Breed History

Tracing back to bloodlines of the “Canis Pugnax” and Neapolitan Mastiff, the Cane Corso originated in Italy. This magnificent breed was used for catching pigs, cattle, boar and certainly being a great guard dog. Today, the Cane Corso still reminds people vividly of its historic uses, but is commonly kept as a family companion and watchdog all over the USA.

Breed Appearance

Where there is a Cane Corso, there is always someone making a “double-take” and that is due to the strong presence and attention that this breed demands with its appearance. Males 24-27 inches tall and weighing in between 100-120 pounds, females closely come in at a height average of 23-25 inches and weigh approximately 85-100 pounds, this breed is very large. Please note, males and females may be smaller or larger than show standard and still be purebred. Built with very long, lean legs leading up to a large and broad chest, the Cane Corso is full of muscle and endurance. This breed carries a “block head” with a square, longer muzzle, that is equal in length as it is to the depth. Their ears are triangular and fall delicately at the side of their face unless cropped. Though this breed does have very thick skin, they should not have too many wrinkles on their face and body. The few wrinkles that they carry on their face and body should be easily seen, but not completely folded such as the “English Bulldog” would have. Cane Corso’s have hair that is strong and short that always demonstrates a natural shine. This breed is available in black, fawn of different variations, tubby (very unique pattern), slate, plum, and blue-grey.

Breed Temperament

Do not misunderstand the Cane Corso for being a working dog back when it originated, this breed worked very hard on the farms to catch livestock, and to guard their owners property, but never was used as a “fighting dog” and that is due to this breed not being the fighting type. Large and assertive however, this breed will never go searching for a dispute. Very quiet and calm indoors, gentle and docile around small children and other pets. The Cane Corso is extremely well balanced in personality and pays close attention to what you will ask of him or her. This breed is recommended for families with elderly or small children and other pets. Due to their size, positive reinforcement methods are highly recommended and it is important to raise this breed as a puppy to know boundaries within your home and rules to follow. The Cane Corso is known to stay close to home, this breed does not like to wander from its home or family. Extraordinarily loyal, this breed will jump in front of you to save your life if need be, this is why making a lifelong commitment to this breed is very important, because you are guaranteed that exact same promise from your dog. Surprisingly enough, this breed is perfectly okay for apartment living as long as he or she receives a daily long walk!

Breed Grooming

Brush and bathe only when needed. This breed sheds lightly. Due to their jaw, this breed can drool during the hot months and most likely as it ages and skin becomes looser.

Special Notes

This breed bonds closely with the family it grows to love from the puppy stage and it can be extremely hard for this breed to have to try and bond or adapt with other families. Please fully educate yourself about this breed prior to adding a Cane Corso to your family to ensure that you can make a life long promise to this breed as it will most certainly do for your family. It is highly recommended that you have a properly, safe fenced in yard for your dog to be in when he or she is unsupervised outside. Do not add this breed to your family unless you are able to provide life long physical and financial care. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.

Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2024. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.