By Michael S Ertaskiran

The Cane Corso has appeared in many tones and colors that history and tradition have passed down through the ages. During the recovery of the breed four basic colors were identified, one was not to be preferred over the other. Modern dog fancy would dictate a heavier aesthetic preference. Fortunately for the Cane Corso this was not the case in the rural Italic countryside that was the bastion of the breed’s salvation. These basic colors were; black, brindle, grey and red these basic colors can also appear brindled. These four basic colors and their various dilutes are well represented and supported by a rich and vast Iconographical heritage;

Cane Corso, Obtuse and short head, very big snout, ears leaning on the top, ash-colored down, obliquely stripped in black, little intelligence. “Catalogo dei Mammiferi della Sicilia” (Catalog of Mammals of Sicily) (Palermo 1868)   

Corso, A species of big and ferocious dog with black fur. “Dictionary of Italian language from N. Zingarelli (1922)

The Roman Villa of Casale as Piazza Armerina (3rd-4th century A.D.) Mosaic depicts a fawn Corso type dog with the traditional ear crop pouncing on a boar during the hunt.

The painting Fernando I On a wild boar hunt Depicts a pack of dogs on a boar hunt and among them are brindle and fawn Corsos

Figurines’ from the 18th century that depict Cane Corso’s include Gruppo del Sammartino (fawn), Napoletano (fawn Corso with a black mask) and Cuciniello formentino Corso with a gray mask) 

Many superstitions were attributed to coat color and the dog’s particular specialty. So much so that actual “tribes” were created of the same color with the same function. These tribes were a somewhat provincial dialect, directly associated with the regions soci-economic activities. In the years prior to the recovery of the Cane Corso the people of Southern Italy were/are by nature very suspicious of strangers, historically nothing good came of strangers to this region. They guarded their breeding stock jealously (as well as their hunting and training techniques) so essentially they had a philosophy of geographical line breeding. They never sold or exchanged the pups, choosing instead to keep only the ones that would prove useful, the rest were eliminated. These provincial dialects of corsi were a morpho-functional tool of the various respective regional trades.

Pig and goat herders preferred the black dog. The reason for this was it was easier to distinguish from the white/pink pig. The same is true of the shepherd who worked mostly with the white Maremma-Abruzzese sheep dog. Sheep herders also preferred black or brindle dogs for the same reason. This was also the color of choice for the old Italian cowboy, who was charged with herds of semi-wild horses. The black or brindle dogs blended in with the terrain camouflaging them and making it easier to surprise predators or those of ill intent. 

Corsi that were used for the hunt were generally brindle or fawn with a black mask, colors that made it easy to blend in with the vegetation of the meridone (southern Italy) These dogs were strong and resolute of character. In some regions they were referred to as “Dogo” DR. Flavio Bruno an essential participant in the breeds recovery offers this description of the dogo; “the color of the dogo was tiger-striped or tawny striped with huge jaws” One superstition was that a white stripe on the bridge of his nose was prized as an especially strong hunting instinct. Hunting badger can only be done at night, preferably after 10 PM to give the quarry enough time to venture far enough away from his subterranean den. The fawn or wheaten dog was used exclusively for the badger hunt as in the dark it would be difficult if not impossible to tell a brindle dog from the badger. 

Perhaps the employment that best showcased the Cane Corso’s vast diverse talents and utilizations was that of the dog of the Masseria (farm) Here is where he truly shined. All of his abilities came into play in this mini agro-pastoral society were the Cane Corso ruled with an iron grip and steadfast temper. During the day he was chained, at night he was freed to roam and protect the structure from predators both two legged and four. He was indispensable in the swine husbandry, as the sow went to thicket with her piglets he was sent in to incapacitate her with a viselike grip to her ear or snout, thus enabling the farmer to retrieve the piglets and the sow once released tamely followed her brood. He was employed in the castration of the bull once old enough; once again his viselike grip was utilized to incapacitate the bull so the farmer could perform the castration. Months later this exercise would be repeated when the fattened bull was to be butchered. Again, DR. Bruno offers us his insight: “The Cane Corso of the farm was sometimes called the straw stack dog-“Cane da pagliaio” when its function was to watch the straw stack, everything thing there was inside such as wheat, fodder, hey, and forage, so the “Cane da pagliaio” means watch dog. The straw stack was a functional unit of the farm in that, during winter, it worked as the shelter of all animals, cats and dogs included. The preferred color of this dog was straw like, because old people thought that the character of a straw colored dog was “flammable” like the straw”

As the breed’s recovery took hold, a disbursement of different provincial lines began. These “tribes” began to come in contact and cross over with each other, thus creating a cornucopia of colors and blends. To quote Flavio Bruno in his tome “Il Cane Corso studiato nella razza, nella storia, nella famiglia e nella societa. (The Cane Corso studied in breed, in history, in family and in society) “The Cane Corso’s physical and attitudinal characteristics are similar in the whole species, the difference is with the color of the coat: some of them are gray-black striped, tawny (once it was very common), clear and dark tawny, dear tawny, yellow, honey (mixed yellow or white and tawny hairs) brown, ash gray (black and white hairs), dark and light gray, slate (blackish gray), tiger striped on a grizzled background, three tiger stripped colors: black gray and brown, coffee brown softened to dark, tiger striped and black. There are white spots on the breast, on the tips of the paws and on the nose”  (Tawny would mean yellowish-brown)

I believe you have to know where you come from to know where you are going, so now that we know where the Cane Corso comes from.