Cane Corso

Tia – 2-3 year old female Cane Corso

Tia sleeps most of the time, its her favourite pastime. She has 2 places that she sleeps and that’s either in the crate with the door open (she takes herself in there for some piece and quiet but will also go in if asked to). Her other sleeping place is under the window on a duvet and she doesn’t mind her friends coming to join her there. Of course there is one other place she will sleep and that’s at your feet … just close enough to be touching. At night she has no problem sleeping on her own and will not ask to be taken out for toilet until 9am if you want to leave it that long.

Eating

Tias main diet is kibble and raw tripe twice a day. She is not very adventurous with her eating and we have tried raw chicken but she just licked it and didn’t eat it. She is a very slow eater and doesn’t always finish what she is given. Sometimes if disturbed while eating like if someone enters the room, then she may stop eating altogether and not go back to it. She is not bothered by hands near her bowl or other dogs and is just likely to walk away from the food. Tia likes her treats, mainly just plain dog biscuit and can catch a them from a distance if she knows they are coming her way. Although Tia likes treats indoors, she really is not bothered outside so not very useful as a training tool.

Tia does drool while food is being made up and sometimes when in a room with others eating but doesn’t at other times. She will beg for human food but will go away if asked to and wont return to beg. She hasn’t stolen left out food when people are around but would take it if left unattended.

What Tia likes

Tia like the simple things in life, she likes to have her butt rubbed and will stand next to you for as long as you are willing to do it. She likes to sit at your feet and be stroked and tickled under the chin. She likes to be hugged from behind or the side but not from in front. She likes to be talked to and praised a lot.

Tia Likes routine. If you walk her at the same time each day then she will be ready and bouncing before you have even looked at the clock to check the time. She can tell by which shoes you put on if its walk time, which means bounce, or you are going out, which means go into crate. She likes to know where you are and will follow from room to room but not really that worried if you leave the room while she is sleeping, she wont come looking for you. If you go upstairs she may wait at the bottom and whimper a little … Tia doesn’t go upstairs, she has never tried and I have never encouraged it. She has also never tried to get on sofas or chairs which is a good thing as her spatial awareness is terrible, she is a very clumsy girl.

Tia likes to roll in grass but only when its dry. In dry weather as soon as she gets to a bit of grass she will dive for it and roll and rub … and not because of wanting to roll in something nasty like some dogs do.

Tia likes her friends JD (GS x Collie x Flatcoat male) and Lottie (female Staffie) and our cat. She took a few weeks to get used to the dogs that visit the house and go out walking with her but the cat she took no notice of right from the start and ignores cats out of the house too.

One thing that can be off-putting to people that meet Tia is that she likes to sniff people and things. I don’t mean just a gentle sniff from a little distance, I mean reeeally sniff. She will plant her nose pushed right up against you and sniff. She will try to sniff your face, which because of her size can really put people off. She will even want to repeat the sniffing routine on people she knows if they have left the house for a few hours … shoes and trousers have to be sniffed to see where you have been.

Tia likes ‘her people’ and gets attached to normally one or two at a push and does worry if they leave her over night in the care of others…. She will pine and look out the window for their return and may not eat.

Training

As far as commands Tia knows sit, down , stand up from sit. She also knows ‘back’ and will walk backward. ‘Off you go’ is used to tell her to go away if she is begging for food ‘all gone’ is used for when the last treat is given. Tia picks up commands quickly and I’m sure she will learn if different ones are used to replace mine.

Walking

Tia use a Dogmatic and a harness (two leads joined together, one on each), when out walking and long training line when offlead. She likes to walk with just one main person and if the lead is passed to another person then she will stop walking and refuse to move. She will also stop when she has had enough walking or her hips are uncomfortable. You also know its time to turn back when she starts limping or dragging her back leg but we try not to get to that point … 45 minutes to and hour is about max for her. She will walk further if walking with other dogs she knows and also will walk further on soft ground than on path or roads again I think this is because its uncomfortable on her hips. She doesn’t pull on the lead unless she sees another dog and plods along at a steady pace. She is curious about cats when out but doesn’t chase them when she can see it’s a cat and not a dog. Tia does like to stop and stare at the cows in the field or anything new until she can work out what it is.

