THE CANE CORSO HISTORY

Origin

In ancient times, the CANE CORSO, the MASTINO NAPOLITANO, and the CANE DE PRESA MERIDIONALE were not distinct breeds. They were not three different breeds; instead, they were three different names for the same dog - the DOG OF THE ANCIENT ROMAN SOLDIERS. Phylogenetically, it is most likely connected to those large and combative dogs and has evidence since ancient times (see Assyrian bas-reliefs 669-633 BC). These dogs came into existence when the Roman Empire attacked Greek islands and encountered Molosser dog breeds. They decided to bring some of these dogs back to the Roman Empire and breed them with native Italian dog breeds. The first dogs created in Roman times from the original Molossers were called "Canis Pugnax" - the Roman dogs of war. During the Roman rule, the ancestors of the Cane Corso were widely used in warfare during almost all expeditions, and their use was extremely effective both in fighting and defending camps. The legionaries also used the Canis Pugnax for hunting in bloodsport. It is said that four of them could kill a tiger or a lion. With time, two completely different dog breeds emerged by carefully introducing other native Italian dog breeds into their genetic pool. They were carefully selected, and the breed became more slender and athletic, always from the same family of southern molosses, and was called CANE CORZ (Latin Corso) with similar physical characteristics but more functional than a Neapolitan Mastiff.

​

History of the name

 Its name "Corso" derives from the Latin "Cohors," which means court, militia, in the sense of protector. In the past, these dogs were distinguished as "da corpo" for wild boar hunting or use in the countryside, and "chamber" for personal defense, or the dog that the owner always kept near himself, even at night at the side of his bed.

​

​

Uses of the breed

The Cane Corso was the dog of the old farms in the south of Italy. He was a dog for farm work and was really functional for guarding work too. The brigands of Southern Italy often used Cane Corso, as well as Neapolitan Mastiffs, to guard the shelters and perceive the approach of the enemy from a distance. In recent history, the dog has been used for self-defense and the control of large livestock. It was once distributed throughout much of the Italian peninsula, but in the recent past was found only in Puglia, southern Italy. After the collapse of the mezzadria system of share-cropping in the 1960s, the dogs became rare, and this type of dog was rediscovered in a dog show by Piero Scanziani himself. He acquired a grey-coated dog, which he named Guaglione. Scanziani began to breed and work on rescuing the breed, which had many regional names, such as cane corso, cane da Presa meridionare, and mastino. Scanziani decided to call the breed Molosso Italiano - later changed to the name of Neapolitan Mastino. In the 1970s, Paolo Breber rediscovered dogs on farms and in families with more similar characters to the old ones and officially named them the Cane Corso, making it a separate breed from the mastino.

​

The Cane Corso in its history has always had frequent blood exchanges with other Italian utility dog breeds present in its working environment, such as the Abruzzese Sheep Dog, also called Abruzzese Mastiff or Abruzzese Shepherd Dog, with greyhound hunting dogs.

​

The traditional Italian Cane Corso from the farm was an extremely "rustic" and frugal dog, of large size but not heavy, with a solid structure, robust, with thick semi-long hair that protects them from environmental effects. It had a well-developed nose bridge to favor correct breathing in the hot climate of southern Italy and agility to allow him to perform as a cattle dog and hunter.

​

The modern Cane Corso The modern Cane Corso derives from selective breeding from about 1980.

Starting from the 80s through the 90's up to the 20th century, the breed has undergone interbreeding with other foreign dog breeds to obtain a dog more suited to commercial standards. The Boxer, Dogue De Bordeaux, Great Dane, and Bull Mastiff (whose influences are still evident today in many) certainly stand out among the breeds most used to "soften" and adapt the Italian Masseria crude Molosser to the market demand. Following these crossings, the Cane Corso became as we know it today, a dog with a globular head, brachycephalic, prognatum, round and protruding eyes, short hair, and certainly more delicate in health, as well as of a different character from its rustic "ancestor." Conversely, those who used this dog for clandestine dog fights, right between the 80s and the early 2000s, crossed with foreign breeds of high temperament and predatory. Precisely to enhance the characteristics of aggression, crossbreeding with Dobermans, Pitbulls, and Rottweilers also took their place. Often, this happened in the regions of southern Italy, where the practice of fighting was more widespread.

Nowadays, the Cane Corso Italiano is mainly bred as a companion pet or guard dog, serving in defense and protection of the family. It no longer requires the rustic type as it's not used for the performances it was in the past. Currently, the breed is divided into two opposing selective approaches. One fully adheres to the ENCI, which aims at preserving the characteristics of the Italian Molosser as a "useful dog." The other approach follows the FCI standard, focusing on a more natural and functional type with an ideology of half-artificial morphology.

​

The breed's history includes the formation of a breed society, the Società Amatori Cane Corso, in 1983. --It was recognized by ENCI (Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana) in 1994 and provisionally accepted by the -FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale) in 1996, receiving full acceptance in 2007.

-The ICCF (International Cane Corso Federation) was established in 1992, serving as the oldest and most recognized registry in the United States for the Cane Corso.

It wasn't until 2010 when the Cane Corso was recognized by the AKC (American Kennel Club of the United States).

​

Given this information, I want to emphasize to Cane Corso lovers that this breed has a rich history and a wide variety in terms of structure, color, and patterns.

We should refrain from calling anything that doesn't fit into a club's standards a "mutt," especially considering that these standards have changed multiple times in the past 40 years and are likely to change in the near future too.