Cane Corso History: From Ancient Italy to the Brink of Extinction

The Cane Corso blood is filled with the instinct to protect. This instinct has been instilled over many centuries, going back to when huge war dogs marched into battle with Roman legions.

However, don't expect to see a roaring display or fangs at any threat. Janet Gigante, a breeder of these dogs, observed that a man was interested in purchasing a puppy and came to her home in upstate New York.

Rocky, Rocky, was one of her favorite pets and took a shine towards the visitor. He leaned against Rocky, happy to be petted. Gigante says that the guy was "in heaven".

The 130-pound dog walked slowly to another area of the room, seemingly unaware of all the other things going on.

Rocky didn't seem to notice that the visitor stood up. It looked like he was snoozing while he walked a few feet toward five-foot-two-inch Gigante.

Everything was going well until the stranger started to think about his ideal canine companion.

"This man was a large man and he was talking to his hands, raising his arms above his head, and describing how he liked big dogs," Gigante said. Rocky saw this from the corner of his eyes and ran to me. Then he ran to the man and started to lean on him, pushing him away a little. The guy said, "My God, this dog is amazing!" He wants me to pet him.

Gigante nearly didn't have enough courage, to tell the truth. "I told him, 'You don’t know what happened. Rocky was watching you from afar and saw that you raised your hands. He then came back to me and protected me...by pushing you away."

The breed's hallmark is its understated coolness and competence. This is what you would expect from a professional bodyguard. The Latin words cohorts and canis, which are both dogs, could be used to translate the breed's name as bodyguard-dog.

Protective Personality

This is what attracts many people to the Cane Corso Puppies. It's difficult to understand the breed unless you have seen it in person. Many of today's dog lovers will openly admit that they didn't think much about these dogs until they got the chance to see one in person.

Diane Connors, Cane Corso Breeders, describes Prince as a "very noble-looking animal" and cites him as the first Corso she met at a rare-breed event in the 1990s. He was confident, calm, and approachable. He was not a tail-wagging type of howdy dog. ... Not the type who will jump on your lap.

DiGuardia’s Prince del Cerberus was the dog. He was one of the foundation studs in America. Connors had previously owned Rottweilers. She adopted an 11-week-old puppy from Prince's litter in 1995. It was a brindle bitch named Francesca. Since then, she has had Corsi. Today, Connors lives with 10 of her dogs. She was everything I could have hoped for. She was amazing-- intelligent, sensitive, loved children, had a very kind heart, and was just a wonderful dog.

Francesca and Prince were perfect examples of the Cane Corso ideal. He was imported from Italy's Cerberus Kennels, where these dogs were first bred centuries ago.

Dogs from Ancient Italy

The Neapolitan, and the Cane Corso, are native Italian mastiffs. They descend from Roman war dogs, called the canis pugnaces. According to Cane Corso historian Michael S. Ertaskiran, these dogs are thought to be descendants of the original mollosians. These were the giant dogs of ancient Greece's Epirus. The president of the Cane Corso Association of America is Ertaskiran.

Roman soldiers brought the dogs home to Macedonia during the Macedonian Wars and started breeding them. This would lead to two distinct warriors: the lighter Cane Corso, and the Neapolitan. These canine soldiers were, according to all accounts, fearless. Many of these dogs were used to fight enemy lines as piriferi. They carried buckets of flamingo on their backs and charged through the terrain with their oily oil.

Rome fell in A.D.476 leaving these dogs of fire-bearing combat with little to do. The skills acquired during empire-building were able to translate well into peacetime. Cane Corsi played vital roles in the role of guards, hunters, or all-around farmhands. There was no task too hard, dangerous or dull, whether it was protecting homes or livestock, flushing badgers and porcupines, hauling heavy wagons, or chasing wild boar.

The Corso accomplished it all, even difficult tasks in animal-husbandry. When giving birth, sows can hide in thickets and become fiercely protective of their offspring, just like every mother. The Corso was responsible for distracting the sow by grasping her ears or nose, allowing the farmer to get in on the action and grab the piglets.

The Cane Corso became part of the landscape, just like the indomitable olives that dot the Italian landscape. The Corso, like the olive tree, evolved into many regional varieties and became an integral part of Italy's identity.

Although it is not known what caused this, changes in farming practices during the 19th and 20th centuries made it impossible for them to find work. Their decline was accelerated by two world wars, and the Cane Corso had almost disappeared by the end of the century.

Recovering from the brink of extermination

These dogs still lived in places, however. They were the hearts and memories of children who grew up in areas where Cane Corsi could continue to do centuries-old tasks. A small group of men decided in the 1970s to bring back the dogs of their forefathers. Vito Indiveri was one of these men. He was a traveling salesman and came from a family that had been horse merchants and carters. These occupations required strong, agile mastiffs until the machines overtook them.

"The farm was where I first saw them, back in 1977 or 1978. Indiveri spoke to Ertaskiran in an interview. "I recognized them and was shocked: They were actually them, my grandfather’s dogs." Indiveri traveled all across Italy to work at dairy farms. "As a traveling salesman, I didn't go into cities. But I traveled in the countryside all the way to Puglia and Molise, Calabria and Lucania. As I worked, I realized that many of my clients were Corsi.