A Cane Corso puppy. What a joy! But with that power comes a lot of responsibility. These bodyguard dogs need a whole lotta training, and we’re here to help you figure out how to do that best.
In this Cane Corso 8 week puppy training guide, we’ll walk you through some husbandry and developmental advice, and teach you all about the quirks of these beautiful beasts so no matter what size they get to, you can feel safe and in control.
Download the Zigzag puppy training app today, and you’ll have a full training program for your Cane Corso puppy with the most important life skills like socialization, habituation, toilet training and staying-home-alone lessons.
Our puppy programs are specific to different breeds and ages, so you can be sure to receive the right information, at the right time. Not just that, but our team of puppy trainers on hand 24/7 will always be at hand to guide you every step of the way.
Getting started with training your Cane Corso puppy
Knowing where to start training with and caring for your Cane Corso puppy starts with understanding where the breed comes from and what their quirks are, as well as how they develop both mentally and physically.
Cane Corso growth stages
Cane Corso’s are a large breed and reach their adult height at around 1 year old, but continue filling out until they are around 2.5 years old.
Cane Corso behavior stages
Like all dogs, Cane Corsos go through different periods of development, which affect their behavior.
| Name of developmental stage | Age | What happens |
| Socialization Period | Up to 12 weeks old | Puppies learn about new stimuli, and develop emotional responses to things (people, objects, sounds, textures etc) in the world. |
| Adolescence | 6-14 months old | Hormonal changes can cause imbalances in behavior, their willingness to train or do things they previously did, and aggression or increased fearfulness can occur. |
| Sexual Maturity | From 7 months up to 1 year | Females will come into season and may act more insecure, needy or even aggressive to other dogs. Males can become more territorial and aggressive to other males, and can often start marking. |
Learn more in our articles on socialization, puppy teething and puppy fear periods.
Things you need to know about Cane Corso
Are Cane Corsos easy to train?
Yes. Isn’t that great news? Cane Corsos are the kind of dog that thrives on being trained and having structure. They can be quite the clown at times, but their size can be challenging if they aren’t taught to behave appropriately.
In the Zigzag app, we use positive reinforcement. Why? Well, it’s quite simple. The reward based methods really do work for ALL breeds.
How big can Cane Corsos get?
Male Cane Corsos generally reach an adult height of around 32-34 inches and a weight range of between 100 and 130 lbs.
Female Cane Corsos are a little smaller and tend to be around 27 and 32 inches tall with a weight range of 80 and 100 lbs.
What is a Cane Corso personality like?
You’ll often hear that Cane Corsos are protective, loyal and affectionate. Although these traits are generally true, it’s also true that dogs are individual and will have different personalities. But no matter what, you can generally be sure they will want to protect your family.
What is the lifespan of a Cane Corso?
Cane Corsos live until they are around 8-12 years old.
Are Cane Corsos good with families?
Yes, Corsos can make amazing family dogs as long as they are given the right training and opportunities to be a dog. Like any large breed of dog, safety should always come first, so we don’t recommend leaving dogs and children unattended together.
Overview of your Cane Corso training program
Cane Corso puppies do best with a structured training program. Structure will help them become a confident and obedient dog who will be able to think for themselves, and follow cues and directions. With all that size and power comes responsibility, so you’ll have to be sure to give these workaholics the enrichment, stimulation and routine they need to thrive.
In the Zigzag puppy training app, you’ll find a full training program for your Cane Corso that’s developed with their breed traits in mind. The program is specifically designed for their age and development stage, so you know that what you’re teaching them is exactly what they need for the time being. If you get stuck, there’s never need to worry! Our team of puppy trainers are available 24/7 to help you glide over any bumpy roads.
Our 8 week training program for your Cane Corso puppy
Your Cane Corso’s 8 week training program will teach them the basics of becoming a well-behaved, socialized dog ready to take on the modern human world. Whether you call the countryside or the city home, your pup’s training will need to be tailored to their surroundings and the experiences they’ll encounter.
In the countryside, it’s likely they’ll need to learn how to calmly greet farm animals or stay focused despite the distractions of wide open spaces. City pups, on the other hand, will have to practice navigating busy streets, ignoring tempting stinky trash on the sidewalk, and being unfazed by loud noises.
No matter where you live, consistent training during these early weeks will set your Cane Corso up for success as a well-adjusted family member and all-round ‘good dog’.
Learn how we use positive reinforcement training in the Zigzag app, and get a step by step Cane Corso training program today.
Week 1
In your first week, you’ll focus on socialization and habituation to help with your Cane Corso’’s confidence levels, as well as the following:
House Training – Whether you are potty training in an apartment, or you have a backyard or garden, you’ll want to check out our full guide on how to potty train a puppy in as little as 7 days. This is definitely one you want to get started on quickly to avoid as many accidental poops in your house! Trust us – they won’t be small ones.
