ARBA CH, ARBA Master CH, Rarities American CH, Rarities INT CH. 
Rarities GR-pending, ICCF, ICCF Grand CH, BIS, BISS, 
2003 ICCF National Specialty winner
Val d'erro Astro of Godiva

     I had been waiting for a stud dog for a couple of years from my good friend Renzo Carossio. Litters came and went but just the right dog did not show itself until the summer of 2000. Renzo wrote me that he thinks he might have the right puppy for me “good angles, good bone, good substance, short muzzle but not boxer type” When Renzo told me his name was “Astro” I immediately thought of the Jetsons and how could I have a stud dog named after a cartoon character, but Renzo explained to me that Astro in Italian meant “star of the galaxy” The timing could not have been better as I was planning on going to Italy that fall and I could bring the puppy home with me.

     I remember when I first saw “Astro” he was this skinny unsure of himself puppy, but even then he had this impressive head piece that boasted an outstanding muzzle-just as Renzo said “short but not boxer type” When I looked in his mouth his dentition was perfect, just what I wanted for my breeding program. Renzo told me that if I did not like him that he would find me another dog, but there was no need for that, I recognized that this puppy had great potential. His pedigree boasts outstanding dogs like Boris, Fidel and Arek insuring that this is an important bloodline. When I first started showing Astro he was far from a natural, hard to believe if you see him at a show these days. But we stuck with it kept to the training and most important made it fun for him. In his first year as a show dog we had a professional handler on him with mixed results. I would have to admit he finally started to excel in the show ring this year when I made the decision to handle him myself. It was apparent to me that Astro was only happy when he was with me and only really responded to me in the ring. If he was going to be campaigned it would have to be with me doing it. Astro cooperated by really maturing and filling out over the course of the winter. So come January we turned out to be quite a formidable team. To date Astro is the #1 dog in ARBA (all breed) #4 dog in Rarities (#1 working) he is running away with the ICCF Dog of the Year race.

     Astro morphologically is as outstanding a Cane Corso as you will find His virtues are almost too numerous to mention. He has beautiful angles of the skull, a short wide muzzle, great bone and substance; he is what I have always considered the perfect height to weight ratio-26 inches tall, 128 lbs. He has bite white teeth, light undershot bite in scissors in a straight line with divergent canines. Full dentition, nice dark eyes, strong wide nostrils, a volumous head, great expression. His movement is flawlessly correct for the breed, which is to say he is a trotter. Well developed thorax, solid topline, and good rear angles. He is just a beautiful picture.