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Main temperament changes once your Cane matures?

Hi MM, While I am not an expert in dog behavior, I have 7 Cane Corsi ranging in age from 10wks. to 4.5yrs. I have done Mastiff rescue for years and have owned various mastiff breeds for 15yrs, including a Boerboel, BM, Fila and now Corsi. My experience is just that (my experiences). I have found that my corsi and my boerboel were more similar in temp at maturity than my Filas and BM's. It takes a long time for a Corso to mature and you probably won't begin seeing those indicators until about a year old. Set precedents NOW. If you intend to always allow him on the beds and furniture, allow it now. If not, then don't allow it now. If certain areas will be off limits later the same applies. Little things like jumping up, digging, begging from the table are cute puppy behaviors. They're not so cute at 110lbs when he paws you for attention and those nails leave a scratch 5 inches long. LOL. The more bridges you cross with him now the better understanding you and him will have at puberty and the less challenges you'll face. My corsi tend to start testing me a little more (darting through doorways first, not obeying commands quickly, wandering further away from me when loose). Even though they know they're not supposed to bail out of the car and run next door, they try it anyway. Most of the indicators are rebellious childlike behaviors. I have one male that when he started into puberty he refused to stack in the show ring for my son anymore. We had a word of prayer away from the show ring that day and he went back in and took Reserve Winner's Dog. LOL. One of my males has started checking me from behind during play (my poor knees) LOL. He's 15mos. now and I've started some corrective obedience. We actually work him in bitework and up until now I still only used positive OB. They tend to become more dominant towards other dogs as they age, too. My females tend to be easier to handle as they go through puberty than my males. It's the totem pole thing. LOL. Around 12mos. you will start to see defensive behaviors that are more driven by confidence as opposed to the younger more fear motivated defensive behaviors. This will be the time you will want to praise defense behavior shown at the correct time and correct it when it's shown at an inappropriate time. I personally correct any defense behaviors shown prior to about 10mos. I do alot of positive motivation obedience when they're young so that the bond between us is really strong and as they age a harsh tone goes a long way in correcting unwanted behaviors. Socialization, socialization and more socialization with positive obedience when they're young will help you to get through puberty more than anything. Sorry this is so long. Your question is not a simple one as every dog is different. I tried to generalize as much as possible. If you'd like my opinion on anything specific just let me know. Good Luck with your baby, Jennifer
Replies (3)
    • What are the main changes that owners have experienced in their dogs once they enter into maturity and out grow their puppy stage? I will be getting my puppy in July and just wanted to know how the personality of the dog changes as he gets older. Thanks in advance. MM.
      • Hi MM, While I am not an expert in dog behavior, I have 7 Cane Corsi ranging in age from 10wks. to 4.5yrs. I have done Mastiff rescue for years and have owned various mastiff breeds for 15yrs, including a Boerboel, BM, Fila and now Corsi. My experience is just that (my experiences). I have found that my corsi and my boerboel were more similar in temp at maturity than my Filas and BM's. It takes a long time for a Corso to mature and you probably won't begin seeing those indicators until about a year old. Set precedents NOW. If you intend to always allow him on the beds and furniture, allow it now. If not, then don't allow it now. If certain areas will be off limits later the same applies. Little things like jumping up, digging, begging from the table are cute puppy behaviors. They're not so cute at 110lbs when he paws you for attention and those nails leave a scratch 5 inches long. LOL. The more bridges you cross with him now the better understanding you and him will have at puberty and the less challenges you'll face. My corsi tend to start testing me a little more (darting through doorways first, not obeying commands quickly, wandering further away from me when loose). Even though they know they're not supposed to bail out of the car and run next door, they try it anyway. Most of the indicators are rebellious childlike behaviors. I have one male that when he started into puberty he refused to stack in the show ring for my son anymore. We had a word of prayer away from the show ring that day and he went back in and took Reserve Winner's Dog. LOL. One of my males has started checking me from behind during play (my poor knees) LOL. He's 15mos. now and I've started some corrective obedience. We actually work him in bitework and up until now I still only used positive OB. They tend to become more dominant towards other dogs as they age, too. My females tend to be easier to handle as they go through puberty than my males. It's the totem pole thing. LOL. Around 12mos. you will start to see defensive behaviors that are more driven by confidence as opposed to the younger more fear motivated defensive behaviors. This will be the time you will want to praise defense behavior shown at the correct time and correct it when it's shown at an inappropriate time. I personally correct any defense behaviors shown prior to about 10mos. I do alot of positive motivation obedience when they're young so that the bond between us is really strong and as they age a harsh tone goes a long way in correcting unwanted behaviors. Socialization, socialization and more socialization with positive obedience when they're young will help you to get through puberty more than anything. Sorry this is so long. Your question is not a simple one as every dog is different. I tried to generalize as much as possible. If you'd like my opinion on anything specific just let me know. Good Luck with your baby, Jennifer
        • Thanks so much for the reply. There was lots of useful information there. I may hit you up at a latter date with some more questions as well if you don't mind. Thanks again, MM.
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