Corso Owner Curious about the TM

[SavingGrace]

Hey all, I"ve wanted a TM ever since I saw the breed. We have been long time Corso owners, but I've always been curious about the TM. I've heard - they are crazy protective. One of my trainers had a client with a TM and told me a story. Her client had a TM that whenever a stranger walked into their house, the TM would walk that stranger into a corner of the house and sit and wait for a "Yay" or "Nay" command, without training for that. Once it was known "yay" the TM would relax, but until then, the stranger would sit, in the corner, waiting for the dog to be released. Just wanted to check if that's a norm of the breed or exceptional. I know a lot of it comes down to nature and how the pup is trained/treated etc. but wanted to hear from some TM owners about overall temperament.

PS - the TM at the national dog show this year was beautiful! Should've won at least something!

 

[ruthcatrin]

Quick summery:

TMs have been bred to GUARD, for alot longer than many of the other mastiff breds have even been around. And they've been bred to do that GUARDING without any human input or training. TMs will react to threat, and deal with it, without regard to what their master might want because thats what they DO. They're also a primitive breed which, when combined with the GUARD AND PROTECT instinct, makes them, um, "interesting" to train and work with. They're smart, and problem solve on their own.

In the case of the TM you're talking about, it probly started on accident. The TM probly tried to back down a new person in the house only to be told by their owner that "its ok", at which point the TM backed off, and was likely told he was a good boy who did good. From there the rest of it came naturally.

Temperment: highly independant and stubborn (and trust me, the CC has nothing on a stubborn TM), highly intelligent, generally aloof with strangers (once they decide said stranger isn't a threat) with the hardest tempered of the breed being outright stranger aggressive, not much for cuddling except, of course, on their terms. They can be escape artists, highly distructive, and surprisingly athletic, when they want to be.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Mooshi's mummy and I did a run down here: Thinking about my next breed and would likes some opinions...

And I'd also suggest reading here: http://tibetanmastiffinfo.com/

 

[SavingGrace]

Those are great links, lots of information! Our first Corso was much more of a guard dog than our current. Honestly, I never slept better than with her on the floor at my feet. She had the true guard dog instinct and it was nice when I was home alone. However, because we have a variety of friends and relatives 'stopping by' frequently, our second Corso is much more adapt to strangers. Within the same environment, would a TM generally become accustom to strangers? I know a lot of it is the temperament of the dog, but I've heard many things about this breed not adapting quite as easily to strangers. Our Eurasier, part of his breed, is aloof towards strangers without being aggressive. He is a known 'watch dog' which he's great at, but has no guarding instinct in him (maybe if threatened) and that's fine. Can the TM, through much socialization be trained that randoms through the house are ok?

 

[ruthcatrin]

It varies so much from dog to dog....but.....

Apollo is a fairly soft TM. He was bottle fed as a pup and it makes a difference. Once he decides you're not a threat chances are good he'll like you well enough to let you pet him. At home or in public. BUT that doesn't mean that he allws people to just walk in either. Especially if we're not home. He does get stressed if we have alot of people in and out though. Now having said that we put alot of work into getting him to accept my inlaws, and they CAN walk in, uninvited,even if we're not home. But no one else can. Even if he knows them.