Common Misconceptions
This is the first installment of a series of short articles I will be writing for the chronicle dealing with a number of misconceptions about the Cane Corso both here and abroad.
Having been to Italy a couple of times, in addition to knowing the American lines quite intimately I thought I might bring shed some light on these incongruities. It has been my personal experience that the people most responsible for perpetrated these "misconceptions" are those who have a financial interest in importing Cane Corsos. Of course these are just my personal opinions based on my experiences on both sides of the Atlantic.
Expression;
The American kennel clubs book entitled "The complete dog book" defines expression as-The general appearance of all features of the head
Recently while surfing the net I came across a BB discussion centered on the correct expression of the Cane Corso, particularly how the American dogs were lacking said "expression". My question is- what exactly does the correct expression of the Cane Corso look like? In Italy each line has a very different look, unique to that particular kennel or breeder. For example take the Dyrium line, these dogs have a very distinct look (expression or type if you will) quite different from lets say the Corini line. Both are undoubtlably Italian Corsi, both have consistant type within their individual lines. The differences in type, and by proxy expression are stark. Let us start with the muzzle, the Dyrium dogs tend to have a pronounced shortening of the nose pipe, accompanied by a protruding lower jaw which serves to create a marked undershot bite. Generally this is accompanied by a considerably greater that the prescribed "slightly convergent" naso-cranial axis of the skull. By contrast the Corini dogs tend to have a much tighter/closer bite (in many cases even scissor) the shortening of the nose pipe is much less evident.
These two males illustrate the differences in type and expression seen in Italian dogs, the dog on the left possesses an exaggerated undershot bite while the dog on the right has a scissors bite. Do these have the same "expression"? If not which is correct?
To compare the expression of the dogs in these respective lines is like comparing a boxer to a Rottweiler, while both are brachycephalic, mesomorphic mollossian’s their heads and expression are quite different. The same parallels can be drawn between the Italian dogs and their American counter parts, as we all know that from 1988 until 2000 the American standard called for a scissors bite with level and undershot being considered a fault. While in Italy the under bite was preferred with scissor and level being tolerated (later changes to the Italian standard identified the scissors bite as a severe fault) the results where breeders from Italy and America breeding dogs with completely opposite bites. The standards also differed in head to muzzle ratio (60-40 versus 66-34) angles of the skull (paralell as opposed to slightly convergent) and size (which we will address later) however, though being bred to these differing standards the dogs themselves still managed to share some common type. Many of the afore mentioned Corini dogs could certainly pass for American bred dogs, as a matter of fact on a recent trip to Canada I saw a Corini dog that I would have bet my life on was bred by Scandifio. I find the old Murgese dogs and the Bel Monte dogs to very similar
The bitch on the left is Bagaheera De Murgese, the bitch on the right is Bel Monte Diva.
You can notice the similarities in the eye placement, head to muzzle ratio, depth of muzzle, convergence and stop. I would say these two dogs have the same expression. My theories are somewhat confirmed by the number of Excellent ratings given to American dogs by Italian Cane Corso judges, and FCI Mollosar specialist.
Pictures are worth a thousand words, as you can see there are definite similarities in the Italian and the American dogs.
On my last trip to Italy I had the pleasure of dining with among others MR Acro Niche. He is the president of the southern Italian breeds club. He told me that when he was a child that there where many different types of Cane Corso in the south, any dog that was cropped and dock was called "Cane Corso" and that each province had there own type. That the recovery team selected one type and said "this is the Cane Corso" and we will draw the standard based on this dog, it was a good type, but it was only one of many. (On a side bar-as we all know there was and is still great debate over the correct bite for the breed, which has a large part in determining the expression of a particular dog, men like Paolo Breber and DR Scimon Goldman feel that the scissor bite is correct while men like Stefano Gandolfi and Fernando Casolino feel that the undershot bite is an essential characteristic of the breed) Perhaps we as the Cane Corso community (world wide) should pick a type of Corso, pronounce it correct and all start breeding toward this type of dog. If this is done then you can draw a conclusion that a dog lacks the correct Cane Corso expression, because then it will have been defined. Until that time it is foolish to pass judgment.
