Chickey Monkey, the Costa Rica Cane Corso

by Oxford Moron
(U.S.A)

Cane Corsos tend to occasionally get lumped into the bad attitude type Pitbull image. Don't sell the Cane Corso short. If you are considering acquiring a Cane Corso, NO FEAR.
Let me tell you an outstanding story about a year old beautiful $2500 Cane Corso blue female in New York that was abused for about a year before getting sold to an unsuspecting new family (us) in Costa Rica, for big money.

Her name is Chickey Monkey, an exceptional blue Cane Corso beauty with a Phoenix lineage. Her owner was a greedy Cane Corso Breeder named Ellen looking to dump a chronic mange infested Kane Korso (more than one way to spell Cane Corso) with a major junk yard dog attitude to boot, on some un-suspecting fools.

Picking her up at the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica was a shocker. To see her superb beauty was the first surprise. Secondly, was her distressful mentality and anger toward the world. She would be considered dangerous by all means. Thirdly, there was mange on her face and deeply infested in her red bleeding paws. Her vet was obviously just as greedy and gave her a false health report for the flight.

As we traveled the 3 hours back to Playa Carrillo on the Nicoya Peninsula, I first opened her dog kennel door and waited for her to exit completely on her own accord. After about 15 minutes she sheepishly creeped out to explore the back of our suv. I spoke to her non stop in a soothing non confronting voice. I kept my arm draped limp behind my seat where she could approach my hand resting on the floor.

She came and smelled, left, came back and left again nervously pacing. This went on for hours. Because she was so aggressive at the airport, it was too dangerous to try and put a collared leash on her to relieve her after her flight. We decided to stop and see what her attitude would be toward us.

Stopping for dinner in an outdoor soda, I first opened the back door a crack, not sure what to expect from this scared and angry Cane Corso. She lunged to the crack of the door jumping with excited glee and submission, I knew she was signaling complete respect and trust toward me so I opened the door enough to get the collar and leash on her. We walked up the dirt road we were parked on.

After immediately relieving herself, she flipped around in complete joy and seemed to know she had been rescued and was worlds apart from her abusive past owners. After getting home with Chickey Monkey, she showed an embedded fear of strangers and men in particular. It took months for her to stop aggressing toward my husband every time he came out of the house when Chickey and I were in the yard, but not any other occassions, Though he was very affectionate toward her, she struggled with past memories of her old owner coming out the door to beat her. (probably for barking, as she would do often at any little disturbance).

Dogs can't talk, but they can sure tell a story with their actions and habits. Chickey Monkey did soon come to also trust him explicitly and was one of the best Cane Corsos a family could ever dream of. Our Costa Rica home was intended to be permanent, but circumstances out of our control cropped up. My husband discovered a cancer in his groin growing rapidly. Being a Vietnam Veteran, we were forced to return to the U.S. where he could get a second opinion and treatment.

After putting our horseback jungle beach tours business and our cars up for sale, I received a phone call from a man demanding, in broken English, to speak to my husband about making a deal with him to not kill me if he paid him a large sum of cash. IN need to make an almost overnight move, we sold the business immediately and made the final arrangements to get back to the U.S. With much stress and sadness, we attempted to find a home to give our gorgeous Cane Corsos to.

WE still had a few puppies left at home. Chickey Monkey's aggressive behavior made it seem impossible to find her a home that could adjust her to themselves as patiently as we did, without picturing her getting abused. After introducing her to a few prospective adoptive parents, it became apparent that the most humane thing to do was to have her put down rather than have her abused the rest of her life. She attacked one of these prospective new owners who was a dog trainer and believed he could keep her from attacking him while she ran free in the yard with him.

Though I did not believe he could accomplish this, he insisted and I foolishly allowed it, until she immediately leaped off the porch latching onto the man's groin while still in mid air flight. The following morning I received a call from a pastor and his wife who had seen Chickey Monkey while visiting our home on a number of occasions. They had purchased one of Dread Bizorr and Chickey Monkey's Cane Corso puppies, Belair, from us.

The pastor's first question was; What are you going to do with Chickey Monkey? They had 2 young girls, 3 and 5 years old and the idea seemed unlikely a good one, but at the same time I felt this was a God given opportunity to allow Chickey Monkey to live and have no chance of being abused. The family had witnessed her over protective junk yard dog behavior, but willing to work patiently with her and agreed to ship her to us later if they could not get her adjusted to every member in the family. The safety of their young girls were all of our main concern.

I told them if they would do exactly as I did coming from the airport, while traveling to their home with her, that they would be able to capture her heart and tame her. Within a few hours she trusted me as if I had raised her from a puppy. I believed they could achieve the same thing. I recommended the young girls spoke to her mostly on the ride to their house where she would remain in her dog kennel for the entire trip.

When they reached home, they had their nanny watch the children in the house while the pastor and his wife sat on the porch with their new Cane Corso in her kennel with the door on it opened. They sat and talked for hours, then she decided to come out of the kennel, urinated and went straight back in after a quick smell of her new parents on her way back in.

Their yard was fenced, so they left her for the night on her own with the door open. The next morning they sat again with the same scenario, letting her come out on her own accord. After a number exits and quick returns with her usual quick smell of them, evening fell and finally she came straight out to them and smelled the Mrs, turned and rushed the pastor with that same joy and submission she had shown me. He took her immediately walking around the yard and from that moment on, Chickey Monkey showed complete trust in her new owners.

Because their pool had a separate fenced yard, they were able to keep her in the pool area every day as the girls played along her fence line. After a short period, she seemed to accept the girls in the same joyful fashion, so they were introduced. Never once Chickey Monkey was able to prove that even an abused Cane Corso had the ability to be tamed for the whole family when handled with patience and true love.

The only problem they ever had was the fact that they could not allow Chickey Monkey in the pool yard while the girls were swimming; because she jumps in every time frantically trying to save the girls as they swim. We are to this day, 3 years later, so grateful to God, and that kind, loving spirited pastor and family. She now protects the family with the same ferociousness that she guarded us with, yet maintains a character more gentle than a kitten toward the two young girls. I believe this character to be embedded in the Cane Corso dog, more so than any other dog breed.

I believe also that the true loving Spirit in that Pastor and his family are embedded in all those people that seek to Love the Lord. The ones who spend most of their time dwelling on God's desires for us like: Us choosing in every relationship; Humility, love, faith, understanding, compassion, gentleness, wisdom, and all those things that align us with God and also prevents our characters from walking out to the outside of God's Kingdom where cruelty
lives.

THANK YOU LORD for saving Chickey Monkey! AND THANK YOU PASTOR AND FAMILY for listening to God's voice and showering true Love on a TEMPORARILY unfortunate Cane Corso that now is maybe the most fortunate Cane Corso in Costa Rica.