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Cane Corso

The breeds · working

AKC Working · UKC Guardian · FCI standard 343

Cane Corso.

FCI 343: UTILIZATION 'Utility dog, polyvalent'; Group 2 (Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossoid, Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs), Section 2.1 Molossian, Mastiff type; 'With working trial'. Behaviour: guardian of property, family and livestock; 'in the past, it has been used for herding cattle and hunting big game'. AKC standard: 'it has always been a property watchdog and hunter of difficult game such as the wild boar'. UKC: used today as a guardian, protection, tracking and police dog; used as a guardian of family, property and livestock; in the past for herding cattle and hunting big game. Wikipedia: usually a companion or guard dog, may protect livestock; in the past used for hunting large game and herding cattle. The Wikipedia article dates the modern breed from selective breeding from about 1980, after the share-cropping system collapsed in the 1960s..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

8.1YRMedian lifespan6.5 to 9.5, measured on real dogs.
0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
88–110LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 99.2 to 110 lb; breed bitches 88 to 100 lb.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 24.4 to 27.6 in · bitches 22.8 to 26 in

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Span covers AKC, UKC, FCI with tolerance (58 to 66 cm) and Wikipedia.

Weight

dogs 99.2 to 110 lb · bitches 88 to 100 lb

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

No AKC figure.

Coat

AKC standard: short, stiff, shiny, adherent and dense, light undercoat thicker in cold weather; black, lighter and darker grays, lighter and darker fawn, red, brindling on all; solid fawn and red wear a black or gray mask not past the eyes. UKC: short, shiny, very dense, light undercoat; semi-long or fringed coat disqualifies. FCI 343: short, shiny, very dense with a slight vitreous undercoat; black, lead/slate/light grey, light and dark fawn, stag red, dark wheaten, brindles.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2009

Shedding

Shedding 2 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · FCI 343: coat short, shiny, very dense with a slight undercoat of vitreous texture. AKC standard: short, stiff, shiny, adherent and dense with a light undercoat that becomes thicker in cold weather. UKC: short, shiny, very dense, light undercoat.

DerivedFCI-Standard N° 343, 2023

Derived from a short dense coat with a light undercoat (4). No measured data.

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

8.1 years (6.5 to 9.5)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

Small sample (n 202, 101 deceased) and a wide 95% CI (6.5 to 9.5): treat as indicative. UK pet population.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

AKC page bands: energy level 4 of 5, mental stimulation needs 3 of 5, playfulness 3 of 5, trainability 4 of 5, watchdog/protective nature 5 of 5. FCI 343: 'extremely agile and responsive'. UKC: 'extremely responsive and agile'.

Breed clubAKC

Registry-page ratings, not minutes; no exercise_need_min row because no source printed a duration.

Energy

4 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

1 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming

AKC page bands: coat grooming frequency 1 of 5, shedding level 2 of 5, drooling level 3 of 5. Short dense coat per all three standards. RKC: the breed was not found on the RKC site.

Breed clubAKC

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI 343: UTILIZATION 'Utility dog, polyvalent'; Group 2 (Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossoid, Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs), Section 2.1 Molossian, Mastiff type; 'With working trial'. Behaviour: guardian of property, family and livestock; 'in the past, it has been used for herding cattle and hunting big game'. AKC standard: 'it has always been a property watchdog and hunter of difficult game such as the wild boar'. UKC: used today as a guardian, protection, tracking and police dog; used as a guardian of family, property and livestock; in the past for herding cattle and hunting big game. Wikipedia: usually a companion or guard dog, may protect livestock; in the past used for hunting large game and herding cattle. The Wikipedia article dates the modern breed from selective breeding from about 1980, after the share-cropping system collapsed in the 1960s.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 343, 2023

Primary game

AKC standard: difficult game such as the wild boar. FCI 343, UKC and Wikipedia: big/large game, in the past (no species named).

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2009

Historical use as the standards state it; none describes present-day boar hunting.

Also used on

UKC: guardian, protection, tracking and police dog; livestock guardian; herded cattle in the past. FCI 343: guardian of property, family and livestock; herded cattle in the past. Wikipedia: companion, guard dog, livestock protection.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Field trial standard

FCI 343: 'With working trial'. Wikipedia: in Italy, a dog must pass a working trial to qualify for registration, showing tranquillity with inoffensive strangers, indifference to gunfire and aggressive defence of the owner against an attacker (Wikipedia cites the Societa Amatori Cane Corso CAL, Certificato di attitudine al lavoro, and the FCI standard; neither read directly). AKC and UKC standards name no working test.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 343, 2023

This is a temperament and protection test, not a hunting test. No hunting test or title was found.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

37.3% · 3,896 OFA hip evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 9 2026; 37.3% dysplastic (mild 20.9, moderate 13.8, severe 2.6), 60.8% normal. Hips rank 20 of the OFA table, among the highest dysplasia rates.

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock (owners who test and submit), so normal results are over-represented and the real population rate is likely higher. Hips rank 20 in the OFA table (rank 1 = highest dysplasia).

Elbow dysplasia

21% · 3,129 OFA elbow evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 9 2026; 21.0% abnormal (grade 1 16.1, grade 2 4.4, grade 3 0.5), 78.9% normal.

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock (owners who test and submit), so normal results are over-represented and the real population rate is likely higher. Elbows rank 20.

Most common disorders

Wikipedia (citing Bell et al., Veterinary Medical Guide to Dog and Cat Breeds, 2012, not opened): genetically predisposed to elbow and hip dysplasia, patellar luxation and retinal dysplasia; above-average susceptibility to demodicosis, ectropion, entropion, gastric dilatation volvulus (bloat), hypothyroidism, idiopathic epilepsy, mycotic otitis and cherry eye. OFA: see the hip and elbow rows.

EditorialWikipedia

Editorial, one source, whose citation was not opened.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 5; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 2; Coat Grooming Frequency 1; Drooling Level 3; Affectionate With Family 4; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 7 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Cane Corso Italiano, Italian Mastiff, Italian Corso Dog

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

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Your cane corso, on the record.

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