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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.

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1920 Cane Corso

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, theNeapolitan
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.

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