American Cane vs Italian Cane Corso

All pictures and text is the property of Christian Ferraro and is protected by Copyright. You are not allowed to copy, publish or distribute anything without our written permission

Introduction

When I began searching for information on Cane Corso sometime ago, I found advertisements of Cane Corsos in various American dog magazines right from the start. The dogs pictured in these advertisements seemed to me different from the ones I have seen in Italy. On my early interviews with Italian breeders and visits at their kennels I brought copies of these magazines to show them. All the Italian "Corsisti" found it difficult to recognize the dogs pictured in these magazines as Cane Corsos. Often I have heard from them the comment "ma questo é un Mastino" (that's a neo) meaning that the dogs looked a bit like a neo or maybe a neo-cross. During the first year of the Cane Corso Bulletin Board, there has been a lot of discussion on the Italian vs American conflict. Probably this issue has been so important since the majority of the BB users seem to be Americans. I have carefully followed the discussions and also received a lot of emails on behalf of the Cane Corso Pages web site. From what I know today I have come to the following conclusions:

1. The American version is different from the Italian Cane Corso.

The physical appearance is different, especially the features of the head. The American dog has longer muzzle. There is a less marked stop. Very few of the dogs have the right convergence between the axes of the skull and the muzzle, most of them have parallel instead of converging axes. In fact this is stated in American breed standards. The differences even showed quite obviously if one compares the ICCF Club logo the SACC logo. Often when viewing pictures of American dogs they have yellow eye colour whereas the Italian Cane Corsos must have dark eyes compared to coat. With the American breed standards either having no upper weight limit or a maximum weight of 140 lbs., it results in some overlarge specimens of American dog. The weight-to-size ratio is 4.167 based on minimum weight and minimum height of the American breed standards. This means the height of a 140 lbs. dog needs to be 33.6 inches in order to have the structural proportion. Often on the BB American users have stated that they prefer bigger dogs! That is naturally a personal matter of taste. But in the case of a breed one should always remember that originality does not necessarily correspond with personal taste. The true Cane Corso was used as working dog with no unnecessary weight. A way to understand the right size of a Cane Corso is that the dog should be no larger than permitting it to chase at high speed and catch wild animals (boar) when hunting but still having the body power to hold the game. Another difference is the American version being permitted to have colours never existed within the original Italian Cane Corso. An example is the colour of the Rottweiler (Black and Tan), which, in the US, is an accepted colour but it never appeared on any of the Italian molosser breeds! Furthermore I have seen pictures of Cane Corso with colours like the one that appears on Bernese Mountain Dogs in the US,

 

"Blue", an American Cane with strange colouration/ patterns

and also an example of a dog of bred from one of the important American bloodlines that had no molosser type at all! As You will learn from Mr. Hu Song's article, the US Cane Corso breed registries are usually privately owned. These American breed standards are formulated by the owners of the breed registries and were done without any documented breed survey.

Keri, an American Cane with no Molosser-type

2. When discussing the origin of a breed documentation of the ancestors of the dogs is extremely important.

The lines of the Italian Cane Corso are well documented, can be traced back in this century - the lines of the American Cane Corso can only be traced back to 1988, to some dogs that Mr. Sottile claimed to import from Sicily. Today it seems that no one knows who really did bred these dogs or maybe someone knows the true story about them but refuses to tell it.

 

The ICCF Club which, as given to understand, is the most important Cane Corso breed club in the US have tried to convince the canine world that the American dogs, directly from the nameless Italian farmers who bred them, are more original than the true Italian Cane Corso. Much has been said and written to question the Italian breed club and Italian Cane Corso enthusiasts who made an impressing job working on the rescue of the Cane Corso in Italy and on breed recognition nationally and internationally. The American version of the Cane Corso History is either astonishingly amateurish or maybe purposely fabricated!

We have come to the conclusion that dogs of the American version are too different from the original breed to be considered the same. During the last year we have asked questions to persons who might have had the possibility to clear the light on the obscure past/origin of the American dogs. Unfortunately no one could/would provide us with the facts we were looking for. Maybe someone someday might tell us the true story about the origin of Sottile's dogs but so far nothing happened.

We at the Cane Corso Pages have nothing against the American dogs, and the fact that some persons like the American dogs more. Since the difference is so big we must say that the American dogs should be considered an individual breed, actually nice and attractive dogs with impressive appearance. But not the same breed as the Italian Cane Corso!

Our suggestion is that in order to stop both the confusion as well as discussion, the American dogs should be renamed. American owners often call their dogs Canes so a good idea would be naming the breed "American Cane".

The following article by Mr. Hu Song very well explains all the documentation that has been available for both the Italian Cane Corso and for the US version. We are proud to publish his article here at the
Cane Corso Pages and would on this occasion further like to thank him for his meaningful and always friendly participation as a guest and member of the Cane Corso Pages.

April 1999, Christian Ferraro

 

Preface:

 

This article is dedicated to all amartori of Cane Corso, particularly those who rescued and recovered the breed from extinction.

