The Cane Corso is an Italian

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

mastiff A mastiff is a large and powerful type of dog. Mastiffs are among the largest dogs, and typically have a short coat, a long low-set tail and large feet; the skull is large and bulky, the muzzle broad and short (brachycephalic) and the ears dro ...

. It is usually kept as a

companion dog A companion dog is a dog that does not work, providing only companionship as a pet, rather than usefulness by doing specific tasks. Many of the toy dog breeds are used only for the pleasure of their company, not as workers. Any dog can be a compa ...

guard dog A guard dog or watchdog (not to be confused with an attack dog) is a dog used to watch for and guard property against unwanted or unexpected human or animal intruders. The dog is discerning so that it does not annoy or attack the resident hum ...

; it may also be used to protect livestock. In the past it was used for hunting large

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

, and also to herd cattle.

History

According to the breed standard of the

Fédération Cynologique Internationale The Fédération cynologique internationale (FCI) (English: International Canine Federation) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs. It is based in Thuin, Belgium. History The FCI was founded in 1911 under the auspices ...

, the Cane Corso was once distributed throughout much of the Italian peninsula, but in the recent past was found only in

Puglia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, in southern Italy. After the collapse of the ''

mezzadria The metayage ; es, mediería ; it, mezzadria . system is the cultivation of land for a proprietor by one who receives a proportion of the produce, as a kind of sharecropping. Another class of land tenancy in France is named , whereby the rent is ...

'' system of share-cropping in the 1960s, the dogs became rare. The modern breed derives from

selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant mal ...

from about 1980 of a few surviving animals. A

breed society Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members o ...

, the Società Amatori Cane Corso, was formed in 1983. The breed was recognised by the

Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana The , usually known as the ENCI, is the national organisation responsible for the recognition, standardisation and registration of pedigree dogs in Italy. It is sometimes called the Italian Kennel Club. The association provides judging for dog s ...

in 1994; it was provisionally accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1996, and received full acceptance in 2007. It was recognised by the

American Kennel Club The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Kenn ...

of the United States in 2010. In the period 2011–2019 annual registrations in Italy were in the range of .

Characteristics

The Cane Corso is a large dog of

molossoid The Molossus ( el, Μολοσσός, Molossós; also known as the Molossian hound, Epirus mastiff) was a Dog breed, breed of dog from Ancient Greece. History The Molossus were dogs that were kept by the ancient Greeks, Greek tribe and kingdom o ...

type, and is closely related to the

Neapolitan Mastiff The Neapolitan Mastiff or is an Italian breed of large dog of mastiff type. It descends from the traditional guard dogs of central Italy. It was recognised as a breed by the Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana in 1949, and accepted by the F ...

. It is well muscled and less bulky than most other

breeds. According to the international standard, dogs should stand some at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...

and weigh ; females are about smaller, and weigh some less. The head is large, slightly over one third of the height at the withers in length, with a well-defined stop. The top of the cranium is flat and slightly convergent to the muzzle. The eyes are oval in shape, and set well apart. The iris of the eye should be as dark as possible. The coat is short, dense and lustrous. It may be black, various shades of grey (lead-grey, light grey or slate-grey) or fawn (dark fawn, light fawn, or stag red), or dark wheaten (''); it may be brindled. Minor white markings on the chest, the feet or the nose are tolerated. In 2017 a study of 232 Cane Corso dogs from 25 countries found an average life span of 9.3 years, varying with different coat colours. The longest-lived were black brindle dogs (10.3 years) followed by brindle dogs (10.1 years), grey brindle dogs (9.8 years), fawn dogs (9.0 years), black dogs (9.0 years), grey dogs (9.0 years) and dogs of other colours (8.1 years).

Use

The Cane Corso is usually kept as a

; it may also be used to protect livestock. In the past it was used for hunting large

, and also to herd cattle. In some registries, it is subject to a

working trial Working may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community Arts and media * ''Working'' (musical), a 1978 musical * ''Working'' (TV series), an American sitcom * ''Workin ...

: in order to qualify for

registration Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), th ...

, dogs must show tranquility in the presence of inoffensive strangers, indifference to gunfire, and aggressive defence of the owner against an attacker. File:Cane corso temi 2 1024x768x24.png, File:CaneCorso.jpg, Blue coat, ears cropped File:Viggo-Ears-n-Tail.png, Brown/brindle coat

Notes

References

{{Authority control FCI breeds Mastiffs Dog breeds originating in Italy