WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
“The Cane Corso's genealogy can be traced back to the Canis Pugnax, the Roman War dog of the first century.
They would accompany their handler onto the battlefields where they would act as an unprecedented guardian. The tenaciousness of this dog was so extreme they were used in the arenas to fight against lions, bears, and other wild animals.”
The recovery of the Cane Corso breed begins.
The SACC - The Society Amatori Cane Corso, is formed by Dr. Breber and five others. The breed standard is published in Dr. Giovanni Ventura book -"Il Cano Corso".
ENCI assigns Dr. Antonio Morsiani to draft a standard for the Cane Corso. Based on the evaluation of about 90 Corsi, Basir and his sister were used as the male and female prototypes for the standard.
1970's
1983
1957
Professor Giovanni Bonatti publishes the first article that mentioned the need to save the Cane Corso breed.
1980
Public interest in the breed strengthens
the recovery process.
1984
The SACC contacts ENCI to start the process of recognizing the Cane Corso as a breed.
the recovery process.
1986
1994
ENCI recognizes the Cane Corso as the 14th Italian breed.1994: Nancy Sottile, ex-wife of Mike Sottile Sr., took over the FIC registry.
A survey was done on more than 50 Corsos from several different locations throughout Italy to compare their resemblance to the newly proposed standard. ENCI was then presented with the results.
1988
USA 1988
Mike Sottile Sr. (a Neapolitan Mastiff breeder from the US) imports a litter of 6 pups from a farmer in Sicily that he calls the rare "Sicilian Branchiero". Later that same year, he drafts his own breed standard for the Sicilian Branchiero and registers all his imports with his privately owned registry - FIC (Federation of International Canines).
ENCI allows Open Book Certification for adults that are consistent with the
standard. A total of 561 Cane Corsos were certified by ENCI approved judges. In order to be approved, the dogs had to be inspected by two ENCI certified
judges. Pups born from two certified parents were eligible for registration in Open Book as well as any offspring born from these dogs.
1990
1988-1990
Mike Sottile Sr. continues to import Sicilian Branchieros. Somewhere within these years, the name of the dogs he imported and registered as Sicilian Branchiero was changed to Cane Corso.
Mark & Tracy Wilson and Ed & Kristie Hodas (Belmonte Kennels) form the International Cane Corso Federation in the United States. The Wilsons and The Hodas' open and incorporate a privately owned, for profit, registry for the Cane Corso named the ICCF Registry.
1992 / 1993
1995
Mark Wilson & others travel to Italy on several occasions. During one trip to Italy, Mark Wilson meets with S.A.C.C. in an attempt to obtain recognition for the ICCF as the approved American breed club.
1996
The Cane Corso is presented to FCI and is recognized on an international level. (Please note that FCI is an internationally known registry while FIC is a privately owned registry in the U.S.).
Mark Wilson leaves the ICCF for personal reasons. The ICCF club and registry are separated. The Hodas' (Bel Monte) take ownership over the ICCF Registry.
Late 1995 - 1996
1997
SACC sends letter to ICCF stating they have no interest in recognizing the ICCF as the American breed club for the Cane Corso due to failures to meet SACC requirements.
ENCI removes SACC as the official breed club for the Cane Corso. To date, there is no officially recognized breed club for the Cane Corso in Italy.
1999
2000
ICCF revised their standard to more closely resemble that of the FCI standard for the Cane Corso Italiano.
ENCI turns down the AICC and once again recognizes SACC as the official breed club for the Cane Corso
2003 / 2004
1987
The official standard of the Cane Corso is approved by ENCI.
"The American Kennel Club® (AKC®) is pleased to welcome the Cane Corso, Icelandic Sheepdog and Leonberger as the 165th, 166th, and 167th AKC recognized breeds."
2010
AKC recognizes the Cane Corso.
Royal Guardian Cane Corso is founded and
begins their quest for enrichment and progression of the breed. The primary bloodlines used were that of Bel Monte
and Rivale working family stock.
2011
AKC CH Ruckus Farrar
AKC no longer accepts ICCF registered
Cane Corso.
2015
HISTORY
The Cane Corso (KAH-neh-KOR-soh; plural: Cani Corsi) belongs to a subcategory of working breeds called mollosus dogs, or mollosers, named for the Molossi, an ancient Greek tribe thought to have bred giant, big-boned guardian dogs of Mastiff type. At the height of the Roman Empire’s power, the legions that subdued and occupied the Greek islands brought mollosers back to Italy and bred them to native Italian breeds.
The offspring produced by these crosses were ancestors of the modern Corso and it’s larger relative, the Neapolitan Mastiff. The original Corsi were used as dogs of conquest who earned their stripes as “pireferi,” fearless dogs who charged enemy lines with buckets of flaming oil strapped to their backs. It is supposed that these early Corsi were bigger, more lumbering dogs than today’s sleeker version, which moves with a catlike grace.
With the dissolution of the Western Empire in the fifth century, Italy’s legions and their dogs were out of work. Corsi adapted to such civilian jobs as wild boar hunting, farming, livestock droving, and most famously, guarding farmsteads and henhouses. The Corso was for centuries a familiar sight on the farms and pastures dotting the Italian countryside. But the effects of constant invasions of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, economic and political upheavals, and mechanized farming conspired to reduce the Corso population to precariously low numbers. By the mid-20th century, the breed was all but extinct.
Specimens did survive, however, in Italy’s back country. In the 1970s, a group of Italian fanciers banded together to revive the breed of their rustic ancestors. The Society Amorati Cane Corso (Society of Cane Corso Lovers) was formed in 1983, and by the following decade Corsi were being exhibited in European dog shows. The first Corso import arrived in America in 1988, and in 2010 the breed was recognized by the AKC.