 

It is coming to 13 years since the American imported dogs, first called Branchiero Siciliano and subsequently called Cane Corso, appeared in rare breed show ring in the US. The differences of the American Cane and the Italian Corso in features and characteristics as well as in breed standard still exist.

 

The argument and view from us of the Cane Corso Pages has never been which dog is better. It is simply a question of which dog is truly Italian or more specifically put, Cane Corso Italiano. The old retort of “well, they have the same problems in Italy” or  “we (Americans) saw black and tan on our trip” from those who have been to Italy, visited breeders and seen Corsi Italiano is just failing to understand the context of a long and unfortunate subject matter.

 

We, our Cane Corso Italiano enthusiasts and most importantly long time Cane Corso Italiano historians in Italy are well aware of imprudent breeding practices in Italy that have done more than lend support to the statements above. A “Cane Corso” that looks like a boxer or a bullmastiff is probably just that. A female “Cane Corso” with a correct head and black coat that throws puppies with black and tan defilement is not Cane Corso Italiano. It is not “the problem” in defining a Cane Corso Italiano because the preceding traits are not found in true Cane Corso Italiano. They are traits of money hungry breeders and misinformed people.

 

Go back in time just a bit to a rural area of Puglia, Molise or Campania where people had dogs just like the ones depicted in Bartolomeo Pinelli’s works. Gaze at pictures of Basir or Dauno. These are not the dogs that many breeders in Italy now pawn off as Cane Corsi.

 

It would be all too easy for an American to go to Italy with a camera and take pictures of bastardized dogs, put them in a book and say “ I told you so” to try and even a score in a game that is played on two different fields. Such subjects are not regarded as the real Corsi. Are there poor quality Cane Corsi Italiano? We say yes. But we, in our view, differ from many of the world, mostly in the US, and the seemingly all too popular view of what this uniquely Southern Italian dog is about. 

 

Without almost religious-like faith in Sottile Sr. who brought the American Cane into popularity in the US, many pertinent and significant questions regarding the American Cane have had no answers. These differences and unanswered questions would be irrelevant when American Cane is recognized as a different breed from Italian Corso.

 

We express our beliefs and proof in our pages.

 

While breed clubs and breeders in the US, in Italy and in other FCI countries strive for the betterment of their American Cane and Italian Corso, it is hope that the objectives which propelled the early amator to rescue and recover the Italian Corso are well respected and not forgotten.

 

It would not be possible for me to complete this article without the encouragement and support from Mr. Christian Ferraro, webmaster of The Cane Corso Pages, and the generosity of Dr. Stefano Gandolphi in giving time out of busy business schedule to share information and the kindness. Their help is deeply appreciated and I thank them. The same thanks goes to Dr. Flavio Bruno. Many have read and enriched by the information in his books.

 

The copy right of this compilation remains with Hu Song and the Cane Corso Pages. Permission in writing is required for reproduction of the whole or part of this compilation.

 

Hu Song, March 2, 1999, revised December 01, 2001 and May 25, 2003.

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

Cane Corso, the direct descendant of the Roman canis pugnax, have existed in Italy for centuries with villagers, farmers and hunters. After World War II, with changes in agricultural methods and mechanization at the farms, even at the “masserie” of the southern Italian regions, the Cane Corso came close to losing his reason for existing and the breed faced danger of extinction. Set to ensure survival of the Cane Corso and to preserve a piece of the Italian traditional and cultural past, a group of Italian dog-lovers initiated a rescue project in the later ‘70s. They searched for specimens in the remote, forgotten places od southern Italy. They researched into the historical documents, the iconography and the antique objects of art in Italy. And simultaneously they carried out breed surveys, taking detail measurements of these dogs from rural Italy with verifiable lineage and proof of breeding true for generations.

Eventually, these Italian dog-lovers founded Societa Amatori Cane Corso (SACC), the Italian Cane Corso breed club in 13th October 1983. At that time Dr. Ventura Giovanni had developed a cane corso breed standard of SACC.

Ente Nazionale della Cinofila Italiana (ENCI), the national kennel club of Italy, provided sponsorship for further programs in this project. Dr. Antonio Morsiani who was appointed by ENCI to this project developed a final draft of the Cane Corso breed standard in 1987. It was approved by ENCI in 1988. From 1989 to 1993, based on this Cane Corso breed standard and its zoo-technical data, dogs were appraised by ENCI appointed judges who either rejected them or certified them as cane corsos. The certified cane corsos were admitted into Libro Aperto (L.A.), a temporary register set up by ENCI.

In January 1994, ENCI recognized Cane Corso as a breed. SACC was accepted by ENCI as the only parent breed club in Italy. With ENCI’s recognition, the Cane Corso breed standard became the national standard of the breed in its country of origin.

Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) is an international organization whose members are the national kennel clubs representing their respective countries around the world. When it was satisfied after reviews and deliberation on the evidence and data presented by ENCI, FCI recognized Cane Corso as a breed in December 1996 and accepted the Cane Corso breed standard of ENCI /SACC as the FCI Standard #343 for Cane Corso Italiano. With FCI’s recognition, the national Cane Corso breed standard of ENCI in Italy became an international breed standard of Cane Corso, recognized by all national kennel clubs who are FCI members around the world. Cane Corsos with ENCI certificates are recognized and accepted into their registries.

