History of the Cane Corso

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Epirus was a country of ancient Greece, on the Ionian Sea-- now NW Greece and S Albania. It was inhabitated from very early
times by Epirote tribes. The different tribes were molded into a unified state under the hegemony of one of them: the Molossi (Molossians), whose chiefs became the paramount rulers in the fourth century BC.

The Molossian king Alexander I, invaded Italy and died there, but the kingdom
persisted and grew. It reached its height in the third century BC, under Pyrrhus, who sought to make conquests in Italy, Macedonia and Greece.

The Molossians used large size wardogs in warfare. Their wardogs are believed to have descended from the now extinct Tibetan Mastiff (Described by Marco Polo as "large as donkeys"). These dogs might be the basis of all the Italian molossoid breeds - named after and antique tribe called the Molossians.

The Greeks colonized Italy starting on the Ionian coast, and brought with them
the basis of much of our civilization: mathematics, the wineplant, the art of
gastronomy and Molosser dogs.

When the Roman Empire conquered Italy, they soon discovered the
Molossoid dogs' power as war and fighting dogs. They worked very seriously and purposefully to improve the breed in the second and first centuries BC. They developed what we today call the Canis pugnax (the Roman Wardog) which they used in warfare as well as in dog fights in the theaters (in fights against other animals such as
lions, bears etc. as well as humans)

Statue of Canis pugnax

Roman Emperor Ceasar, with molossers, F. Schutzenberg (Property of Rome Museum) Photo V. Velli.

The Canis pugnax became the progenitor of the Italian molossoid dogs: Cane
Corso, and its local varieties - Mastino Napolitano, Dogo Sardo, Cane Di
Mannera, Branchiero Siciliano, and the Sicilian Vuccerisco.

The appearance of Canis pugnax in antique statues and mosaic works is well documented. They have a striking likeness with our
Cane Corsos, which apparently haven't changed much in the 2000 years that have passed since the days of the Roman Empire. The Canis pugnax were muscular and powerful without any excess of weight. They were very mobile and had staying power. Mentally they must have been very aggressive.

These molossers from the Roman Sarcophagi relief (200 BC) have astonishing resemblance with Cane Corso.

Fortunately, the dogs survived the fall of the Roman Empire, and the rural population soon appreciated the dogs' working abilities.

Now we come to the name "Cane Corso," which is documented in Erasmo di
Valvasone's (1523-1593) poem "la Caccia" (The hunt) from 1591. Another poet Giovanni Battista Marino (1569-1625) mentiones Cane Corso, in his book "La Sampogna":

"I veltri e i Franchi, sono i primi alla pesta. Piú lontani e piú lenti vengon i Alani e i corsi. Seguono i medi e i persi temerari e ardentati."

 

"Cane" is from the Latin Canis = dog. There are two hypotheses about the origin of the word "Corso". One is that the Corso originates from the Greek word "Kortos", which means property enclosed with a fence. So Cane Corso would mean "Dog That Guards The Property.
(In fact there are still some Greek words found in Southern Italian dialects.) In The Puglia region the derivative meaning of Corso is, "Coarse, robust and strong," because this was the character of the dogs. A Pugliesian proverb is "Forte come un Corso," which means "strong as a Corso", and was used to describe strong men. In the Molisian and Abruzzan dictionary from 1968, You can look up the breedname "Cane Corso: Guard dog from Campobasso"
The other possibility is that Corso is taken from the Latin word "Cohors" which means protector or bodyguard. No one knows if the name, Cane Corso, existed before or during the Roman Empire or if it originated later.

Since the fall of the Roman Empire, the Cane Corso has been used for multifarious tasks throughout all of the S Italian region where the breed was very common. There were local varieties and depending on the dialect they were called: Cane Corso, Can' Curs, Can' Guzzo, Cane-E-Presa, or simply Molosso. Furthermore, the breed was named after its use Cane Di Maccelaio (Buthcer's dog) or Cane di Carretiere (Driver's dog) etc.

A gurdian with his Cane Corso. Lucera, year 1920.

Cane Corso Boarhunting, Geografic map of Abruzzo/Adriatic Coast. Mid 1700.

The use of the breed was very diversified. The primary task was the guarding of property and protection of cattle against wolves and cattle thieves. When the dogs protected the cattle, they wore an iron collar to protect them against wolves. This spiny collar was called "Vraccale"

Antique Cane Corso Vraccale

 

For decades, the Cane Corso has been used for hunting large game such as boar, wolf and bear. The hunting of these animals were very popular among the nobles. Usually they used both trcking dogs (Segucio) and Cane Corso together.

