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Who sparked your admiration for the breed?

BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
I know we always say never get a dog based on appearance, but lets be honest you have to physically like the look of something before you would ever consider buying it.

So that being said for those that have gotten a corso, are looking at getting one or admire certain dogs in the breed, who are they and what drew you to those dogs?
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
It was a decision we made after our DDB saved our lives at 2am while he was loaded with cancerous tumors, we knew that after he passed we would need another. That plus the fact that we need open home guarding skills for 3rd world living. We discussed the bad points of our DDB (longevity, slowness in performing commands, extreme trainability lacked) and wanted to improve on that. My wife found Corso and her preliminary research showed it to be similar with much more stamina and sharper movements. We had no idea of the outside mixes and all the things I learned post buying. For us it really is about performance, not so much looks. Corso do great in IPO and those that still have mostly Molloser, are excellent guard dogs.
 

BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
I'm greedy, I want it all. I have no more purpose for a guardian breed dog that doesn't look like a corso than I do a corso that doesn't act like one. Too many think they are mutually exclusive and they should be. "Some" corso can compete in IPO, but there is an argument that it should not be a sport for a corso as it goes against what a corso is (not saying I agree or disagree but it is part of a larger argument in the working world.)

This is one of the first corso I fell in love with. His name is Thor and he was bred by a kennel in Italy (I will have to look it up when I get home as I am at work at the moment)

b4e9e9684f15807bf40a3f431f61aeac--large-dog-breeds-large-dogs.jpg
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
I'm greedy, I want it all. I have no more purpose for a guardian breed dog that doesn't look like a corso than I do a corso that doesn't act like one. Too many think they are mutually exclusive and they should be. "Some" corso can compete in IPO, but there is an argument that it should not be a sport for a corso as it goes against what a corso is (not saying I agree or disagree but it is part of a larger argument in the working world.)

This is one of the first corso I fell in love with. His name is Thor and he was bred by a kennel in Italy (I will have to look it up when I get home as I am at work at the moment)

He's beautiful that's for sure. I would really like to hear the arguments of why it shouldn't be a sport or discipline is what I like to refer to it as would be. I would think it would be a plus for any dog to be able to do even half of the IPO disciplines. Im amazed to hear that Corso shouldn't do IPO. It helps sales, it shows the dogs agility, it excercises the dog and makes them happy and if you want to make a protection dog out of it there you go. Very strange to hear.
 

Nik

Well-Known Member
I couldn't say. I've been obsessed with animals my whole life and loved dogs for as long as I can remember. But, I have always been seriously biased towards the larger breed dogs. Since I have been researching through dog breed books since before the internet when I was a kid and then once the internet became a thing further exploring I have no idea where I first saw mastiffs and bully breeds but I adore them. To be fair I also really love some of the super fluffy huge dogs like the Great Pyrennes but for practical purposes short hair is just nicer. The only pure bred I have ever owned has been my standard poodle and that was a compromise with my ex husband. He wanted a toy poodle and I adamantly didn't want a small dog. I wanted a mastiff.. I was open to what kind. He was against mastiffs so we got a standard poodle as a compromise. He was an amazing dog and I adored him but argh all the grooming. Having large dogs that require little in the way of grooming is a huge relief after all that grooming. Oh I should also say part of what draws me to mastiffs as opposed to say labs or goldens is that I really didn't want an "I love everyone" dog and I wanted a dog that looked like a deterrent while still being up for cuddles and love with me.

As for corsos specifically when Cerberus our poodle passed we knew we would get another dog. The cane corso was on my short list. But, we were also trying to wait. Diesel was sad and depressed, we were sad and missing Cerberus and along came this opportunity to get a mix puppy. Sean had been leaning towards boxers. I had been leaning towards corsos but still pondering and open to different breeds. Well along came Kahlua's family looking for homes for their new puppies which were mixed boxer, corso, american bull dog and olde bull dogge. We met her saying "lets just look we aren't sure we are ready yet" and the rest is history.

I could say that many of you on this page were part of my inspiration for wanting a corso. I had been aware of them for awhile and admired them but hearing stories and seeing photos from others who had them certainly put them at the forefront of my mind. And I still do have dreams of one day having a pure corso.... but Kahlua being so antisocial with other dogs (except diesel) makes that unlikely for quite awhile. I'm not sure she would tolerate being a three dog home very well.
 

BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
He's beautiful that's for sure. I would really like to hear the arguments of why it shouldn't be a sport or discipline is what I like to refer to it as would be. I would think it would be a plus for any dog to be able to do even half of the IPO disciplines. Im amazed to hear that Corso shouldn't do IPO. It helps sales, it shows the dogs agility, it excercises the dog and makes them happy and if you want to make a protection dog out of it there you go. Very strange to hear.

I am going to do this in point form because I am on my phone and the screen is a PITA to try and see on. Now just a preamble...I am not saying corso should not do IPO I have friends who do and their dogs excel at it so these are just discussion points I have heard.

1. IPO is a large part prey drive which is acceptable for herding breeds which the tests were developed for but for breeds that were meant to be guardians and defend, prey drive should not be desired.
2. IPO is a sport and has no real life application. It is taught as a game and as it follows a pattern in the game, even those with less desirable temperaments can have the potential to train through.

3. Healing in particular when the dogs focus is always on its owners eyes take a their alertness from their surroundings, relying on the handler to spot the danger first instead of the dog.

Those are just a few I have heard off the top of my head in discussion groups. I personally am fine with whatever someone chooses to do as so it is not harmful to the dog.

I am having a lazy night so will post a couple of pictures tomorrow of other corso I feel affected my choice to go with this breed.
 

April Nicole

Well-Known Member
The first time I seen a Corso was in the back of a truck. We lived in a small town, and a guy would drive around with his huge male in a crate in the back. He was stunning ( not the guy, the dog) I knew it was a Corso, but had never seen one in person. Beautiful animal, very majestic, and extremely intimidating. I noticed he was fine with women, but wary with men. And would become more so in the presence of his owner. He was very aloof. Just as Logan is in public. There is no wagging the tail for a stranger, or any excitement at all. Just a steady gaze that exuded confidence.

As for the Alabai, I fell in love with the breed through researching guardians. We have always had large dogs. Rhodesian Ridgebacks, E.M., Chow mix.
And I love Molossers. After having a Mastiff there is no going back. Now I can say the same for owning an Alabai. I researched the breed for several years before deciding to buy one. They are a fascinating breed with tons of history and excellent guarding abilities. I like the fact that, like Corsos they are aloof w strangers, and good with kids. They are majestic, and loyal, and beautiful... They are bold, strong, and independent. In all ...Alabai are intelligent, brave dogs that are capable of guarding what is entrusted to them.
Because they developed through natural selection and are not a man made breed, they are hardy and adaptable with average life expectancy of 15 years. I could go on and on...
20181127_224208.jpg
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
I am going to do this in point form because I am on my phone and the screen is a PITA to try and see on. Now just a preamble...I am not saying corso should not do IPO I have friends who do and their dogs excel at it so these are just discussion points I have heard.

1. IPO is a large part prey drive which is acceptable for herding breeds which the tests were developed for but for breeds that were meant to be guardians and defend, prey drive should not be desired.
2. IPO is a sport and has no real life application. It is taught as a game and as it follows a pattern in the game, even those with less desirable temperaments can have the potential to train through.

3. Healing in particular when the dogs focus is always on its owners eyes take a their alertness from their surroundings, relying on the handler to spot the danger first instead of the dog.

Those are just a few I have heard off the top of my head in discussion groups. I personally am fine with whatever someone chooses to do as so it is not harmful to the dog.

I am having a lazy night so will post a couple of pictures tomorrow of other corso I feel affected my choice to go with this breed.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. On the heeling part they are off because its not a constant thing. Mine has to be in an actual compression heel to look up at me, otherwise its when I call her name she immediately looks in my eyes or when she knows a command is coming. One of the best things I ever did with a dog is focus, whish I had known this sooner. The prey drive makes sense though and I'll admit that I specifically looked for more drive in a Corso that many of the larger examples do not have. Cool, thanks for this.
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
The first time I seen a Corso was in the back of a truck. We lived in a small town, and a guy would drive around with his huge male in a crate in the back. He was stunning ( not the guy, the dog) I knew it was a Corso, but had never seen one in person. Beautiful animal, very majestic, and extremely intimidating. I noticed he was fine with women, but wary with men. And would become more so in the presence of his owner. He was very aloof. Just as Logan is in public. There is no wagging the tail for a stranger, or any excitement at all. Just a steady gaze that exuded confidence.