ENCI is a country member of FCI and is regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture of Italy. It recognized SACC as the Cane Corso parent breed club until 2000. However in 2003, ENCI again recognized SACC as parent breed club in Italy for Cane Corso Italiano and the only club in the country-members of FCI that could modify the FCI Standard #343 Cane Corso Italiano breed standard.

Branchiero Siciliano. Picture by Mr. Visentin

Meanwhile in 1988, Sottile Sr., a Mastino Napolitano breeder in the US, imported a whole litter of 16 puppies from a farmer/breeder in Sicily to USA. Calling these puppies Branchiero Siciliano, he made a breed standard in the same year and registered them with Federation of International Canine Inc. (FIC Inc.), a canine registry in the US formed by the Sottiles in 1968 and owned by them at that time. Two more importation were made by Sottile Sr.: one whole litter from Sicily in 1989 and another whole litter from an area near Napoli, Campania in 1990. These 3 litters of imported dogs formed the foundation stock of the American style cane corsos in the US today, a number of less than 40 dogs from 2, maximum 3, ‘lines’ providing the size of the American style cane corso gene pool in USA.

Since 1989, these imported dogs appeared in rare breed shows of the US and were judged based on the breed standard made by Sottile Sr. in 1988 for Branchiero Siciliano. As it was mentioned in page 64 of the book, A Celebration of Rare Breeds Volume II by Cathy J. Flamholtz, published in 1991 by OTR Publications, and I quote: "Mike and Kathy Sottile have been showing their Alaric Cane Corsos since 1989. Several of their dogs have completed their championships and the breed is fast becoming the dog to beat, at rare breed shows". Advertisements from Alaric Kennels for Branchiero Siciliano appeared in Dog World until Sottile Sr. renamed it as Cane Corso.

Back in the ‘80s cane corso had just survived from the brink of being extinct. The rural families and farmers still have and breed cane corsos were few indeed and there were not as many dogs. And amongst the small population of cane corso in rural Italy, there were dogs which were crosses and of mix-blood. It is not known that how Sottile Sr. differentiate the real subjects from dogs with questionable lineage. Neither how was the pedigree of these imported dogs being authenticated was known.

Although the names of the sire and dam of each imported litter were known, the farmers/breeders were never mentioned. Was it because as astute businessman it made good business sense for Sottile Sr. not to disclose his sources of supply – as it was mentioned: “Not to kill the Golden Goose”?

The foundation stock had many successes in the US rare breed shows. Assuming that there were 10 to 16 puppies in the litter imported, nearly 50% - 40% from the first import in 1988 are famous show champions in the US., known as the ‘Super Six’. But despite the achievement which the foundation stock had in the US rare breed show rings there have been no subsequent imports made from these yet-to-be-known rural farmers/breeders. Would it not be “for the betterment of the breed” to further import such proven strain for close associates or even disclose the sources to them?

The source(s) provided the breed information to Sottile Sr. has never been disclosed. It was said these farmers/breeders who provided the foundation stock care more for the functional and working abilities of their dogs. The process Sottile Sr. used to institute the ‘American’ breed standard was never made known. Nor has anyone elaborated on the process used. No proof exists to substantiate that the breed standard made by a single person initially for Branchiero Siciliano and subsequently for Cane Corso had reflect the ideal specimen of the real Corso subjects kept and bred by the villagers and farmers in rural Italy for centuries.

Prior to 1994, ENCI had not yet recognized cane corso as a breed. After ENCI recognition of the Cane Corso as an indigenous breed of Italy, cane corso breed judges are appointed exclusively by ENCI. Although there existed the Cane Corso breed standard, information about the Cane Corso Italiano during late ‘80s and early ‘90s is very little, even in Italian. Yet as early as 1989, the judges judging the foundation stock at the rare breed shows in the US were able to acquire sufficient information and expertise on the breed to award wins and championships, for example, to the ‘Super Six’. And they are not ENCI appointed cane corso breed judges.

Since 1991, Sottile Sr. was aware about SACC, their Cane Corso breed standard and their activities towards ENCI recognition of the breed. But SACC had no knowledge about him until he wrote to them requesting a relationship. SACC replied positively. But neither SACC nor Sottile Sr. had taken any follow up action. Thus there has been NO official relationship between SACC and Sottile Sr.

The Sottiles formed the Cane Corso Club of America (CCCA) in early ‘90s. CCCA was affiliated to Federation of International Canine Inc. (FIC), a private registry for canine breeds, especially the rare breeds, owned by the Sottiles. After separating from Kathy Sottile. Michael Sottile Sr. moved away from CCCA. But CCCA is still affiliated to FIC Inc., following the breed standard originally developed by Sottile Sr. and using the registry of privately owned FIC Inc. Kathy Sottile and Nancy Wilson are key officials of CCCA. Kathy Sottile is also key official of FIC Inc. and co-owned Masterpiece Cane Corso with Nancy Wilson. Both FIC Inc. and Masterpiece Cane Corso have web sites and email addresses for contact.

