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Color Disqualification in the Cane Corso

Why is there so much confusion over these 13 words in the AKC standard?

 

Standards are open to interpretation.

Except when they’re not.

Consider the subject of this article: the color disqualification in the AKC Cane Corso standard.

Of all the breeds I judge, the Cane Corso has to be one of the most contentious, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, the breed’s stratospheric popularity has resulted in a crush of people breeding, many of whom seemingly haven’t read the standard. (Like the individual of Facebook who argued with me that the word “formentino” is found in the AKC standard. Nope. Not in the Italian standard, either.)

Then there are the vats of foreign blood introduced into the Corso on both sides of the Atlantic, in part because there was so little true native stock available, and perhaps in larger part to satisfy the exploding market demand for these dogs. Neapolitan Mastiff, Boxer, Rottweiler, Great Dane, Bullmastiff, Boerboel, Presa Canario, even German Shepherd — have I missed any? All found their way into Cane Corso pedigrees, and all left traces of their previous involvement, particularly in the color arena. That’s the cynical reason why in the 2010s there was an explosion of black Corsos, to the exclusion of almost all other colors: Black, being dominant, covered up a lot.

 

Black coat color in a Corso can cover a multitude of sins.

 

Of all the “deviant” colors and patterns that found their way into the sloshing Corso gene pool, black and tan was arguably the biggest threat. This might have something to do with the rather open secret that Rottweiler was used in establishing American Corso lines; in Europe, you can blame the ghosts of Beaucerons past, or more recent Rottie infusions. Whatever the source, the reality is that the frequency of the black-and-tan gene in the breed has reached epidemic proportions, with an estimated third of Corsos worldwide being carriers.

Read that again: A third of the breed carries black and tan.

So, logically, the AKC standard has always included a disqualification for that pattern.

Here it is, word for word:

“Any color with tan pattern markings as seen in black-and-tan breeds.”

Pretty straightforward, if you ask me: Disqualify anything that comes in colored like a Rottweiler or — better yet, for reasons we’ll discuss shortly — a Doberman.

 

Black and tan Cane Corso puppies.

 

In my discussions with Corso fanciers, I’ve come across a relatively widespread — and, in my opinion, completely incorrect — interpretation of this disqualification. Simply put, there are some fanciers who argue that these 13 words allow a judge to disqualify any pattern with any color or colors that are not described in the standard.

I’ve heard the argument — more times than I care to mention — and after great thought and consideration, I have come to this conclusion:

No.

 

Color Charting

 

The Doberman is — ironically — one of the few breeds that hasn’t been swirled into the fondue that is the Cane Corso gene pool.

But unlike the Rottweiler — which has no dilutions, and so only one nose color, black — the Doberman has four color possibilities, which affect both its pigment and base coat. Simply put, when a color dilution is added to the mix, the black base coat changes color, depending on whether the dilution is red or blue, or a combination of both.

These four color variations of the black-and-tan pattern are:

• Black and tan (black nose)

• Red and tan (red nose)

• Blue and tan (blue nose)

• Isabella and tan (blue and red nose — think of the tawny color found in Neos)

 

Above: red and tan, and black and tan. Below: blue and tan, and Isabella and tan. In other breeds, Isabella is sometimes called lilac or tawny.

 

If the Cane Corso standard only permitted black noses, the Corso disqualification could simply read “black and tan,” and then, goodnight, Irene, there would be no more discussion.

But Corsos also have blue pigment — the same dilution that turns a solid black dog into a gray one, and a fawn into a formentino. When dogs with blue pigment are black and tan, the black turns blue.

So imagine if the standard said, simply: “Disqualification: Black and tan.” Now pretend that you are a Cane Corso judge, and a blue-and-tan Corso walks in your ring. You walk over to your standard, read the words “black and tan,” and look at the dog. It is not black and tan, it’s blue and tan. Now what? You believe that the standard intends to disqualify all the color variations of this pattern. But that’s not what the disqualification says.

And so you are left to curse the standard committee under your breath, because no matter what you do — disqualify the dog even though it doesn’t match the wording, or let it walk when logic tells you the standard meant to disqualify it — you’d be wrong.

This is the reason for the “any color” part of the Corso disqualification: It means any four of those base-coat color possibilities — again, black, red, blue or Isabella (red and blue).

 

Devil’s Advocate

 

Okay, the Corso standard means to disqualify black and tan, red and tan, blue and tan, and Isabella and tan. So then why doesn’t it just say that?

Good question, and there’s an equally good answer.

No standard wants to introduce a problematic trait without proper context, because some judges might conclude that it’s actually acceptable.

Red nose color — which creates red and tan, and (when combined with blue) Isabella and tan — is wrong for a Corso. To just name those two patterns in a disqualification without explaining that the red nose color is just as incorrect is a problem, especially since there is no disqualification for red pigment.

(What should a judge do, then, if a red-nosed Corso walks in the ring? Excuse it, of course, marking the judge’s book with the words “Excused: Incorrect pigment.”)