As for the Alabai, I fell in love with the breed through researching guardians. We have always had large dogs. Rhodesian Ridgebacks, E.M., Chow mix.
And I love Molossers. After having a Mastiff there is no going back. Now I can say the same for owning an Alabai. I researched the breed for several years before deciding to buy one. They are a fascinating breed with tons of history and excellent guarding abilities. I like the fact that, like Corsos they are aloof w strangers, and good with kids. They are majestic, and loyal, and beautiful... They are bold, strong, and independent. In all ...Alabai are intelligent, brave dogs that are capable of guarding what is entrusted to them.
Because they developed through natural selection and are not a man made breed, they are hardy and adaptable with average life expectancy of 15 years. I could go on and on...
View attachment 61493


Very beautiful April. I agree it is very nice knowing the breed has been developed naturally like DDB also. It is sickening finding out after I did all the research that who knows what is in my dog or other Corso. I see little things in her daily play or excitement where you can see the actions of other breeds and it bothers the hell out of me. Oh well it is what it is and its my fault for not doing more research. I learned and it wont happen again. Luckily she still holds some of that original guardian, otherwise I would have given her away.

It looks as though your Alabai is very confident. Does he have any fear at all? Mine is still weary of Fire hydrants, lol. All the fear work I did and Fire hydrants caught me, who would have thought, my last one was entering dark warehouses.
 

April Nicole

Well-Known Member
20181028_010848.jpg
Very beautiful April. I agree it is very nice knowing the breed has been developed naturally like DDB also. It is sickening finding out after I did all the research that who knows what is in my dog or other Corso. I see little things in her daily play or excitement where you can see the actions of other breeds and it bothers the hell out of me. Oh well it is what it is and its my fault for not doing more research. I learned and it wont happen again. Luckily she still holds some of that original guardian, otherwise I would have given her away.

It looks as though your Alabai is very confident. Does he have any fear at all? Mine is still weary of Fire hydrants, lol. All the fear work I did and Fire hydrants caught me, who would have thought, my last one was entering dark warehouses.

That's other picture I posted was an ancestor. Here's a recent pic of Logan. I'll have to say that he does seem very confident. The only thing that he fears is my husband, but I would say it's more of a reverence than fear. But, he definitely knows his place. My husband doesn't take any shit. Logan does seem to test me more, so I have to resist and be stern. Just as you said your wife had to do. Especially when we first go out. After I do some training and get him good and tired, I then come in w the cuddles. The biggest problem I have is him wanting to "hug". I'm working on it. Overall, he is definitely coming into his own. He killed a rat last week, and he was trying to knock the fence down to get to a opossum. He watches everything. And when the girls are outside, he sits in front of the gate like a guard. Any disturbance and he's up and checking. It's funny, I was telling Zeela he watches over my youngest girls so thoroughly, that I'm surprised he's not stamping ants w his paws so that they don't get bitten. Lol! I'm very pleased with him. He is exactly what we were looking for.

That's too funny about the fire hydrant! It amazes me what will spike them. My EM was spooked by a lot of things when he was young. Once it was a plastic bag, he flipped out and ran, then a garden gnome, that one he would look at and cock his head side to side trying to figure out what the hell it was. Then he would kind of pounce at it. I have to admit they kind of creep me out too!

Your girl is beautiful, and I know you put a lot of work into her. I would love to see videos of her IPO.
 