Neither Sottile Sr. nor CCCA mentioned anything about relationship with SACC. However, the name of Sottile Sr. is used by some so called corso-connoisseurs in the US propagating the story that Sottile Sr. had been officially sanctioned by SACC as the American Representative of SACC.

SACC has denied that Sottile Sr. is ever an American Representative of SACC. There has been no documental evidence known to date from Sottile Sr. and CCCA. Instead of official documentation on this subject from Sottile Sr. and CCCA, the ‘evidence’ cited comes from a book of the breed, "Il Cane Corso", written in Italian by G. Chiecchi and G. Gualteiri. There is a list of SACC Delegations in the 1st edition of this book published 1993 by De Vecchi, now out of print.  The content of this list shows SACC Delegations in Italy as well as 2 foreign SACC Delegations:

Delegazione Francia: Daniel Lorrian.

Delegazione Stati Uniti: Cane Corso Club of America, with Michael Sottile Sr., President of CCCA, listed as point of contact for CCCA.

Would Le Hodges, President of ICCF in 1996 be referred to as the American Representative of SACC instead of ICCF when the breed club in US was recognized by SACC?

And would any SACC Delegation use a very much different breed standard other than that of SACC? Sottile Sr. had not known to adhere nor accept the cane corso breed standard of SACC. CCCA has never change from using the original breed standard developed by Sottile Sr.

Then the ‘evidence’ changes to come from a letter written by Dott. Gandolfi, President of SACC to Mark Wilson. There is such a letter, and in this letter it states: “The only relationship we had with Mr. Michael Sottile who wrote us 3 to 4 years ago asking for support for a Cane Corso Club in the USA. We with trust, but also with superficiality, give him the assignment to establish a Cane Corso Club: we never had any news about him!” However, when mentioning this letter as ‘evidence’ by these so called corso-connoisseurs, the last sentence is conveniently omitted.

The significance of Sottile Sr. being appointed as the American representative is seen as the basis that his imported foundation stock have been recognized by SACC as cane corsos. Prior to recognition of the cane corso breed by ENCI in 1994, all dogs in Italy went through the certification process before being admitted into the temporary register of ENCI. Would ENCI/SACC made an exception to recognize dogs as cane corsos without having to go through any certification by ENCI appointed judges? Would it be logical to conclude that because Sottile Sr. was the American representative of SACC, his imported foundation stock does not required any certification by ENCI appointed judges and are automatically real corsos recognized by SACC?

Together with Ed Hodas in 1992, Mark Wilson formed the International Cane Corso Federation (ICCF), a cane corso breed club in the US. At the same time, an ICCF Registry was incorporated and owned by the same, independent from the breed club, to provide a registry for the breed. Both ICCF breed club and the privately owned ICCF Registry adopted and used a modified version of the original breed standard made by Sottile Sr. who passed away November 1994. The ICCF breed club and the ICCF Registry are separate entities. Both ICCF members and non-ICCF members may register their dogs with the privately owned ICCF Registry. This business entity accepts ENCI pedigree papers; it also recognizes private pedigree papers from other US private registries like that of FIC Inc. for registration. ICCF also uses AKC Foundation Stock Service (AKC-FSS), a recording keeping service for breeds not recognized by AKC. However there is no registry belonging to the ICCF club.

Mark Wilson went to Italy early 1995 and met up with SACC. Representing ICCF he negotiated with SACC an agreement that was for SACC to sponsor and recognize ICCF in USA. In May 1995, SACC officially recognized ICCF as the Cane Corso breed representative in the US. ICCF advertised such relationship with SACC until 1997. SACC officially terminated relationship with ICCF in April 1997.

ICCF, ICCF Registry, CCCA and FIC Inc. all based their breed standards on the original breed standard made by Sottile Sr. which defines the ideal specimen of the breed with less details, thus allowing more variants for the breed’s ideal dog. These standards are accepted within the community of the breed clubs – ICCF and CCCA – as oppose to the internationally accepted FCI Standard #343 for Cane Corso which defines the concept of the breed and the ideal Cane Corso specimen with working trial.

However, in the year 2000, ICCF and ICCF Registry made a drastic change of their breed standard, discarding those key features that are based on the original breed standard of Sottile Sr. and are diametrically opposite to that of the ENCI/FCI breed standard, to a breed standard similar to ENCI/FCI. It also found alliance in Associazione Italiana Cane Corso (AICC), a Cane Corso Italiano breed club in Italy. AICC has proposed changes to current ENCI Cane Corso Italiano breed standard that IMHO would make it easy to include the current ICCF breed standard. After failing to be recognized by ENCI as the parent breed club of Cane Corso Italiano in Italy, AICC has taken a step to further the relationship with ICCF by recognizing the ICCF champion-dogs and grand champion-dogs.

