As you probably know, the most important thing you can do for your Cane Corso dog is socialize him. The best time for puppy socialization is between 4- and 16 weeks old. This is the fastest learning period in a Cane Corso life, and the period they best react to surrounding stimulation.
This period is different for all animals. For ducks, it lasts only 20 minutes. What you learn from your duck in 20 minutes stays with her all her life. For horses, the “socialization stage” lasts for 48 hours. That’s why you need to put a saddle on him, touch his legs and his teeth, and do every movement your horse needs to be familiar with when he grows up.
After this information, you will agree that you have much more time to socialize your Cane Corso puppy.
Is your Cane Corso a “Super dog”?
Of course, he is. But “Super Dog” is also a name for the U.S. military program for even earlier puppy socialization. It is created to improve the performance of military dogs. The original name of this program is “Bio Sensor.” Numerous studies have determined that 35% of the mammal’s performance is heritable and 65% is attributable to training, nutrition, and management. Well, they found a way to get the most out of it.
This program starts when a puppy is only three days old and lasts until the sixteenth day. Now you are asking why so early. The researchers discovered that the pups are the most sensitive in this period of life to thermal and tactile stimulation, motion, and locomotion. They are focused only on these senses because puppies can only smell, suck milk, and crawl in that stage. They don’t have body temperature regulation, so they stick to their mom or crawl to their littermate’s pile to warm up. The idea is to expose the pup to the stimulus they are not used in that period of life. This will move the tolerance boundaries of the puppy and make him superior when he grows up.
The five early stress exercises done on puppies in an early stage of life improved several things when they grew up.
That small amount of stress stimulates the hormonal system to control pressure better as an adult. As a result, sexual maturity was attained sooner. They were more resistant to diseases, especially some forms of cancer and infections. They responded much better to the extreme climate and solved problems faster with fewer mistakes.
They concluded that stress in small amounts on the puppy could produce adults with maximal performance.
How to make a “Super Cane Corso dog.”
The “Bio Sensor” program is made of five exercises. They must perform in order. The handler must do exercises one by one in charge, on one pup. After he ends with all training, he can take another puppy. It must be done once daily for every puppy from the third to the sixteenth day of birth.
These are five exercises in order:
- Tactical stimulation,
- Head held erected,
- Head pointed down,
- Supine position,
- Thermal stimulation.
Tactical stimulation is gently tickling the puppy’s toes using a Q-tip. Duration 3-5 seconds.
Head held erected is holding the Cane Corso puppy straight up with both hands, with its Head directly above its tail. Duration 3-5 seconds.
The Head pointed down position is the opposite of the head held erect. Duration: 3-5 seconds.
Supine position is when you hold your pup in the palm of both hands facing the ceiling. Duration: 3-5 seconds.
Thermal stimulation is done with a cold towel (taken from the refrigerator after 5 minutes). Place the pup on it with the feet down. Let him move if he wants. Duration: 3-5 seconds.
All five exercises produce neurological stimulation that is not familiar to a puppy at this stage of life. This makes his senses sharpen as he matures.
The important thing is not to exercise more than once a day because exaggerated stimulation can harm a pup.
These exercises can’t replace your everyday play and bonding with your Cane Corso pup.
What “Super dog” can do for your Cane Corso
“Super dog” benefits:
- Improved cardiovascular performance of your puppy,
- Stronger adrenal glands,
- Stronger hearts beat,
- More tolerance to stress,
- Better disease resistance.
Puppies were showing more interest in their surroundings and were more active. They showed less stress disturbing in test conditions and more easily solved the problems with fewer mistakes.
Cane Corso puppy socialization
There are three stages of puppy socialization:
Early neurological stimulation (“Super dog”),
Socialization and
Enrichment stage.
These three stages will shape and determine your Cane Corso. Luck of them will make your Italian Mastiff a dog with unacceptable behavior, a fearful dog with many problems, including even separation anxiety.
I talked about the socialization of Cane Corso HERE.
Cane Corso is a highly energetic and intelligent dog. He needs stimulation all his life. Unfortunately, owners with less time for their pup often leave them to themselves, and after they come home from work, the puppy made a mess of the home.
That Is exactly why you need to involve your Cane Corso in your life. Drive him in a car, go to a park, walk him to the shopping center, etc.
Speaking about that, we come to the third stage called enrichment. That stage differs from the two I mentioned above because it has no time limit.
Enrichment is a positive sum of experiences that have a cumulative effect on the individual.
Enrichment is a sum of positive experiences which have a cumulative effect on the individual. It means you should expose your Corso to various enjoyable, new, pleasant situations with an opportunity to investigate them freely and interact with them. Take your puppy to different places among unfamiliar people and teach him new stuff constantly.
Conclusion
All the time your dog is growing, he is learning and staffing that information in their brain. Every info is a stimulation. So keep those stimulations coming all the time. Their absence will produce a lack of self-confidence at your Cane Corso and behavior problems when he grows up. The non-stimulated puppies will retrieve in front of unfamiliar objects and people. Stimulated ones will explore them.
So, keep exposing your puppy to people and, most importantly, to children. Let them play with other pets. Take them to new places. Drive them in different cars. Pet them on every part of their body. Touch their mouth and teeth, and learn that all unique situations are exciting, and they need to explore them. That is how you can easily shape your Cane Corso and prepare him for a good, fulfilled life.
