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New CC owner to 8 month old stray needs help!

Hi all! It’s my first time posting - and it may be pretty lengthy. My husband and I back in July took in a stray/rescue. He was dumped By the marsh, and was taken in by a man (who i later found out threw bricks at his outside pen cause he wouldn’t stop crying, whining, and wanting attention), fast forward 2 weeks, my friend who rescues cats - brought him to her house because he wanted him gone and if she didn’t he would’ve gone to the shelter. He had a host of things wrong (Intestinal worms, lymes disease, not neutered, and heartworm positive ) and we were told he was about 3 years old and a mixed dog. We wanted to help this poor dude out so we took him in, so far have taken care of everything but heartworms (appt this Friday). When my vet took a look at him - she’s like oh - he’s just a puppy and looks to be a cane corso! Soooo... we ended up with a CC pup who has never been socialized, is afraid of any type of loud noise, and a mess. We have an 11 year old American bulldog mix who I can’t determine if he’s aggressive towards her (outside only- he’s fine with her in the house) but he bulldozes into her and when she corrects him he becomes more intense? I currently have him in training with a obedience trainer -behavior specialist. My issues? Besides the thing with our other dog, he nips at my arms or legs - the other day he got my side. when we are playing ball outside. He is crated during the day as we both work and he had chewed the couch already- He goes on daily walks in the morning, then when I get home from work, and at night we do a pack walk with our female (weather depending). He’s afraid of any type of loud noise or even rain - total shut down mode - won’t eat, won’t go potty etc.. and no matter what? He doesn’t sleep all through the night - no matter what we try, dark- quiet- crate covered-un covered, door open, door shut, tv on- tv off, white noise -air conditioner is always on. The crate is in the bedroom next to our bed so he can see my husband at least. He wakes up all hours- we have the same routine every day , pretty much same bedtime (around 10) and this guy will wake up at 12:30 or 2 or 4 - whatever mood suits him. We don’t get up with him or acknowledge that he’s crying (he eats dinner every night and goes potty before bed) - the only time he’s gotten a pass and me out of bed is if we had a thunderstorm and he wouldn’t do anything but bolt right into the house instead of going potty. I figured he needs to go potty (and he did). I seriously need help and we are desperate for sleep... he’s a good boy but needs some work. Anyone have any ideas? Thank you for reading - I know it was long. Just wanted to get the history out there.
 

Sheila Braund

Well-Known Member
Hi Momo,
Thanks for posting..... best to get all the information in.... there's many here for support and an amazing place for information on our mastiffs.... you've come to the right place. Sounds like you and your husband are very patient.... I have no experience with a CC, there are many here that are. Keep up the kind work you 2 are doing.... with the time and patience you should end up with an amazing companion, pack member.
 
Thanks for at least responding! We are trying ! Never expected to own an 8 month old CC and had no idea what we were in for. An 80 lb dog who nips when excited, plays with me like he does other dogs but without a play bow and doesn’t sleep. Sheesh!! He’s a lot!
 

glen

Super Moderator
Staff member
Welcome to the forum, and a huge thankyou for helping this beautiful breed,
Unfortunatly you know nothing of her first home experience, second although short wasnt pleasant, he doeant know how to act to get the right attention, they are a sensitive breed even though they are a big size.
He needs to build trust, he needs to learn respect, And needs to burn some energy, that doesnt necessarily mean physical exercise, is he food motivated, try kongs that you can put food in freeze it then give him it when hes going to be alone ect, i certainly wouldnt play with him if hes nipping, what do you do when he nips, my middle corso loves to play, hes 5 the more i play ball the more hyper he gets, then i van see it takes longer to chill down,
What food are you feeding,
For training is he toy motivated food motivated, how is he on leash ,
When is he happy . When is he calm .
Id start as if you were getting him as a young pup , back to basics, build trust together . You can do this . It will take time . No ones stuck around long enough in his short life for him to trust or want to change .
I have 3 male ccs , and if you could just answer some of the things iv asked it might help me get a better insight
Dont give up they sure are worth it
 
We do have Kong’s which he loves to play with but I get stuck on what to fill them with other then his treats- he’s not a big fan of his food so that’s be pointless to put that in it , when he nips (only does it outside) I tell him no and then try to ignore him - kind of hard when you have an 80 lb dog lurching at your arm, leg or side - I’ll try to get to his ball (depends where it is) to throw that to get him to focus on something other then me. Walking on the leash he pulls, but the trainer taught me how to hold it differently so I can control his speed keep his head up, and move him back with my leg if necessary. Right now he gets pedigree high protein wet food and alpo (I know I have to change the dry food but he’s picky so I have to start out with the small bags to see what he likes). He can do sit, down, and is getting longer with his “watch”.. yesterday I worked with him outside on a lead to recall to him name (was pretty good with it but ended up distracted by my neighbors roofing job and wanted to go in when he heard the loud bangs (major fear of banging noises outside of the house)
happiest is being allowed to run the yard not on a leash, and getting to sleep in bed with us (was the only way to stop his crying after 2 months of 2 am and 4 am wake ups). He tries to hard to be good - main issues seem to be around impulse control ..he’s a jumper when people come in.. though we have learned to put him on a leash and give him his “duckie” in his mouth in case he wants to nip like he did with my father in law..