There are many breed clubs for cane corso in the US, each with their own breed standards and all associated with different breed registries. In addition to ICCF and CCCA, there are America Cane Corso Club of Today (ACCT), SACC in USA and SACC USA. Some of these clubs are dormant, and none has official relationship with SACC, the parent breed club in Italy.

Since 1997 in Italy, a cane corso must passed hip x-ray evaluation by AIVPA, the Italian Veterinary Association, as well as a working trial certification (Certificato di Attitudine al Lavoro – CAL 1) in order to be eligible for championship (Campionato Sociale). These practices continue until year 2000 when SACC stop being the ENCI recognized parent breed club. With SACC being recognized by ENCI again in 2003, there are steps in place to reinstate such practices.

In the US, most American cane corso breed clubs and privately owned registries do not have enforceable rulings on x-ray evaluation and temperament test. There is no requirement for FIC or ICCF cane corsos to pass x-ray evaluation and temperament test in order to become a show champion. Although there are individual breeders doing x-ray evaluation of their breeding stock, it is entirely up to each breeder’s decision and breeding practices.

An ICCF breeder stated openly in the Cane Corso Pages Bulletin Board (Tuesday, 02-Feb-99 18:45:04 posted by TDA of 209.240.200.48) that "Honorable and ethical thoroughbred horse breeding is done for money – BIG MONEY. (.....) Same for purebred anything else. As long as the health of the breed – and of the individual animal is priority #1 followed closely by concern for the customer, breeding animals for money is a widely accepted practice and is ‘proper’".

For commercial breeding, i.e. breeding dogs for money, there is always inherent conflict of profit versus the betterment of the breed. As long as market demand is more than supply, the $ profit can always accommodate concerns for customer and ethics. Once there is no more $ profit, what will happen? The breeders of the racing tracks greyhounds may breed them with concerns for customer and with ethics. But what happen to those greyhounds retired from the racing tracks?

Demand of cane corso in FCI countries have increased since FCI recognition of the Cane Corso breed leading to more commercial breeders jumping into the bandwagon, as already so in Italy. Many of the subjects bred have health issues in addition to many that have morphological faults. And in the US there are acceleration in number of Corso Italiano imported since year 2000, many by breeders for mixing with descendants from imports by Sottile Sr. to produce morphology of dogs closer to the ENCI/FCI Corso Italiano breed standard. Also in the US more and more dogs are bred to meet market demand that is currently multiple times that of FCI countries. It is never easy to regulate breed clubs to enforce ethical breeding practices. It is even more difficult to regulate and control breeders to follow ethical breeding practices, particularly when there is market demand to be met and $ profit to be made.

When a breed club is leaving it to the ethical practice of its individual member-breeder and unwilling to enforce breeding suitability of member-breeder’s breeding stock and to inspect and follow up on the litter produced, would it be working for betterment of the breed?

Popularity of the Dobermann and the Rottweiler, 2 working breeds in the US, has not resulted in betterment of the breed. Instead it becomes the benefit of commercial breeders who bred for $. Would it not make one wonder whether this breed will go the same route as the fate of working breeds like the Dobermann and the Rottweiler?

But whichever way the breed goes in the US and FCI countries, it is hope that this must be remembered: It is the group of Italian dog-lovers who rescued the Cane Corso from the brink of extinction. Most of them are in Italy today. Some of then may owned cane corsos but are not breeders. To them, Cane Corso is not just a breed, but a piece of the Italian past, a part of the Southern Italian tradition, culture and history.

 

 

Notes:

 

 

“Corso is a dialect word from Apuglia of Southern Italy meaning “robust”. The Puglia region is almost entirely agricultural. The “massarie”, farms which actually are like villages – independent, scattered among the mountains and hence isolated – remained until quite recently much as they always had been. The farmers from the “massarie” speak only their own dialect and no Italian. Their cane corsos, are used occasionally for hunting but almost entirely for guarding everything there was to be guarded. (Reference article “Rare Breeds: The Cane Corso” by Pamela Renai della Rena, July 1999 issue of Dogs In Review).

The rural families and farmers breed the cane corsos selectively for working abilities. Families with dogs of old blood lines are known to be heavily in-bred their dogs and their breeding methods are pass on for generations, only to be disclosed within the families.

 

During the rescue project, the ‘rustic dogs’ are mostly found in Molise, Apuglia and Basilicata, of the southern provinces of Italy. 2 dogs were found in Campania. Some dogs were found in Sicilia but with insufficient evidence to support them as cane corsos. None were found in Calabria and Abruzzo.

The group of dog-lovers who followed the suggestions of Prof. Giovanni Bonatti and initiated the rescue project are Prof. Fernando Casolino, Mr. Gianantonio Sereni, Dr. Stefano Gandolphi and Mr. Giancarlo Malavasi. With the exception of Mr. Malavasi, no one was a breeder at that time and on one is a breeder to date. Mr. G. Malavasi took the dogs selected into his farm, and distributed the dogs and puppies to other dog lovers of the breed who in their turn would give away to other dog-lovers of the breed the puppies.