Okay, then, why doesn’t the Corso standard just say, excuse all four color variations of the black-and-tan pattern that are found in the Doberman Pinscher? That way, judges can just flip the page to the Doberman standard, and see all the variations there.

Again, good idea, but the American Kennel Club does not permit the mention of another breed — or even another species of animal — in its standards. Why? Because breed standards can change over time, and if they do, that comparison may no longer be valid. Similarly, a species can vary wildly in its subspecies: When you say “fox,” do you mean red fox, gray fox, fennec fox, Arctic fox, kit fox? And on and on.

Some standards do have this comparative language — the Irish Wolfhound standard, for example, describes the breed as a “Greyhound-like” — but they were written long before the rule was instituted, in another century.

 

Word Search

 

Still skeptical? Okay, then, let’s deconstruct. Take your mental safety scissors, and snip this pesky DQ sentence right in the middle:

“Any color with tan pattern markings” and “as seen in black-and-tan breeds.”

“Any color with tan pattern markings” could mean particolor, like an Irish-marked Boerboel. And, indeed, some fanciers who misinterpret this phrase argue that it means any bicolor pattern. But on closer examination, that can’t be right: “Any color” refers to the base coat, and “tan pattern markings” refers to just that — markings. There is no such thing as tan markings on a fawn or formentino base coat. (That includes so-called “tan points” on carbon dogs — another area of widespread confusion that we’ll tackle in a minute.)

Now let’s look at the second part of that sentence: “as seen in black-and-tan breeds.” We know this is a reference to the black-and-tan breeds that can’t according to AKC rules be named in this standard — specifically, the Rottweiler and Doberman. These breeds have a black base coat — or, in the case of the Doberman, red or blue or Isabella base coat — and tan markings in all the traditional places — above each eye; on the muzzle, throat and forechest; on all legs and feet, and below the tail.

That’s it. A black base coat — and its associated base-coat dilutions — along with the tan markings found in those traditional places on traditionally black-and-tan breeds is the only pattern that can be disqualified according to this language. Traditional black-and-tan breeds don’t have any other markings. Period, end of story.

Now, are there other colors and patterns that arguably are not historically correct in the Corso? Yes, ma’am, and at the very top of that list I would put straw, or paglia. But since the standard does not address them in the disqualification, they cannot be disqualified. They can, however, most certainly be excused for being a color or pattern that is not in accordance with the standard.

 

Point of Order

 

Now let’s look at the confusion over so-called “tan points” on carbon dogs.

 

A carbon Cane Corso. This is perfectly acceptable in the ring, though this black shading throughout the coat is not mentioned in any Corso standard.

 

First of all, nowhere in any Corso standard is “carbon” or “carbonization” mentioned. Basically, it refers to a pattern on fawn, red or formentino dogs that makes it appear as if the top and sides of the dog have been sprinkled with coal dust: That’s literally what “carbone” means in Italian — coal. Sometimes the carbon is so heavy that the head appears to be solid black (or, in the case of formentini, dark gray).

Despite the standard’s silence on this pattern, carbon is acceptable all over the world. That probably has more to do with expediency than authenticity: Carriers of the black-and-tan gene can sometimes have very heavily sabled, or carbon coats. (And sometimes they can have perfectly clear coats: Genetically, no one understands why.) Given that the black-and-tan gene is now so entrenched in the breed, not permitting carbon in carriers would decimate an already small gene pool.

(If the Corso wasn’t already inundated with carbon, would the pattern be so universally accepted? Probably not, since it’s the side effect of carrying black and tan. But that horse has already left the barn. So, as the Italians say: Lascia stare. Leave it be.)

Back to these misunderstood carbon dogs: Even very heavy carbonation typically does not extend all the way to the feet, frequently stopping in the middle of the leg. So what appears below the carbonization on the leg is not a tan point, but instead the normal color of the dog, without carbonization. 

Another way of saying this is that tan points cannot exist on a fawn, red or formentino dog. What appear to be tan points are instead just the normal coat color that has escaped being overlaid with carbonization.

These dogs should not be disqualified, as they do not meet the spirit nor the letter of the color disqualification: The non-carbon areas are not tan points, and they are not found on black-and-tan breeds like the Rottweiler or Doberman.

 

Going Forward

 

Like it or not, Cane Corso breeders do not have the luxury of not understanding color genetics. Even though theoretically the Corso only comes in two colors (fawn and black), their two corresponding dilutions (formentino and gray) and one pattern (brindle), the amount of foreign blood dumped into the Corso since its recupero has led to the appearance of a number of unmentioned colors and patterns, from “carbon” to “straw” to a number of other, er, interesting hues.

Corso breeders need to understand the color genetics that they inadvertently imported into the breed with the many outcrosses that have been made in the past. If not, then perhaps just go back to the days when black ruled the breed: As breeders over the decades learned all too well, it hides a multitude of sins.

 

 

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