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The breed history of the Cane Corso.
The Mediterranean region is well known for its many different Molosser breeds and subtypes. In the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, we find Italy, which most likely has the most Molosser breeds and subtypes. This is not surprising, considering the location of the country and its history.
If we look back in time, the period after the Roman Empire, Italy, and especially the southern part of Italy, have been “owned” and occupied by many other kingdoms.
In the late 11th century Sicily was conquered from the Muslims. Without going too deep into details we can tell you that Sicily and southern Italy belonged to the Kingdom of Sicily, the same area, including Sardinia, belonged to the Kingdom of Aragon, in the 1400’s, while later the area (without Sardinia) was known as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In the mid to late 1800’s the different regions and kingdoms of Italy was “gathered” to what we today know as the country of Italy.
Logically we can assume that the dogs belonging to the different parties that have invaded and/or ruled Italy in the past, have played at least some part in forming and developing the large variety of dog breeds and subtypes in Italy. To not believe so would be ignorant and not logical, maybe driven by a wish to only see a romantic history of the dog breeds.
The official history of the Cane Corso, and also the official history of its larger cousin the Mastino Napoletano, dictate that both are direct descendants of the ancient Roman Molossus, the Canis Pugnax. But common sense tell us, based on Italy’s history, that in addition to the old Roman dogs, the Molosser breeds brought to Italy by invaders, rulers and by human migration, has played a major part in the development of the Italian Molosser breeds, and possibly also in some extent in the development of the Cane Corso.
The name of the Cane Corso is derived from the Latin word “Cohors”, that means guardian, protector.
The Cane Corso was used as a multipurpose farm dog, for guarding of family and properties, as a protector of livestock, a cattleherder and in hunting, especially in the central and southern regions of Italy. These hunters often crossed the Cane Corso with other breeds for making a more specialized hunting dog;
the Mezzoleviero a cross between the Cane Corso and tracking hounds or the Italian Greyhound,
the Mezzosangue a cross between the Cane Corso and the scent hound.
The farmers and herders of central Italy often crossed the Cane Corso with the Maremmano Abruzzese flock, and a guardian breed, to produce a dog that also could protect the shepherd, since the Maremmano Abruzzese was more closely connected to the flock of sheep than the shepherd. This hybrid dog was called Mezzocorso, it was also used to control the sheep at the Trasumanza, the migration of sheep from the plains to the mountain grazing fields.
There are at least two subtypes of the Cane Corso; the Branchiero Siciliano from Sicily and the Bucciriscu Calabrese from Calabria. These two subtypes, differing from the Cane Corso on only minor points, should, even if they have their own breed name, still be regarded as Cane Corso subtypes and not as separate breeds. With the acceptance and international recognition of the Cane Corso, these subtypes surely will vanish and go extinct.
In the 1948 publication “The Book of the Dog” it is written; “Even today, dogs of this old type may be found here and there, some recognized as distinct breeds and others lost in the obscurity of unorthodoxy; readily to mind, come to the Branchiero of Sicily, a now rare, shortfaced cattle dog,”. Notice that this was in 1948 that these dogs were already rare, and that about sums up the history of the Cane Corso in the 1900s, a century where these dogs became rarer and rarer. However, in the provinces of Foggia and Ban the Cane Corso survived up to modern time, and it was here the few dedicated enthusiasts found the specimens that were used in the restoration of the breed.
Read more about the Cane Corso here: https://molosser.co/canecorso/
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