 

With addition of Dr. Paolo Breber, Dr. Giovanni Ventura and Mr. Luciano Malavasi, they formed the first Board of Directors of SACC in October 1983.

 

The Cane Corso breed standard existed well before ENCI recognized the breed in 1994. From the data of the research and breed survey, Dr. Giovanni Ventura further examined 12 dogs and developed a summarized cane corso breed standard in 1983. In the book "IL Cane Corso" published in 1990 by L’ORSA there was a cane corso breed standard.

 

In addition to the 12 corsos from Apuglia presented to ENCI judge Dr. Giovanni Ventura, there were the following SACC meetings with ENCI in order to examine the breed and verify the standard:

-  In Casteso (Bologna), June 16, 1984, there were more than 10 dogs examined by ENCI judges Dr. Franco Bonetti, Dr. Antonio Morsiani and Dr. Mario       Perricone.

-  In Mantova, November 3, 1985, there were more than 20 dogs examined by ENCI judges Abele Barbati, Gainercole Mentasti, Antonio Morsiani, Mario Quadri, Mario Perricone and Giovanni Ventura.

-  In the international dog shows of Milan, Florence and Bari during 1988, there were more than 50 dogs examined by ENCI judges Dr. Guido Vandoni, Dr.       Antonio Morsiani and Dr. Nario Perricone.

 

There are requirements to be fulfilled before FCI would recognized a breed proposed by a member who is the national kennel club representing the country. One of the conditions is that the breed has minimum 8 bloodlines, each line 5 generations deep. Another is to have specimens of the breed presented for review by a FCI panel. In Arese (Milan) 22nd May 1996, ENCI and SACC presented to a panel of FCI judges, including the FCI President, Dr. Mueller, the following Corsos:

-  Quaron, Anita and Drupa (of Dyrium Kennel)

-  Griso and Alterego (of Murgese Kennel)

-  Ribaldo detto Logan (bred by Casa Paoletti, owned by Claudio Marzorati)

-  Simon (bred by G. Toselli, owned by Simona Tanzarella)

-  Argo (bred by Ceberus Kennel, owned by A. Bertin)

-  Sara, Sylver, Karl, Circe and Dago (of Cerberus Kennel)

-  Boris (bred by degli Olmi Kennel, owned by Renzo Carosio of Val D’Erro Kennel).

 

 

Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) is an international organization of kennel clubs. Each member of FCI is the national kennel club representing their respective country, one member per country. Contrary to a widespread idea, the FCI HAS NO CANINE REGISTRY and DOES NOT ISSUE ANY PEDIGREE CERTIFICATE. In addition it keeps no records of breeders addresses. The national kennel clubs who are FCI members maintain their own registries, issue their own pedigree certificates and train their own judges. The FCI makes sure that there is mutual recognition by all the FCI members regarding the pedigree certificates and the judges.

 

The FCI has reciprocal agreement with American Kennel Club (AKC), Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) and The Kennel Club of United Kingdom. The FCI members and AKC, CKC, as well as The Kennel Club of UK mutually recognize the pedigree certificates they issued. However, NO pedigree certificate from privately owned canine registries or breed specific registries are recognized and honoured by FCI member countries. For example, in Italy, ENCI is the FCI member who maintains registry, issues pedigree papers, and licensed judges and in Japan it is the Japan Kennel Club. ENCI issued pedigree paper is recognized and accepted by all other FCI member for registration of dog, e.g. dog with ENCI pedigree paper is accepted by  Japan Kennel Club for registration. Dogs registered with FCI country member, e.g. with ENCI or Japan Kennel Club or Federacion Canofila de Puerto Rico (FCPR), should be able to participate in FCI sponsored shows.

 

FCI has recognized 344 breeds. Each FCI recognized breed is the "property" of a specific country, usually its country of origin. The "owner" country of the breed writes the breed standard (description of the ideal type of the breed), in cooperation with the Standards and Scientific Commission of the FCI. The translations into English, French, Spanish and German languages and the updating are carried by the FCI. These breed standards are in fact the reference on which the judges based themselves when judging in shows held in FCI member countries. For example, Cane Corso Italiano is an indigenous canine breed in Italy, i.e. the country of origin is Italy. CCI was recognized as the 14th national breed by ENCI January 1994. ENCI has a CCI breed standard, developed by Dr. Morsiani and approved by ENCI in 1987. This ENCI CCI breed standard was formatted into FCI format when FCI recognized CCI in November 1996. It is the FCI Cane Corso Italiano breed standard #343 RECOGNIZED INTERNATIONALLY by every national kennel clubs who are FCI members. ENCI owns, writes and maintains the FCI Cane Corso Italiano breed standard and FCI translates this CCI breed standard into 4 languages: English, French, Spanish and German. Every member country conducts international shows as well as working trials. The results are sent to the FCI where they are input to computers. When a dog has been awarded a certain number of awards, it can receive the title of International Beauty or Working Champion. These titles are confirmed by the FCI. FCI also keeps a list of all the judges appointed by its national kennel club members.