Unknown dogs and some other things she meets while out can be an issue for Tia and is explained further under Social skills & What Tia dislikes below.

Social skills

Tia walks well with dogs she knows and is not too bad with unknown dogs walking behind or parallel to her but face on with unknown dogs she is not so good. On seeing unknown dogs face to face Tia will start by whimpering and then pulling toward them (she is very strong and that’s why the harness together with the dogmatic has helped). As they pass her noise will get louder and the pulling stronger until they have gone out of sight. We have been working on passing other dogs and tend to stop and try and get her attention and face her away from the other dog until they have passed. We have some notes from a recommended trainer that Tia has seen and we are following her advice … work is ongoing.

Tia is not at the point of being offlead with unknown dogs as yet but does like to go in a field with her friends JD and Lottie. They have taught her through their play that dogs may bounce and play loudly and bark but this does not always mean aggression which at first she thought was the case. They have tried to include Tia in their games but Tia does not totally understand what her role is and has trouble keeping up with their speed.

Play

Tia doesn’t do play. Doesn’t understand balls or rope toys or Frisbee … we have tried and tried to get her interested but she has no interest as all indoors or outside. When JD and Lottie play in the house she sometimes tries to join in by big tigger bounces but that tends to terrify them as she normally ends up landing on them.

What Tia dislikes

Tia has a few things she dislikes/ is unsure and nervous of raised arms or fast movement in the house is one of them. She is getting better with this but it is something to be aware of. Sometimes she has an issue with some people (usually men) talking to her handler while out. Again it is something to be aware of as a simple ‘good morning’ from someone when passing can result in Tia giving a loud bark and a lunge … I now make sure I am between Tia and anyone passing especially in lanes or on narrow paths.

The same thing can happen with people pushing a pushchair coming toward her or carrying a stick or brolly… again give Tia distance when possible. Fast bicycles coming from in front or behind without warning is another thing we have been working on especially if they are wearing hi vis clothing AND say ‘good morning’.

Tia is not bothered by people knocking on the door and doesn’t tend to bark … maybe the odd pathetic one … and will hide behind you if strangers come into the house … so not a great guard dog in that way.

Health

Tia has not had the best of luck with health. When she arrived she had kennel cough, ear mites, sores on her hips, poor muscle tone in her back end, cherry eye and underweight. The kennel cough has left her with an occasional cough which is not a problem but being aware of this useful. The muscle tone and weakness in her back legs has improved immensely but on vet checks it looks like she has arthritis in the hip so she will never be a marathon walker/runner but if she doesn’t over do things, she remains comfortable without medication. Tia had an op to neuter and repair her cherry eye but sadly after a couple of months it has returned. Tia does get skin sores from time to time, with little lumps under the skin that itch and drive her into rubbing around the floor…. I keep them as clean and dry as possible and they clear. The other thing to be aware of is what we call her ‘gurgle tum’. Every couple of weeks or so she has a very noisy gurgle tummy and when this happens she will want to eat grass and no other food. It normally lasts about half a day and she doesn’t seem upset or uncomfortable with it she just goes back to normal as soon as the gurgle stops. We have tried adding more veg to the diet but she refuses to eat them.

Oh and her weight is now 52kg.

Tia – 2-3 year old female Cane Corso

Tia has just landed with us and has been placed in the very south of England, she is neutered. Tia has very few notes at the moment as she was only recently pulled from the pound, but landed in a home with ten other dogs and two small children! She’s proved a very calm and easy-going girl so far and we look forward to bringing you more news as she develops!

Tia is having surgery for a condition called ‘Cherry eye’ soon and her eyes will then be perfect, we’re just getting a bit more weight on her first.