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Introducing a New Puppy to an Older Cane Corso

I have an 18-month-old male Cane Corso (not neutered)  We also have an 8-year-old English Bulldog (neutered).  I attempted to bring home an 8 week old male Cane Corso and it went awful.  Ruger tried to grab him, growled the whole time, went after him, hair standing straight up the entire day. Would this have been different if I had gotten a female?  What can I do to make this better?  My Old bulldog was the Alpha and he is the only one Ruger will play with, he is dog aggressive on every other dog.  We live in the boonies so other dogs are not a real problem.  Should I get a different breed of puppy?  Get an older puppy?  I’m lost.  Thank you!!!

Jenn

Hi Jenn,

If he’s already living with a mature male dog my first thought is rather then tapping into some innate dislike of other dogs you’ve tapped into a Cane Corso’s (and many other dogs for that matter) innate dislike of the sudden appearance on their own territory of another dog. It’s always better to do these things on neutral territory. Neutral territory doesn’t mean anywhere that’s not home either. Dogs that are territorial can perceive areas that they regularly visit as “their” territory and react similarly.

On the other hand, you also write that other dogs are not a real problem as you “live in the boonies”, and yet “he is dog aggressive with every other dog” so I’m not quite sure what to make of that without further details.

For what it’s worth when choosing a second dog I have found picking a dog of the other gender often works out better but also picking another dog with opposite inclinations as far as the desire to be top dog influences as well.

Here’s a “devil’s advocate” article I wrote about getting a second dog that’s worth a read before making those decisions – Second Dog – Good Idea Or Not?

– John

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