Grooming and handling – Cane Corsos don’t require much brushing, but simply the act of grooming itself will help stimulate blood flow to the skin and also get all that dead fur out. Like all puppies, they’ll need help understanding that hands are nice things that will often touch them, so make sure that they are able to build positive associations with the brush and your hands. Treats will help lots for this!
Name – The first step is getting your Cane Corso to pay attention and listen to you, an important skill we think you’ll agree with.
Read our guide how to teach a puppy their name or how to choose the best name for your puppy to know more about this part of the journey.
Sit – Sit is often one of the first things we teach all puppies. Besides being a polite skill to learn, but also just looks mad cute. Sitting means they can’t jump up so easily, which is something we definitely want to avoid…especially in such a large breed.
Check out our guides on how to stop a puppy jumping up and how to teach your puppy to sit to know more about these useful skills.
Crate Training – Teaching your puppy to be happy in a confined area such as a crate or playpen is going to come in very handy with sleeping, getting them into a regular nap time routine, and giving them a place they can relax away from the hustle and bustle.
As a large breed, Corsos generally like children a lot…but tend to not realize how big they actually are. Safety always comes first, so let’s make sure to use baby gates, playpens and crates to keep everyone happy.
Cane Corsos are pretty curious too, so you might want to read up on puppy proofing your house sooner rather than later.
Puppy nutrition is always a hot topic, especially in a large breed where feeding the right nutrients is even more important to allow for correct growth rate. Whether you choose to raw feed your puppy, or become a chef and cook for your pup yourself, just be sure to feed them a balanced diet. It’s essential for their development!
Week 2
In Week 2 we’ll get on with more life skills training. We’re focusing on keeping it fun and rewarding for your Cane Corso puppy, as that’s how dogs learn best! Don’t listen to people talking about dominance or “dogs being like wolves” or whatever… We disproved that long ago. It’s pretty old-fashioned and simply not the case!
Biting – Be warned: your Cane Corso puppy WILL turn into a baby shark. It’s good to be prepared for this, with lots of frozen Kongs and toys to redirect them to something that will not scream in pain when they bite into it. And have lots of patience…you’ll need it!
Read up our full guide to puppy biting and puppy teething to dig your teeth into this topic…you’ll need it for sure!
Management – Here’s a secret…so many behavior problems could be prevented if we just applied an often forgotten part of puppy raising: management. Management is all about setting your puppy up for success. By managing their environment and situations, your puppy has more chances to get things right and build confidence. Cane Corso puppies don’t know what they don’t know, so until they do know, let’s make sure they don’t get a chance to get it wrong. There’s a tongue twister.
We’ve got lots more on this in our article all about management in dog training.
Down – Start to teach your puppy to lie down. Your Cane Corso will just love learning any tricks you want to teach them. A mat or blanket can be useful here, as it will be much more comfortable when training to lie on a hard floor.
Alone time training – Start off by building a safe and secure attachment to you. Never leave a puppy to cry it out! It’s just not a thing and never will be. Read more on our guide to preventing separation anxiety in puppies – there’s lots of good stuff in there.
Introduce the collar and harness – For a strong dog like your Corso, it’s important to start getting them used to harnesses and collars early. We tend to use a collar for ID tags, and a harnesses to go on actual walks.
Bathing – Cane Corsos will shed fur, which means they get rid of a lot of the dirt from their coat on their own. They won’t require much bathing, but they DO love to roll in the dust, so it’s a good idea to get them used to bathing. A walk-in shower might be better for when these guys grow to their full size…a tub might not cut it when they’re older.
Read our article on how to bathe your puppy to learn how to ease into it step-by-step and keep it fun for your pup.
Week 3
Cane Corsos may look kinda goofy (adorably, of course) but trust us, they are very clever dogs too! With positive reinforcement training, there’s no need to use a firm hand with any dog. It’s just the best! As a large breed, they do get bored easily, so it’s important that you give them plenty of enrichment, and mental stimulation. Use puzzle feeders to feed them their meals, and look at how you can incorporate natural behaviors that Cane Corsos like to do in their daily routines, like playing tug and sniffing games.
Let’s get on with this week’s training:
Recall – Teaching your puppy to come back when you call them should start early. When the time comes that you need to call them away from the road, you want this to work perfectly.
Leash walking – Loose leash walking with such a big dog can take a while to perfect, and we’d recommend you put the time in to practice. Can’t blame them, they have no idea how strong they are! Teaching your puppy not to pull will be all about creating a reinforcement zone so they learn to walk calmly next to you. Practice indoors or in your yard at first, and when you’ve got a good hang of that, add a leash and harness later on.