April Nicole

Well-Known Member
* sorry for the typos. My phone hates me...
Meant to say I have to* resist cuddles and be stern.
Meant *spoke, not spike
 

glen

Super Moderator
Staff member
We were watching a programme on tv oon animal rescue in america,, they rescued a cc, that was it we spent months reading about the breed, we had rotties for years my first at 17 but they had gone crazy everyone was breeding which didnt end well, they were in the news every day attacking people so we wanted to find another breed and the ccs ticked all the boxes.
We love this breed, they keep me active and iv learnt so much with them, each one as individual personalities, and the time we have and have to put into them is so worth what we have, we hand reared 5 cc pups and im still involved in there lives, and we help with problem cases with a cc rescue.
Mary... iv always admired your pack, and the love and knowledge for them shines through.
Steven... your girls stunning,
April... logan is outstanding, and iv been where you are, the rotties knew i was the softer touch, when i got budcuss i realised i had to get on the same page as glen, these are so much more challenging but more rewarding theyve taught me so so much,
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
View attachment 61494

That's other picture I posted was an ancestor. Here's a recent pic of Logan. .

Very cool looking, I really like that you cant see his ears. You know when they make their first kill they will never be the same. Im not sure what it is exactly but it was one of the first questions the police dog training center asked of mine. Perhaps it makes them blood thirsty. There was a fascinating story a few years ago that I read about this young woman that was broke and joined one of the far leftists groups in Colombia. She documented her first hit or kill and said each time it got much easier for her to pull the trigger. She fell in love with an American and tried to leave that life, but the group killed her before she could leave. I know off topic but perhaps the killing of other animals does the same to a dog?

We still have issues with her, especially my wife and each day she is learning that the coddling is not doing her any favors. Once in a while she will rip the blanket right off my wife as she is laying on the couch watching tv. This has never happened to me. The squirt guns work for about 2 weeks, then the Corso gets used to it and actually enjoys it. So from a comfortable laying position, she gets up, gets the blanket back and puts the Corso in her chair in a down. Before the Corso never listened to her, now major improvement. My wife didn't like the fact that I had control over the dog without even raising my voice and she had zero control, then she began realizing it really was the petting and loving. The thresholds are really intense with her, most people would run away but we had to figure out how to snap her out of them as quickly as possible, not fun getting sliced with big nails especially if you have no shirt on.

@glen thank you for the compliment.
 

TylerDurden

Well-Known Member
Very interesting thread, and good to have you back @Steven C ! I'm by no means a CC expert, but I've always admired the older working types. Similarly, I like the pictures of the first Neos prior to them being bred for the show ring.
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
View attachment 61494

That's other picture I posted was an ancestor. Here's a recent pic of Logan. I'll have to say that he does seem very confident. The only thing that he fears is my husband, but I would say it's more of a reverence than fear. But, he definitely knows his place. My husband doesn't take any shit. Logan does seem to test me more, so I have to resist and be stern. Just as you said your wife had to do. Especially when we first go out. .

I read this again and I don't think its fear for your husband either. If you have ever observed pack behavior, you see the lower pack members always submitting especially the geo which looks like fear in a way. For no reason or just out of respect they drop down on their backs in front of the alpha or higher ups in the pack. There is an awesome documentary on wolves and the pack hierarchy, here is a chart so you can understand more about the body languages also http://www.wolfcountry.net/information/WolfPack.html

This year I learned a lot about pack behavior and it changed a lot of the things I used to think about dogs or packs in general. Its very interesting when dealing with breeds like ours especially.

Thank you @TylerDurden same with me, I always admired the old working line pictures with these massive collars and chains. Now there are people in NC selling Corso that herd chickens. smh lol
 

glen

Super Moderator
Staff member
Love the dark brindle dog, if bud had his ears and tail done that is just him.
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
Very beastly, wow. That's an IPO training tug, was that dog training ?

The second pic is interesting because ive seen that facial structure before but not often, I think its the jowls that look so neo like. Very cool indeed.

In the video, I have one right here sitting next to me that cant wait to take a ride tonight.
 

BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
Very beastly, wow. That's an IPO training tug, was that dog training ?

The second pic is interesting because ive seen that facial structure before but not often, I think its the jowls that look so neo like. Very cool indeed.

In the video, I have one right here sitting next to me that cant wait to take a ride tonight.

It is an IPO tug and those dogs were titled in something similar to IPO before they were able to compete and are in the pedigrees of a lot of the corso who have IPO titles.

The owner/breeder of those lines is in the video with the big grey brindle (Mojo...also the grey brindle in the still shots) and big brindle male in the video is Mach.

Hands on them they were fantastic and I would have gladly snatched either one if the owner would have let me.