Hi,
I have a 6 month old male Corso who I've had since he was 8 weeks. He's doing great. About a month ago I adopted a rescue corso. Bella is 3, she was used as a breeder and bred on every cycle. She had litter after litter and when she didn't take on her last cycle, her owners dumped her at a high kill shelter. They even put that on her paperwork if you can believe it! So, 2 things.
1. Bella is skin and bones. She has been spayed and fully vetted. HW neg, no internal parasites. Problem is that she is totally not interested in dog food. I feed a grain free food, Taste of the Wild. I've used Blue Buffalo, Wilderness and even tried Iams Lamb and Rice. She acts like she's starving, takes a bite or 2 and wanders off. She is, however, a complete hound with table food. I have not caved and I will not. I don't believe in table food for dogs and I'm not going down that road. But I have to figure out a way to get this dog to eat! Any suggestions? I got some canned food to add to dry and it helped mildly but not really. She will inhale anything she can get to off your plate or the counters. Needless to say, I'm working on that lol.
2. Bella and Jagger(puppy) are in serious love. They play and play and I'm amazed at how Bella handles him. She is, for now dominant with him, but she will also lay down and let him pounce on her to make it even. They race around like morons, it's awesome to watch. They are both in obedience classes and remarkable, she has been pushed up to the more advanced class. She is doing some of the agility course already! She is attached to me like crazy and extremely responsive to all commands. She does have a few fears but nothing drastic. She's a little stranger shy and will bark but once she knows it's ok, she's fine. She will cower if she thinks she's in trouble. I am taking her everywhere, working on socialization. She is fine with other dogs if they aren't nasty to her. ANYWAY, that was the background. So, the question. Over the last few days I have noticed the play sessions with her and Jagger turning a little nasty. They get super reved up, they will play tug of war, share toys and go back and forth but then it seems that Jagger gets almost frustrated at Bella for yanking on him. They end up in a squabble and Jagger slinks off. They stop the minute I say a word and drop to a sit. My gut is telling me that Jagger is just having a toddler temper tantrum. Bella doesn't hurt him but won't tolerate it. Outside, they just race around but it's happened in the house a few times. Jagger always comes back for more and it starts as a game again. I'd say 95% of the time all is fine. They both get daily training, alone and together. I'm here with them 90% of the day. I rotate who comes with me when I go out. I have put Jagger in his crate if things get to rowdy and start to get out of hand. He usually flops down and starts snoring and Bella curls up next to his crate and does the same. She does not have a crate because she panics and completely destroyed the one she was in when in rescue care. She just started to go into Jagger's crate so I think she will eventually have her own. These squabbles don't seem to be crate related jealousy. Any suggestions? Do I let them work it out? Intervene? Jagger is not neutered but will be shortly. He's a love bug by the way, loves everybody and everything equally and I have put a huge effort into his socialization and training from the start. The dog trainer said he is the best corso she has ever met in terms of sweetness, confidence and responsiveness. No aggression in any other way. No blood, scratches or anything else from squabbles more noise than anything but they both get up on back legs and that's when the trouble starts. I have started,to stop them before they get to that point now. Let me know what you think! Oh, and YES I know adopting her was probably not the greatest idea with a young puppy BUT it was me or death and no way I was letting that happen to this sweet thing!
I have a 6 month old male Corso who I've had since he was 8 weeks. He's doing great. About a month ago I adopted a rescue corso. Bella is 3, she was used as a breeder and bred on every cycle. She had litter after litter and when she didn't take on her last cycle, her owners dumped her at a high kill shelter. They even put that on her paperwork if you can believe it! So, 2 things.
1. Bella is skin and bones. She has been spayed and fully vetted. HW neg, no internal parasites. Problem is that she is totally not interested in dog food. I feed a grain free food, Taste of the Wild. I've used Blue Buffalo, Wilderness and even tried Iams Lamb and Rice. She acts like she's starving, takes a bite or 2 and wanders off. She is, however, a complete hound with table food. I have not caved and I will not. I don't believe in table food for dogs and I'm not going down that road. But I have to figure out a way to get this dog to eat! Any suggestions? I got some canned food to add to dry and it helped mildly but not really. She will inhale anything she can get to off your plate or the counters. Needless to say, I'm working on that lol.
2. Bella and Jagger(puppy) are in serious love. They play and play and I'm amazed at how Bella handles him. She is, for now dominant with him, but she will also lay down and let him pounce on her to make it even. They race around like morons, it's awesome to watch. They are both in obedience classes and remarkable, she has been pushed up to the more advanced class. She is doing some of the agility course already! She is attached to me like crazy and extremely responsive to all commands. She does have a few fears but nothing drastic. She's a little stranger shy and will bark but once she knows it's ok, she's fine. She will cower if she thinks she's in trouble. I am taking her everywhere, working on socialization. She is fine with other dogs if they aren't nasty to her. ANYWAY, that was the background. So, the question. Over the last few days I have noticed the play sessions with her and Jagger turning a little nasty. They get super reved up, they will play tug of war, share toys and go back and forth but then it seems that Jagger gets almost frustrated at Bella for yanking on him. They end up in a squabble and Jagger slinks off. They stop the minute I say a word and drop to a sit. My gut is telling me that Jagger is just having a toddler temper tantrum. Bella doesn't hurt him but won't tolerate it. Outside, they just race around but it's happened in the house a few times. Jagger always comes back for more and it starts as a game again. I'd say 95% of the time all is fine. They both get daily training, alone and together. I'm here with them 90% of the day. I rotate who comes with me when I go out. I have put Jagger in his crate if things get to rowdy and start to get out of hand. He usually flops down and starts snoring and Bella curls up next to his crate and does the same. She does not have a crate because she panics and completely destroyed the one she was in when in rescue care. She just started to go into Jagger's crate so I think she will eventually have her own. These squabbles don't seem to be crate related jealousy. Any suggestions? Do I let them work it out? Intervene? Jagger is not neutered but will be shortly. He's a love bug by the way, loves everybody and everything equally and I have put a huge effort into his socialization and training from the start. The dog trainer said he is the best corso she has ever met in terms of sweetness, confidence and responsiveness. No aggression in any other way. No blood, scratches or anything else from squabbles more noise than anything but they both get up on back legs and that's when the trouble starts. I have started,to stop them before they get to that point now. Let me know what you think! Oh, and YES I know adopting her was probably not the greatest idea with a young puppy BUT it was me or death and no way I was letting that happen to this sweet thing!
