Cane Corso
The Cane Corso is a great guard dog, extremely
loyal to its family and quite aloof with strangers.
He has a very protective nature and yet is able
to discern friend from foe. He instinctively
knows when to become a terrifying, defensive
and protective dog for its owner, his grounds,
the house and the whole family. He should be
submissive to his family and suspicious of strangers.
The story of the Cane Corso, coincides extraordinarily
with the history of the
Italic peoples, in all the splendor and their
misery. Unfortunately this race, saved in the
last few years from what seemed an inexorable
and fatal decline, reaches us with a scanty
but still significant historical and iconographic
background from which a few enthusiasts have
tried to reconstruct the origins of this race.
The etymology of the name Corso is still uncertain.
The most credible hypothesis are those which
indicate Greek origins: KORTOS = wall and from
the Latin: COHORS = guard of the courtyard.
Until recently the oldest documentation citing
the name of the Cane Corso, consisted of a few
poems and some prose dating from 1500. In 1998
the A.I.C.C. or Associazione Italiana Cane Corso
published a study on the race which brought
to light the military use of the Cane Corso,
in 1137 in Monopoli di Sabina (near Rome) ,
the finding of kennels from the period and the
close links between the race and Roman history.
All of this allows us to consider the Cane Corso,
as the principal evidence of an ancestral race
which has maintained particular characteristics
over the centuries, which take us back in time,
not just to the period tied to agricultural
economy immediately prior to the industrial
revolution, but even further back linking dog
fanciers with the great civilizations of the
past; the rise and fall of the Roman empire,
the middle ages and modern times. The Cane Corso,
has maintained through natural selection over
the centuries, the closest possible contact
with environment and the roles which man has
asked this precious companion to play. We are
talking about hard times when the success and
survival of a race depended exclusively on their
ability to render work, so the choice of raising
and keeping a dog was a purely economic one.
A responsibility taken which had to correspond
to the acquisition of a good or service, nothing
superfluous was allowed. The Cane Corso, which
we can admire today is the best evidence of
the theory which sustains that when a race exhibits
certain morphological and behavioral characteristics
relating to the work it is required to do, then
that race shows harmony of form and balanced
character. The past of the Cane Corso, is not
only largely present and alive but also extraordinarily
current, as if time had just slipped away. The
Corso has conserved from its ancestors the Molossi
of Epiro and the pugnaces of Rome, used in war
and for fighting in the circus, the aggressive
and combative nature necessary for successfully
reaching its goal, with no hesitation and with
surprising potential force. Through contact
with man in social situations he has learned
to react only when necessary, becoming an excellent
interpreter of human gestures. With these characteristics
the Cane Corso, has survived until today. In
small settlements in the south of Italy where
they have maintained an archaic system of agriculture
and a multi purpose dog is an essential partner.
The modernization of agriculture and systems
of breeding, in particular the
disappearance of breeding in the wild and semi-wild
state. The disappearance of wild game and the
use of firearms with the consequently different
techniques of hunting have reduced the traditional
uses of the Cane Corso. It is for this reason
that the diffusion of the Corso has suffered
drastic reduction since the Second World War.
The situation at the beginning of the 1970s
was worrying for the very survival of the race,
then reduced to a modest number of examples
and no longer considered by in official dog-fancying
circles despite the efforts of individuals like
the Count Bonatti and Professor Ballotta. It
was in the 1976 that an enthusiastic dog lover
and researcher of the rural traditions of Italy,
Doctor Breber, brought the Cane Corso, to the
attention of the public and official dog fancying
circles in an article published in a number
of the ENCI (Italian Kennel Club) magazine.
He followed this first step with the setting
up of a rescue mission carried out by a group
of enthusiasts who had made contact with Dr.
Breber in the meantime. In October of 1983 these
enthusiasts formed the S.A.C.C. (Società
Amatori Cane Corso). The common intentions of
rescuing the race were the basis for the forming
of the SACC, which suffered its first shock
in 1986 when Dr. Breber abandoned the society.
