About Time Cane Corso Italiano

About Us
About Time Cane Corso was established in 2004, after two years of research, with the acquisition of an exceptionally stunning black female named Chingalana. 'Chinga' exuded class, style and standard, and exceeded our every expectation in both temperament and type. The privilege of having our lives enhanced by the presence of such a splendid Cane Corso established our love of the breed and our passion toward our future with them. Her retained daughter Chaos served to confirm our suspicions that we had stumbeld across an exceptional breed, and solidify our committement to investing in it's future.

Faced with inconsistent type and unacceptable temperament issues in the breed within the US, we expanded our horizons by incorporating bloodlines from select Italian and European Cane Corso breeders. With the addition of several exceptional imports carefully selected from the world’s top producing and winning Cane Corso kennels, we built the foundation to establish a quality breeding program. We have imported original Cane Corso bloodlines to the United States of America to share the foundation they have for the Cane Corso breed here in the US. This blending of select bloodlines of Italian heritage, the best Europe has to offer, allows our breeding program to be built on the foundation of highly recognized and respected European breeders in our effort to produce as close as possible to 'the ideal' Cane Corso within the US.

Over the years, our dedication is reflected in our consistency producing exceptional examples of the ideal Cane Corso, consistent in character, stable in temperament, and true to type with the original breed standard and country of origin.



Richard & Laura
About Richard and Laura... We met in 2003 and have been happily married since 2006. Richard enjoys the cooler weather. Laura likes the warmer seasons. Oddly enough, we share the same quirky (oftentimes warped) sense of humor that is credited to (ie: blamed on) family genetics, and therefore not always fully under control. We are both warm-hearted animal lovers, but differ widely in our opinions of sushi. We are blessed with a beautiful family of three children, Hope, Tristan, and Riley, who are in training to be future Jr Show Handlers for our dogs, and currently provide hours of puppy socialization and snuggling.

Richard moved to New Mexico from California, and still has to get used to the slower-paced life in the desert at times. He enjoys fast cars, fine tequila, Italian Mastiffs, building computers, saltwater aquariums, fishing (not in the aquariums though), and he just can't pass up a good plate of sushi.
Laura was born in Michigan, although she grew up in New Mexico (after being transplanted to the middle of the desert at the tender young age of 5). When she's not doing graphic and website design, she can usually be found out working with the dogs or taking photographs. She's the oldest in a family of 12 children, and credits her warped sense of humor to family genetics & fun times growing up.

We live in New Mexico, known as the Land of Enchantment, in the Rio Grande valley near the river bosque and big cottonwood trees, and just a brief drive from the Sandia Mountains. Despite the fact that NM became the 47th state in the USA in 1912, we still laugh about the multiple inquiries we receive asking if we can 'export' our pups to the US, and if they understand English or have been trained with Spanish commands!



Our Breeding Philosophy
Our philosophy is that a correctly bred Corso, raised and socialized responsibly, will lay at your feet, play with your children, protect your family, show in conformation or working events, and will confidently perform in whichever areas you chose. We are proud of the About Time dogs that are already Champions, and that are turning heads in show rings and working events across the states. At the same time we are no less proud of the About Time Cane Corsos that are stable loving companions in family homes as well.

Do a bit of research on the Cane Corso breed today, and you will find heated opinions and various types of dogs that differ so widely they seem to have nothing in common but the name. As to our breeding of an "About Time" Cane Corso, I will quote a well respected Arabian breeder who said, "If you are not clear as to what you want, it is much more difficult to produce the horse you will like."

In the midst of the relatively recent establishment of this breed in the U.S. from Italy, we remember that the Cane Corso does not necessarily need massive improvement or change. We are careful of the ways we let fuzzy thinking and widely varying opinion about type, temperament, size, performance, changing standards of the show ring, hype of various kinds, or others' opinions, change our own personal standards, and the original dogs.

As we personally have researched and narrowed our selections to our breeding decisions, we find ourselves refining what we want to produce in the type of our own preference. Certainly, every corso breeder has their preferred ideal dog, as we have ours. The characteristics we breed toward are similar to the original Italian breed standard of type. We breed to produce a very muscular dog with massive bone, a broad and deep chest, a wide square head, well angulated hindquarters, and an overall balanced and athletic build. Our ideal is a fit, athletic, and agile dog: powerful yet graceful, well muscled and solid, but not heavy and over-wrinkled. We breed for a stable well-rounded temperament; a dog with the nature to protect if needed, the drive to compete and work, but the stability to be trusted as a child's companion at the end of the day. Our ideal size range is with the Italian standard, from 85 to 125 lbs. Some will find this smaller than the "average" corso found in the US in comparison, since some American lines have been bred to a much larger size, even exceeding 150 lbs.



Our Dogs
We have a select small group of Cane Corsos here at About Time, carefully chosen with key points in mind. Versatility, stability, health, temperament, drive, conformation to the Italian (FCI 343) Breed Standard, and that underlying "presence" that makes the Cane Corso breed so unique.

About Time Cane Corso pups share consistent traits. They are energetic, observant, playful puppies, who mature into alert adults with that Pure Corso Personality: both strong and sensitive, protective yet gentle, intelligent, mischievous (and smart enough to often get away with it), loyal, faithful, and completely, totally, undeniably, devoted to their "family".

At About Time Cane Corso we breed to better our bloodline and further our own breeding program. Every litter we breed is carefully planned with the goal of producing outstanding Cane Corso pups of exceptional quality. We know how much hard work goes into creating a beautiful intelligent and healthy Cane Corso puppy, and we want each of the families we chose for their new homes to know and appreciate the dedication that went into creating their new companion.