under 5. We had to repaint certain areas in the house much more often do to the drool.

We looked for a more agile trainable breed of mastiff. We found that the smaller Italian Corso dogs were more driven so we searched specifically for that and found a breeder with Italian lines from Russia. The US is very focused on big, although beautiful but hurts the ability of super agility imo. We also found that female Corso were much easier to train from different breeders so I found a female and she has been the hardest puppy I have ever owned. Her drive is insane, she chews 24/7 and is a whiner. She barks more than the Bordeaux but still not a lot, great trait of Mastiffs low barking in comparison to GSD types. The thing is that I learned to channel the drive into training and she is every bit trainable as any police dog out there. The only complaint I have with her training is her speed going into an arc or heel and rear end control also training outdoors if tough with the horrendous distractions of anything.

Because of the extreme drive she wants to chase people so we are working through that now, correcting with a Sprenger prong collar. Although smaller max 90 pounds, she shakes the ground with her amazing fast and powerful speed.

So bottom line is we see a lot of the Bordeaux traits in her that are probably in all Mastiffs. The Corso has me working full time to keep her happy, the Bordeaux needed minimal exercise, simple walking would do the trick.
 
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