This fact has little resonance at the time as
the group was not well known and lived on the
edges of dog-fancying officialdom. This was
a determining factor in the future direction
of the race as was the contribution of the man
who was among the first to contribute to the
new interest in the race and who provided the
dogs for the first litter: Basir the model for
the standard of the race was the son of Dauno
and Tipsi, two dogs chosen by Dr. Breber. When
Dr. Breber left the SACC centered itself around
the kennels in Mantova run by Giancarlo Malavasi
with the entire breeding program of the race
and the running of the SACC in the hands of
Stefano Gandolfi, Gianantonio Sereni and Ferdinando
Casolino. The need to move the breeding program
forward at all costs become the justification
for centralized running of the association which
was not very democratic and often object of
not positive chattering. For these reasons the
SACC, two vice-presidents from different times
stand out, Mr. Oreste Savoia and Dr. Flavio
Bruno. In this period it must be highlighted
that the activities of the SACC for the recognition
of the Cane Corso were carried out with energy
and appreciable results. Unfortunately the same
cannot be said from the dog fanciers point of
view because the level of quality of the litter
thrown by Basir in 1980 were never repeated
and the subjects produced, appeared and today
still appear distant from the desired model
and show considerable variation. In that period
the SACC successfully organized dog fanciers
meetings with the scope of making the race known
and allow the judges of the ENCI to carry out
tests and measurements.
This activity produced an official standard
document edited by Dr. Antonio
Morsiani ratified by the judging committee of
the ENCI in 1987. In the same
edition of the standard, perhaps because of
the need to differentiate the Cane Corso as
much as possible from the other Italian Molosso
hounds, the
Neapolitan Mastiff, for the purposes of recognition,
some inaccuracies were
allowed which led to considerable discussion.
The most important regards the closure of the
teeth in that the standard requires a slight
prognathism. The level bite is only tolerated,
however being just as common in the Corso. This
is shown not only in the many positions taken
by enthusiastic breeders (including Breber)
but also in the official records of the first
convention, Convegno nazionale di Civitella
Affadena, June 16th 1990. In 1992 in order to
better follow the evolution of the Race the
ENCI decided to record the births of Corsi born
of parents verified by the judges and as such
considered heads of blood lines, in an unofficial
book called the Libro Apperto or open book.
The data contained in this book was transferred
into the official books when the race was officially
recognized on January 20th 1994. The enthusiasm
for this race, the curiosity and the knowledge
that a greater number of dogs and a greater
interest in the race would have helped in the
push for recognition, lead to an uncontrolled
increase in the production of litters with a
consequent reduction in the average quality
of the offspring. In this phase the SACC, not
only omitted take any action to inhibit this
phenomenon, but rather took every opportunity
to publicize the race and themselves as its
saviors. Under this pressure the number of Corsi
produced jumped from a few tens of animals at
the beginning to the current 2500 annual registrations.
Given the lack of improvement in the quality
of the animals produced the success of the race
was vaunted in terms of numerical increase.
This choice penalizing the zootecnical aspects
paid of in terms of political ratification.
On May 22nd 1996 at Arese the best Cane Corso
were gathered. CH Boris was used as the model
for the presentation of the characteristics
of the race at the upper levels of the F.C.I.
A few months later in November 1996 the Cane
Corso was recognized at an international level.
This seemed a positive result but it lead to
further worsening of the system because many
enthusiast from outside of Italy, inspired by
the novelty of the situation bought the Corso
without due care or consideration. Often their
chose was based on lack of information, ready
availability, colour or the price of the puppies.
What has been revealed in the last few years
is the total lack of a serious information service
and management of the race at an international
level. In the general confusion, those few who
have tried to organize the Cane Corso enthusiasts
in their own country have found difficulty in
opening communication with the SACC which has
often hid its obvious shortcomings behind a
veneer of arrogance.
In July of 1999, after years of superficial
management and repeated appeals
against the controlling bodies the Enci finally
relieved the SACC of recognition as the official
club for the race of the Cane Corso».
In an attempt to obviate the situation some
enthusiasts have founded the A.I.C.C.
If the second millenium closes under a cloud
of uncertainty for the Cane Corso, the third
millenium opens with a great hope; the presidents
of several national associations, Mr. Renzo
Carosio for the Italian AICC, Mr. Micheal Ertaskiran
for the American ICCF and Mr. Erik de Vries
for the Dutch CCNL have decide to work together
towards an international coordination of the
race based on the commitment of serious dog
lovers.
All Cane Corso information is from:
Mea
- 2 months |
This website is my attempt to document the
life of my own Cane Corso, Italian Mastiff.
Her name is Mea and you can see the picture
of her to the left. I've also compiled some
very useful information on dog health, pros
& cons, pet supplies, advice and info
on the history of the 3 types of Italian
Mastiffs.
Mea was born January 8th, 2005 and weighs
about 50 lbs now.
3 weeks ago she weighed about 20 lbs. The
growth of this little bundle of love is
remarkably fast. You can see pictures of
her in the photo gallery section of this
site. Feel free to browse the website and
all of our doggy
photos.
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