For organizational structure, the FCI has Executive Committee and General Committee as well as compulsory and non-compulsory Commissions. The compulsory FCI Commissions are Standards, Scientific and Legal.

 

The main FCI activities can be summarized as:

*  Updating and translation of the breed standards into four languages: French, English, Spanish and German;

*  Translation and updating of the various international regulations, an example will be ‘Prohibition of commercial dog trading’ in the NOTE below;

*  Keep records of the results of international shows where the CACIB ( Certificat d’Aptitude au Championnat International de Beaute) is awarded;

*  Keep records of the results of different working trials with awarding of

    -  CACIT (Certificat d’Aptitude au Championnat International de Travail)

    -  CACIL (Certificat d’Aptitude au Championnat International des Courses de Levriers)

    -  CACIOB (Certificat d’Aptitude au Championnat International d’Obeissance)

    -  CACIAG (Certificat d’Aptitude au Championnat International d’Agility);

*  Confirmation of the titles of International Champion for Beauty, Working, Obedience, Agility and Coursing.

*  Keep records of and provide input to the FCI members the list of judges internationally licensed to award CACIB in international shows;

*  International protection of kennel names;

*  Set up the calendar of the international dog shows.

This information and more about the FCI can be found at http://www.fci.be/english/

 

 

1st litter of imported dogs in 1988 by Sottile Sr. was out of sire Turiddu x dam Saracena; 2nd litter imported in 1989 was out of sire Pippidu x dam Sarafina; and 3rd litter imported in 1990 was out of sire Argato x dam Zara. Each litter was from a different farmer/breeder. In the video "Dogs That Protect" it was stated that Sottile Sr. imported the foundation stock in 1988 and 1989 from Sicily and in 1990 from area near Napoli, Campania (mentioned by Jim Johnson, Thursday, 14-Jan-99, in the Cane Corso Pages Bulletin Board).

 

 

To the Italian amatori of cane corso, Branchiero Siciliano and Cane Corso are different. But it seems they are one and the same according to Sottile Sr.. Does the imported foundation stock, the Branchiero Siciliano and the Cane Corso all look the same? There are breeders and dog-lovers in the US who think so. But webmaster Christian Ferraro, a molosser consultant and cane corso lover, thinks not. The Cane Corso Pages web site has a page, "Italian Molosser Breeds", with information about Branchiero Siciliano, Vuccerisco (butcher dog of Sicily), Mezzocorso, Mezzosangue and Mezzolevriero (which are cane corso x maremmano abruzzese, x segugio, x levriero respectively). Dott. Flavio Bruno also thinks not as can be seen in his various books that describing Branchiero together with Cane di Mannera etc. as other Southern Italain breeds. In his latest book, he even showed photographs of these other Southern Italian breeds including Brnachiero as a separate chapter. And Sig. Giovanni Tumminelli of Sicily certainly does not think that Branchireo is synonymous with Cane Corso. In the books he had written with Dott. Flavio Bruno, he provided evidences that the name Corso was used in Sicily as early as the 16th century and also a ‘breed description’ of Branchiero with characteristics of parallel planes of skull & muzzles, muzzle length 40% of total head length, longer & softer hair.

 

 

There have been no ENCI appointed Cane Corso breed judge known to judge cane corsos in rare breed shows of the US until the 21 century. One of the earlier judges who judged cane corsos in the US rare breed show is owner of a web page in Brazil (MACM Kennels). In his web page he showed the pictures of dogs placed as first in rare breed shows which he had judged, mostly in USA. The first picture was a dog named Jazz and stated as first place Cane Corso in Washington DC Show 1997. But Jazz shown in the picture is a Presa Canario owned by Dr. Antonio Gallardo of Gran Tenerife Kennels in Puerto Rico and he has full-length tail.

 

 

Since 1991, Sottile Sr. was aware about SACC, the SACC Cane Corso breed standard and their effort to have ENCI recognized Cane Corso as a breed. As it was mentioned in page 63 of the book, A Celebration of Rare Breeds Volume II by Cathy J. Flamholtz, published in 1991 by OTR Publications, I quote: "Fanciers joined together to form a breed club. Soon they had formulated a standard and were holding specialty shows for the Corso. Because the Italian breed standards are so complex, it was necessary to take detailed measurements and compare the virtues and faults of all dogs present. The result of this survey was turned over to the E.N.C.I. (the Italian Kennel Club), which then granted the breed temporary acceptance. Full recognition is expected shortly."

 

 

SACC officially terminated relationship with ICCF by SACC letter to ICCF dated April 24, 1997. Reasons given by SACC in the letter were: ICCF failure to conform to the Italian Cane Corso Breed Standard and the disregard of SACC requirements indicated in a letter sent to ICCF. I am given to understand that the SACC requirements were: 1) adhere to SACC/ENCI Cane Corso Breed Standard by end 1996; 2) avoid using of privately owned registry for cane corso, use registry free from any personal business; and 3) change the ICCF logo to be in line with the SACC logo as the dog in ICCF logo does not reflect the features of cane corso.

