ABOUT THE BREED

Cane Corso Italiano (in Ireland called Italian Corso Dog), is a molosser breed that belongs to the second Group of FCI Classification (Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossoid and Swiss Mountain and Cattledogs), Section 2.1, the Molossian, Mastiff type, with working trail and is nowadays gaining more and more popularity worldwide. Primarily, due to the combination of two aspects, their majestic appearance and balanced character.

HISTORY

The roots of the breed are already indicated by its full name. Cane Corso Italiano comes from Italy, actually it's homeland is the Apennine Peninsula and Sicily (the province of Apulia and adjacent regions of southern Italy, like Naples and Bari). 

The ancestor of these dogs is often considered to be the Roman Molossus- Canis pugnax, which in a short time gained great popularity in the Italian provinces, serving as a guard and shepherd dog. However, it is not entirely clear where the name of the breed came from. ''Cane'' means dog in Italian and ''corso'' is derived from Latin word ''cohors'', meaning guardian, defender of the farmyard or Greek ''kortos'', the wall.

As a curiosity, it is worth mentioning that in the 20th century (in the 70'), Cane Corso dogs almost disappeared. Fortunately, this beautiful breed was saved by its enthusiasts. The Italian dog breeders organisation, the Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana (ENCI) approved the Cane Corso Italiano as national breed in 1994 and soon after that, in 1996, the Federation Cynologique Internationale have recognized the Cane Corso as a separate breed on a provisional basis, and then on the definitive basis in 2007. Finally in 2010, the breed was recognised by the American Kennel Club (AKC). 

TEMPERAMENT

Cane Corso is intelligent, courageous, docile and obedient. He is a dog willing to work, highly trainable. He knows his strength, therefore he requires from its owner consistency and self-control in his upbringing. Cane Corso is a phenomenal guardian of the property, whole household and the area entrusted to him. He has lively and stable character, is very loyal and affectionate towards his family. He needs a lot of attention, as can suffer being left alone and become bored he can be destructive. However, in correct hands, given appropriate time for training, socialisation and correct nurture and tenderness from his owners he will be most devoted and faithful friend and protector. He is strong, but also sensitive dog, that loves with all his heart.

These dogs are requiring a wise, consequent owner, the one who will be ready to fully commit to them and guide them, with plenty of time for basic obedience training. If they want they can be very stubborn and will try their best to do all forbidden things. From early weeks their training must be firm and consistent, should be always based on rewards and never on physical coercion. Correctly raised with other animals and young children they can live in harmony, being towards them very patient and gentle. Depending on the individual they can have different type of territorial instinct and drive, and as a working guardian breed this must be always taken into consideration before choosing one as family addition.

HEALTH

Overall , Cane Corso are rather healthy, but due to their size and weight, as any large breed dogs, they are prone to joint diseases, such as osteochondrosis or hip and elbow dysplasia. They can also suffer from different types of eye conditions, like entropion (eyelids roll inwards and rub the surface of the eye) and ectropion (lower eyelid rolls away from the eye, causing droopy appearance) or cherry eye (prolapse of the nictitans gland inside the third eyelid), as well as skin diseases, such as Demodex mange caused by mites, skin fold dermatitis, elbow hygroma, chin folliculitis or deep pyoderma. Another known health conditions of concern are a life threatening bloat, known also as gastric torsion or GDV, the Gastric Dilatation Volvulus and idiopathic epilepsy, the neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. 

Recently, in 2020, the Cane Corso breed was associated with new syndrome, the Dental-Skeletal-Retinal Anomaly (DSRA), an autosomal recessively inherited disease, characterised by numerous serious health issues, ranging from poor vision, blindness, abnormal development of teeth or stunted growth, to even dwarfism. DSRA can be now tested at Laboklin, by sending saliva swab or blood sample.

BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE BREED