ASK THE DOG GUY
Dog Training Questions & Answers
That Embrace Both Science & Common Sense
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Who is Ask The Dog Guy? What does embracing science and common sense mean? Find out here.
Recent Q & A's And Articles
John "Ask the Dog Guy" Wade
Beware The Amateur Companion Puppy and Dog Trainer
It is a sad reality that with companion dog ownership at its highest, very few companion dog owners (or veterinarians, vet techs, breeders, rescues etc.) have been exposed to companion puppy and dog training associated with legitimately applicable behavior-science. What is being marketed to companion puppy and dog owners (veterinarians, vet techs, breeders, rescues etc.) as ‘science’-based training is almost always at best, loosely based and more often than not, cherry-picked aspects of scientific research that were never intended to be applied in the teaching of companion dog home and outing life-skills. In the controlled settings of an agility ring or obedience ring – yes (to a certain extent). For home and outing life-skills, a hard emphatic NO!
Age To Start A Cane Corso In Agility
FWIW, I don’t recommend agility for a Cane Corso. It’s not the activity, it’s the exposure to other dogs and people in a competitive off-leash setting, combined with the guarding genetics that can really catch Cane Corso owners off-guard somewhere between their Cane Corso hitting 18 months and 3 years of age. Particularly the males.
When Is The Best Time To Begin Puppy Training?
The earlier, the better is the short and simple answer. It depends is more accurate.
Puppy training falls into two entirely separate categories.
1. Obedience
The Forming Of A Stable Temperament During Critical Imprint Period (Three to Twelve Weeks of Age +/- 1 week.)
How you move forward depends on two things:
1. It depends on your dog’s breeder investment in your puppy before you picked up.
2. It depends on who you hire to guide your puppy’s obedience training.
Cane Corso Aggressive Towards Elderly People Only
Thor (Cane Corso) does not care for elderly people in the least though, and I, along with a couple of trainers, do not know why or what it is. You can usually tie a behavior towards a specific set of people towards things that happened in the past, but we got him at 12 weeks. He has always had a dislike of the elderly, (people 70 plus) and I am thrown by this.
Finding A Great Cane Corso Breeder And Avoiding Cane Corso And Other ‘Greeders’
The sad truth for North American companion dog owners and dogs is all that is required to be a dog breeder is the ability to distinguish between a male and a female dog and the vast majority know this and very little else. Some know a bit more but perhaps one in a hundred really do the job correctly. Even sadder is these cream of the crop breeders are being buried by the ‘greeders’ and deserve far more credit than they receive. I will do a more thorough ‘pawdcast’ on good breeding practices to look for when you’re looking for a dog if enough interest develops.
Here are some tips about finding a knowledgeable breeder and the sorts of things that mean it’s a knowledgeable breeder.
The person that wrote the letter was looking for a Cane Corso Breeder but much of what follows is applicable to finding a breeder of any breed.
This video isn’t by any means intended to be a complete guide regarding finding a good breeder but it does provide some eye-opening considerations on why so few breeders should be breeding dogs along with a few tips on how to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Some breeds are mini-vans and some breeds are Ferraris. The Cane Corso is no-minivan. For those thinking of purchasing the breed or have one and are having some difficulties, this link leads to a considerable amount of free Q&A’s additional information on the Cane Corso breed specifically: