I REALLY hope others read this. You are so incredibly lucky that you ever got this pup back. I think just about everyone here is aware of the terrible things that happen when pups (and adults) of breeds like this are stolen, so there's no need to go into detail.

Suffice it to say that you really lucked out when you got this puppy back.

I agree with Anne:
" I would not force any experience on him. I would just let him work thru things on his own time & way. Just expose him to things & people. Try to desensitize him from distances to things that he is reactive to. Only move closer when he shows that he is comfortable & ready to move forward. Only time will tell if he regains confidence."

Are you doing marker training? Upbeat, short, frequent sessions? Tell us about the training (a huge confidence builder when done right).


Edited by Connie Sutherland (03/13/2012 05:05 PM)
Edit reason: edited

He has both cropped ears and tail, Was bought having both already done. He is a black brindle, very handsome boy. I have always felt secure in my neighbor hood. I was only gone for 2 hours I think many people leave their dogs in their own back yards, or at least you should be able to. I am surrounded by neighbors with dogs and we all seem to look out for one another at least as much as we can. Neighbor said that she thought it was me leaving at first but she had noticed the truck had backed into my drive cause the head lights were shinning in her kitchen window and she happen to be standing at the window talking to her babysitter who had just arrived at her house. I think he has gotten alittle better he does warm up alittle to my daughter after she is hear awhile. He has a problem when I try to take him outside the house. I am hopeing as he gets a little age to him he will gain some confidence, All the cane corsos that I have seen seem to be very brave, confident, even alittle pushy. I will let him go at his own pace, one thing in my favor is he trusts me very much, I have earned his trust, and he wants to be with me ALL the time.

I notice in past threads that it says you have other dogs as well. Are any of them social to the point of letting him learn a bit from example? Some fearful dogs do really well when another trusted pack member can show confidence in a scary situation, or even act as a security blanket to the fearful dog.

I do still have a czech shepherd she is a female she will be 2 in August. She is a very dominate female,He does learn from her, in the back yard it seems she tries to dominate him, in the house he tries to be the dominate one. They both know that in fact I am the alpha. With Havic (thats the cane corso) needing both hands to keep control of outside the house, and berlin the shepherd being still young and full of energy it is hard to take them out like say for a walk together. I do take them both in the truck with me and they are both fine, Havic seems to be the quieter one but does not seem scared, in fact he loves to go with me places, he just doesn't want to get out. When we pull up into my driveway he is estatic to get out of the truck. Its funny also with havic he seems to perk up and be alittle more confident at night, in the day he rather stay in the house right at my side, come night he will go out for a couple of hours with berlin or by himself and be fine. Basically its when strangers come in or I try to take him out of his comfort zone.

I do do alittle marker training with him, it seems the cane corsos that I have seen are hard to motivate to do what you want them to do, they just sit down and kinda try to refuse to do anything,using their weight as a weapon. I have trained him to sit, come, down, sit in front, then to a heel position. And he does that pretty well, I keep it very short and a happy time. He will very easily start to try to tune me out.

Scene II- There was a 1 hour time frame from your leaving until the neighbor saw the truck in your driveway. Could be the pup got out of the yard, spotted, almost hit, or could have been hit by the guy in the pickup. The guy takes the dog, p*ssed the pup is loose, wants you to worry, teach you a lesson, make it inconvenient in all ways for you. Said he “lives in the subdivision.” Is this near you?

You'll never know what actually happened, but I'd move forward with upbeat,short, no pressure sessions. Good luck!

The reason I say it was planned was because he backed into her driveway. If I see a dog loose I would pull up to it not stop back into a drive way and park. Would be worried about not seeing the lose dog. From what she said it was dark enough he had his headlight on. Would you not think if the dog was lose he would use them to help see the dog.That's just my thought.

You are correct on how you view cane corsos. They want to be the boss and that's why it can be hard for you to train them. That's why a asked if you have a very solid pack program. I know you said you are the alpha. The best way I have found is to do what ed does in the pack leadership dvd and the raising a working dog dvd. Take all there freedom at first then give them a little back at a time. Its amazing how much more they want to learn and how much more the respect you. You have to make them earn there freedom. If your dog is a little fearful be very careful because I'm sure you know the power this breed has and you don't want your dog to become a fear biter.trust me he will always want to be 6 inches from you at all times and that's also one thing I love about my cane corsos. Get a good program going and you will be amazed at how hard he will work to please you!

I can't address the situation but finding a Cane Corso with solid nerves is a long road. This bad experience probably just brought it to the surface a bit faster.
A pup/dog with good solid nerves would recover from something like this.
Not a dis, just a reality of the breed.

This sounds like a normal Cane Corso. Did you contact the police? Something isn't making sense here....