They also were used for hunting (The now extinct) Italian forest cat, badger and porcupine. Their hunting instinct was, and still is, very developed and often they brought back a good meal for the shepherds.

Cane Corso Bearhunting, Geografic map of Abruzzo/Adriatic Coast. Mid 1700.

Cane Corsos hunting badger

 

 

 

Hunting scene from a Ventian Villa (1400-1500) Note the headshape of the dark dog. Yes its a Cane Corso.

Cane Corso was a popular breed among butchers, who used the dogs as assistants. The dog would help to control and move the cattle before slaughtering. Then it would be ready to help the butcher to block the animals if the slaughtering went wrong. In Italy they slaughtered with knife, and they only slaughtered bulls since cows were needed for the production of milk. If the "operation" went wrong the bull would become very dangerous and the dog would immediatly stop it by biting its nose or lips and force it on its knees.

Cane Corso Bullbaiting, Geografic map of Campania & Molise. Year 1743

In some places they believed that the quality of the meat would be better if the bull had "run tender". This happened in special yards were the bull was ttacked by a couple of Corsos. Bullbaiting became popular and and often the butcher could earn some extra money by selling entrance tickets to this particular "show".

Cane Corso Bullbaiting. Pinelli, Rome 1829

The Cane Corso was also wery popular among drivers who transported crops and valuables through Italy. The dogs ran beside the cart and protected both the driver and the goods against highwaymen. Even the noble people used the dogs for protection when they travelled trough Italy in stagecoach.

Cane Corso from the 1940's (Photo R. Carosio)

During the modernisation of agricultural production in this century, the need for the breed decreased, and the number of the population fell drastically. This previously widely distributed breed decreased in number and became more rare. From the 50's up to the early 80's the breed was kept alive by a few shepherds, cattlemen, hunters and farmers in the most isolated parts of S Italy (Puglia and Calabria). They were simple people and bred working dogs by the methods handed over generations (The dogs were carefully selected and they only used the strongest puppies from the litter. This way they avoided dogs with physical or mental abnormalitites).

The female Cane Corso "Anatella" from Caserta area. The picture was given to Mr. Valerio Velli, by the hunters' granddaughter. The picture is from 1935 or 1936.

From left to right 1: Cane Corso 1950's. 2: Cane Corso 1940's. 3: Cane Corso 1950's.

Below: Cane Corso from the 1960's (All photos Mr. R. Carosio)

Note the shape of earcrop - as Great Dane or Dobermann. Might have been "ear-crop-fashion" in those years

 

The old Bloodlines

One of the bloodlines were the famous "Leone" dogs. Umberto Leone told that his Cane Corso stayed in the family for generations. He got them from his father who got them from his father and so on. In the Leone family they practiced inbreeding, (Grandfather X granddaughter and uncle X niece as closest inbreeding) This was the way they controlled the quality of their dogs. Here are some pictures of the Leone dogs.

Mr. Umberto Leone, cattleman, with his dog Leone. Photo from the sixties

We wish to thank Mr. Carosio for permission to publish these pictures from his book "Il Cane Corso".

Leone Cane Corsos in the sixties

 

 

Leone's Geda with litter

 

Mr. Leone's dogs are just one of the original bloodlines left in the eighties. I only mentioned these dogs because these photos can prove a bloodline going back in time. Other legendary bloodlines are, just to mention few, Caldarola family, Cilla family, and one that we may never forget the Principe family. I think Matteo Principe's male Cane Corso "Jimmy" is one of the greatest Cane Corso I have seen ever (but sadly I never made it to see him alive).

Matteo Pricipe's Jimmy Photo by Mr. Flavio Bruno

 

The New Bloodlines

In the middle of the 70's the Italian cynologist, Dr. Paolo Breber, knew about the existence of the breed and in the 80's an initiative for the rescue and recognition of one of the oldest Italian breeds was undertaken. The Italian Cane Corso Society S.A.C.C. was later founded, and hard work began. Cane Corso was recognized by the Italian Kennel Club E.N.C.I in 1992 and finally in December 12, 1996, the breed was recognized by the FCI and got its standard: No 343. A more accurate description of the breed rescue will be uploaded before summer 1998.

The great Cane Corso, which until a few years ago was bred purely for its usefulness, is now becoming a popular breed. What seems to attract people is its working qualitites, its intelligence and high trainability. It's a powerful dog that can instinctively differentiate between dangerous situations and those that are not.

Today the population is increasing and the breed has been imported to Germany, the U.K., France, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Russia and Denmark. The breed has also become popular in the United States, and there seems to by a high number of Cane Corso in the US. Unfortunately, most of the US Cane Corso are not typical and do not correspond with the original standard. A problem which leaves a lot of question marks today and for the future...

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