 

 

What is a breed standard? It is not just a description of the breed. It is the description of the ideal   specimen representing the concept of the breed. The more defined is the breed standard the clearer is the target for the breeders. There are generally 3 methods in which standard of a breed is derived:

-   The arithmetic average of the population that could be a good method for a very homogeneous population

-   The description of the one very best dog of the population that could be very dangerous because of the risk that most subjects of the population do not conform to the standard

-   The description of the best dogs of the population which has no inherent weakness of the above 2 methods.

As stated by Dr. Stefano Gandolphi, past-President of SACC for 17 years: “The cane corso breed Standard was derived based on the description of the best dogs found in the cane corso population at that time, from a deep knowledge of the breed, of the tradition, of the history, of the socio-economic contest and of the country related to the breed. This knowledge is the result of long and deep research during the years and across the country that only people who live in Italy, speak Italian and know the  country, its people and its history could have”.

 

 

“Since arrivals, the breed has been primarily used as family pet or show dog at rare breed show.” (as mentioned in Stoncrusher Cane Corso web site as at mid-December 1998).

 

 

As at November 22, 2001, ICCF OFA/Penn-Hip Score page shows 54 dogs in ICCF Registry are being OFA evaluated. Out of these 54 dogs (6 rated ‘Excellent’, 33 rated ‘Good’ and 15 rated ‘Fair’. There are also 11 OFA preliminaries being done, 8 rated ‘Good’ and 3 rated ‘Fair’. It is noted that during the period 1/94 to 11/96, in OFA database, 88 cane corsos are rated (28 males and 60 females). The results are 9 ‘Excellent’, 44 ‘Good’, 31 ‘Fair’, 1 ‘Moderate HD’ and 1 ‘Severe HD’). OFA published the results of dogs evaluated if they are normal, i.e. rated as Fair and above and only published the results of those rated below normal when owner agreed to do so. ICCF page shows 8 dogs rated elbow ‘Normal’ and OFA database shows 25 dogs rated elbow ‘Normal’. As at November 22, 2001, ICCF page shows 18 dogs in ICCF Registry are PennHip evaluated. The DI (Distraction Index) out of these 18 dogs, 1 ‘below 0.30’, 3 ‘between 0.30 – 0.39’, 2 ‘between 0.40 – 0.49’ 7 ‘between 0.50 – 0.59’, 5 ‘between 0.60 – 0.69’ and 1 ‘between 0.70 to 0.79’. PennHip DI is on the scale of 0.1 to 1.0. Dogs with DI below 0.3 will not develop DJD (Degenerative Joint Disease, a confirmation of dysplasia). But for every 0.1 point above the PennHip DI of 0.3, the risk is 3 times than the previous DI to develop DJD, e.g. 0.4 is 3 times more risky than that for 0.3, 0.5 is 9 times, 0.6 is 27 times and 0.7 is 81 times. Also PennHip does not publicize ratings but only informed the owner the results of the dog that is being PennHip evaluated. “Because the number of Corsos tested have not reached 20 yet, PennHip cannot get a good comparison within the breed and as a result, the Corsos are being compared to the other 17,271 dogs Penn hipped” (Misty Barker, July 1998, the Cane Corso Pages Bulletin Board). There is certainly an increase in the number of OFA and Penn-Hip evaluated cane corsos. But what would be the percentage of dogs that are OFA and Penn-Hip evaluated of the total population of cane corsos currently in the US?

 

 

 

 

References:

 

 

"A Celebration of Rare Breeds Volume II" by Cathy J. Flamholtz, published in 1991 by OTR Publications.

"The Original Owner’s Manualon on the Cane Corso – Italian Mastiff" by Patricia A. Guenther, Granite Ledge Cane Corsos, published in 1994.

"IL Cane Corso" by G. Cheicchi and G. Gualtieri, 1st edition published in 1993 by De Vecchi (in Italian), 3rd edition in 1997.

"IL Cane Corso – Origini e Prospettive Del Molosso Italico" by F. Casolino and G. Gandolphi, published in 1996 by Mursia (in Italian with English translation by Countess Pamela Renai della Rena).

"IL Cane Corso – Ritratto Del Molosso D’Italia, Tra Storia, Morfologia E Lavoro" by Anna and Giancarlo Malavasi published in 1998 by Editoriale Olimpia (in Italian).

"IL Cane Corso – studiato nellarazza, nella storia, nellafamiglia, e nella societa" by Flavio Bruno published in 2002 by Arti Grafiche La Regione (in parallel text of Italian and English)

Periodico della Societa Amatori Cane Corso, March 1998 issue.

Cane Corso breeder advertisements in Dog USA, 1998 and 1999.

Issues of Dog World magazine, 1990 to 1999.

Article "Rare Breeds: The Cane Corso" by Pamela Renai della Rena, July 1999 issue, Dogs In Review.

ICCF web site – http://www.canecorso.org prior to March 1, 1999.

Web sites of various ICCF member-breeders.

The Cane Corso Pages web site – http://www.petshop.dk/corsopages/

Private communications with Mr. Christian Ferraro and Dr. Stefano Gandolphi.  

 

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