Your Purebred Puppy, Honest Advice About Dogs and Dog Breeds

Sensible advice for raising your Cane Corso puppy so he lives a long healthy life and seldom needs to visit the vet. Learn about the most common health problems and issues in Cane Corsos, the best dog food diet for feeding Cane Corso puppies and adult dogs, the truth about vaccinations, spaying and neutering, and natural health care.

How To Raise a Healthy Dog

The Best Dog Food For Feeding Your Cane Corso

The Second-Best Dog Food

Vaccinations and Booster Shots: Are They Needed?

The Type of Veterinarian I Recommend

Spaying and Neutering: Pros and Cons


11 Things You Must Do Right To Keep Your Dog Healthy and Happy, my best-selling dog health book

Cane Corso dog breed

Cane Corso Health Problems and Raising a Cane Corso Puppy to be Healthy

By Michele Welton. Copyright © 2000-2011

How To Raise a Healthy Dog
Feeding the Best Dog Foods
Vaccinations: Needed or Not?
Spaying and Neutering: Pros and Cons

The most common health problems in Cane Corsos:

Orthopedic diseases are rampant in the Cane Corso:

  • With 375 hip X-rays evaluated by the Orthopedic Foundation of America, the Corso has a 39% of hip dysplasia – the 10th worst rate of 142 breeds. And the true rate is even higher because most of the obviously bad X-rays were not sent in for official evaluation. Confirming this, the Cane Corso Coalition conducted a health survey that reported a horrible 58% hip dysplasia rate.
  • Elbow dysplasia is also a major problem, with the OFA reporting a rate of 8% and the coalition survey reporting at least 22%.
  • Other orthopedic health problems in the Cane Corso include panosteitis, osteochondritis, luxating patella, cruciate ligament rupture, and Wobbler's syndrome.

Heart disease (especially cardiomyopathy and mitral valve disease) is a serious concern in Cane Corsos. 18% of the Cane Corsos in the Coalition survey had a heart disorder.

Epilepsy is another serious concern, with 16% of the Corsos in the coalition survey affected by a seizure disorder.

With their deep chest, Cane Corsos are at higher-than-normal risk for the emergency gastrointestinal syndrome called bloat.

Cancer claims the lives of many giant breeds, including Cane Corsos.

About one in every three Cane Corsos is affected by at least one eye disease. Most common are cherry eye, eyelid abnormalities (entropion and ectropion), and dry eye.

Skin diseases are common, especially allergies (often leading to pyoderma), which affects one in every four Cane Corsos. Demodectic mange is very common in all mastiff breeds – 37% of the Cane Corsos in the coalition survey were affected by demodex mites. Demodectic mange usually affects Cane Corso puppies and adolescents. Other health issues involving the skin are skin fold dermatitis, deep pyoderma, elbow hygroma, and chin folliculitis.

Hypothyroidism is common in all giant breeds, and colitis and blood-clotting disease (von Willebrand's) have been reported in Cane Corsos.


Can you prevent health problems from happening to YOUR Cane Corso?

Yes, often you can.

  1. Some health problems are genetic, which means inherited from parents. Genetic health issues are common in Cane Corsos today because of unwise breeding practices. My book, Dog Quest: Find The Dog Of Your Dreams, shows you how to find a Cane Corso puppy who is genetically healthy.
  2. Other health problems are environmental – caused by the way you raise your dog. My best-selling dog health book, 11 Things You Must Do Right To Keep Your Dog Healthy and Happy shows you how to prevent environmental health problems by raising your Cane Corso puppy (or adult dog) in all the right ways.

Here are my dog health tips for raising a healthy Cane Corso puppy or adult dog:

Obedience instructor and author Michele Welton How To Raise a Healthy Dog – My Philosophies
Read my advice on sensible feeding and health care so that your Cane Corso lives a long, healthy life and seldom needs to see the vet. An excellent goal, yes?


Real homemade dog food The Best Dog Food For Feeding Your Cane Corso
The best diet for feeding your Cane Corso is real food. Real chicken, turkey, beef, bison, venison, fish....This is not "people food" and I'll tell you why.


Natural dog foods for your Cane Corso. The Second-Best Dog Food For Your Cane Corso
If you can't (or won't) feed what your Cane Corso really needs, the best I can do is to point out what to look for – and look out for – when choosing a brand of kibble or canned dog food.


Information on booster shots for your Cane Corso. Vaccinations and Booster Shots: Needed or Not?
How many vaccinations does your Cane Corso puppy really need? Does your adult Cane Corso need yearly booster shots? The vaccination guidelines have changed. Find out what many vets aren't telling you.


Information on choosing the best vet for your Cane Corso. The Type of Veterinarian I Recommend
Does your veterinarian belong to the AVMA or the AHVMA? They're not the same at all, and which one you choose can make a world of difference to the future health of your Cane Corso.


Information on spaying or neutering your Cane Corso. Spaying and Neutering: Pros and Cons
Advantages and disadvantages of spaying your female Cane Corso or neutering your male.