Settle – This will be important when you want to take your Cane Corso along with you for all-you-can-eat brunch. Teach them to settle on a mat or bed, and relax while you relax yourself with a well-deserved mimosa.
Tug – Play a game of tug with cue words ‘take it’ and ‘drop it’. Your Cane Corso puppy will be over the moon if you treat them with a game of tug of war. You’ll want to introduce a ‘take it’ and ‘drop’ cue, to prevent them snatching toys, and to get them to happily give them too. We show you how to do all of this step-by-step in the Zigzag app, but you can also read more in our articles on how to teach a dog to drop.
Teaching tug with a take it and drop will also help to prevent resource guarding too. Yay!!
Nail clips – It can be a little challenging to clip a dog’s nails. Some dogs aren’t big fans of the clippers and having their feet touched, so this will be something you’ll need to get your Cane Corso used to.
With big paws come big responsibilities, which you can learn all about in our article on dog paws and how to care for them.
How’s potty training going by the way? Hope it’s still not a touchy subject If you’re in an apartment or condo without a yard, check out our article on potty training in an apartment, or our roundup of the best indoor puppy potties.
Your Cane Corso will likely be drooling and teething a lot, so you’ll want to provide them with lots of puppy chews, stuffed Kongs and chew toys to get into.
Week 4
Generalization – Practicing training in lots of different places will be important to make sure you can get your Cane Corso puppy to listen to you (and any cues!) at all times. Start by practicing this in different parts of your home and yard, and then try them out on walks and in different locations. When you move to a new place that might be a little more distracting, use smellier and tastier treats to help them place their focus back on you. You can read more about the magic of rewards and treats when training in distracting environments in our article.
Build on basic cues – Sits, downs, walking on a leash, and recall all need many many repetitions and plenty of practice to perfect. Oh, you’ll need patience too!
Leave it – This is a great one for teaching a Cane Corso puppy. Being so big and powerful, it’s important that they learn to disengage and leave something you don’t want them to have. Start by using some plain old kibble that’s easy for them to leave, and then we can up the difficulty to more tempting treats.
Train with games – Cane Corsos are playful pups, which is great news because we can use training games to teach them important life skills, like frustration tolerance and self control! Scroll through our training games library to pick up some good games to use throughout your training.
How’s your schedule going? If you feel like things are spiraling a little out of control, check out our schedule for puppy training to get it all running smoothly.
Week 5-8
For weeks 5-8 try out our personalized Cane Corso training plan. You’ll want to build on the behaviors we talked about above, like teaching your Cane Corso to come back when called, and leash walking.
Head over to the app store and download the Zigzag app! The training is tailored to your Cane Corso’s age and caters for all of those breed quirks they have.
With the Zigzag puppy training app you can be sure to be walking around with the best education under your wing to train your Cane Corso puppy. Not just that, but our team of professional dog trainers will always be around to help you out on any hiccups. Literally, they’ll be there for you 24/7!
Cane Corso Puppy Training FAQs
Are Cane Corsos at risk of health issues?
Cane Corsos can be at risk of health issues that affect many large breed dogs such as bloating, hip and elbow dysplasia, and eye problems such as cherry eye or entropion.
Learn more in our article on watery eyes and eye anatomy to catch any risk of infections in time!
What should I feed a Cane Corso puppy?
Your Cane Corso will benefit from a complete diet formulated for large breeds to ensure steady and slow growth. Whether you choose to homecook (or buy a commercial home cooked dog food…not all of us are natural kitchen talents),, raw feed your puppy or feed them a commercial dry or wet food, just make sure it’s nutritionally complete and everything will be fine.
Our puppy nutrition guide has a lot more useful information for knowing the best ways to keep your puppy healthy and strong through food.
Are Cane Corsos smart dogs?
Yes! They are very smart dogs. As a large breed, they may not be the most nimble, or as agile and fast as a Border Collie, but they still love to learn and are unique on their own.
Are Cane Corsos good with families?
Yes, as a bull breed, they have been developed to live with families and be affectionate. You have to remember that they kinda don’t know their own size though, so watch out for these gentle giants when with small children.
What do I do if my Cane Corso doesn’t listen?
Take a break, and then regroup! Check what you’ve been asking them to do…are you asking too much? Is the environment too distracting? Then also look at what you’re using as a reinforcer. If your dog doesn’t want to do something, chances are the reward they’re getting simply isn’t ticking them in the right place.
How difficult is potty training a Cane Corso?
Good news is that it’s not more difficult than any other breed of dog. Other news is that it just requires determination, patience and lots and lots of practice. But in better news, you can potty-train a puppy in as little as 7 days!
