From all at Boleyn Cane Corso to Corso enthusiasts everywhere - a very Happy New Year!!!
I have to apologise for the lack of updates but 2009 was a very busy year for me here. Busy but a very productive and also very satisfying year - the year colour came to Boleyn!
My three 2009 matings were a great success, Clio and Twelve, Presley and Dux and Vanny and Adone. I now proudly have a puppy living in the sunny shores of Dubai and both James and Ineta, although far far away have become wonderful ambassadors not only for the breed in Dubai but have also become great members of the UK Corso Community. Clio's litter gave me some wonderful examples of the breed and also some lifelong friends - thank you Clio and Twelve!!!
Carting day back in April was a great success not only for us all, but for the breed. With over 150 people in attendance it was a very special day and I look very much forward to the next event that is currently being arranged around May time. For more details please visit the British Cane Corso Society Website www.canecorso.org.uk
In May, Presley gave birth to 7 wonderful puppies and although the odds were slim for colour she managed to give me a lovely rainbow of black brindle through to blue reverse brindle in the shape of Queenie Wahine's Papaya, who now resides at Boleyn and is one of the most responsive puppies I have ever had the joy to train. Please excuse the name, never ask a Monkey with a love for Elvis to ever give you sane names! Colour is a weird one, you want it because you think it would be nice but then when you have it you wonder what the fuss is about. The main reason for choosing Dux for Presley was his amazing pedigree and his joy for life, both of which I am now seeing in his offspring. Thank you to Danny for allowing me to use such a great dog in my program.
This year, thanks to Terry and daughter Kadi who look after Boleyn so well when I am gone, we enjoyed a week in the South of France.... of course there is a Corso catch! We were invited down to paradise by Jim and Sue, owners of Tito from my 2008 Bora x Cocoon litter. The South of France is a magical place and it was wonderful to share the week with my boy. He is a wonderful Corso in every way, I was very pleased with both his type and his amazing obedience. We had such a wonderful holiday - thank you Jim and Sue so much. Next year off to Mexico to see his brother!!
August will go down as the month in which I took a chance, a rather big one. A good friend of mine was planning a litter in the South of Italy, to then be exported to America. At first when I saw what he had planned I must admit I thought he has lost his mind, but as I am always looking for lines or combinations that excite me and had been drawing blank for some time, I realised that I was more interested in this combination than I had first thought. When I lay in bed at night thinking about something, then that's when I know its got under my skin... this litter certainly had. Will, one of the most purist Cane Corso enthusiasts I have met in a long while, had been disillusioned with the Boxeroni phase that was sweeping the world, and decided to do something about it. When I asked to be considered for a puppy before they were born he told me one was mine... Marc thought I had lost my mind, but my great friend Charlie Miles did not, and now co-owns Arial with me. The pups were born and I speak to Will nearly every day about my girl. I must admit, she is turning out to be quite simply amazing. She is being lovingly raised and cared for by Will and his outstanding family (Maddy, thank you babe) and will be coming to the UK in May... All I can do is thank Will for trusting me with her and of course big thanks to Charlie and Alison, for, well, coming in my life!
August also saw the arrival of 'Kenny' a rescue dog from Battersea Dogs Home who our rescue co-ordinator works so closely with. Kenny stayed at Boleyn for 4 months before being re-homed to an outstanding family (almost family) who have had rescue Corsos before, you know who you are guys, Kenny is one happy lucky dog. My son Zack bonded very firm with the ever mouthing demanding blue rescue dog and somehow they had a connection, I was very very very tempted to keep him here, but as everyone told me I need to make room for more dogs that need the Boleyn touch - thank you Zack darling for really helping mummy with this special case.
September saw Vanny and I doing the puppy walk; the birth was long and saw me and most of the Corso massive stuck in the puppy room for the August Bank Holiday. Vanny was a trooper, she was strong as an ox and never faltered. Vanny gave me all my dreams on a plate, her and Adone produced totally outstanding puppies who have gone to VERY special Corso homes. I am over the moon with the owners of this litter; a litter so great I actually kept three of them all to myself! Leander has gone to live with Boleyn's Divino in Wales under the Boleyn co-ownership programme. I feel very privileged to have produced such a wonderful litter, my thanks to Adone's owners for allowing me to use a piece of Corso history, I will be forever grateful.
Now talking about Boxeroni... Although we may not want to embrace it, foreign blood seems to be part of what we as Corso breeders have do deal with. I came to this realisation years ago, in part due to my conversations with Josh and Will, and in part for seeing it with my own eyes in Italy and actually being told so and so's dad is a "this" or "that". There seems to be lots of hand wringing and witch hunting on the subject all over the world but in reality it's just another thing we need to identify and deal with.
These are Basir and Boris, dogs that the ENCI Cane Corso standard were based on. They were the basis for a standard so complex it needs it own commentary. To understand it is no mean feat. I do not believe that Basir resembles anything other than a Cane Corso. Breeding to this standard and understanding it, is breeding Cane Corso.
I recognise that the Cane Corso is more than a set of pictures, words on a page, there is historical relevance, there is emotion. Cane Corso is most importantly a feeling! It is a journey with many twists and turns, where every answer leads to another question. The breed is full of smoke and mirrors, blurring the lines between fact and fiction.
History is important, where the breed comes, and which direction it leads. The romance and fairy tales of the history often overshadow the reality.
The breed has been changing; often these changes are country or location specific, from the never before seen structure being pushed for from America, to the Boxeroni, to the latest of massive bully influence.
We have to be honest with ourselves. This IS a re-created breed! It is what it is, no matter how many unicorns, rainbows or puppy dog kisses try to influence us. There are influences involved, BUT, these influences should not change the breed, as is currently happening; these influences are changing perception; change perception and you change reality, change reality and we LOSE the Cane Corso!
What we see today is nothing like the photos of dogs from 10 or 20 years ago, or the old black and white photos found in the history books. The descriptions written do not describe the Corso of today, they describe its past!
My goal is to return the Corso to its rightful place at the table, to return its nobility with an eye on the present and homage to the past. For me is all about the expression, without true Corso expression you loose type and without type you loose Cane Corso, to have expression in your dogs does not mean you breed boxeroni type.
Well, that's it for 2009 - with a new year coming for Boleyn, new owners to meet, new puppies to grow, and the dream to keep alive.
Happy New Year!
For more information you can contact:
Jo Lueck
email -
jojo@co3.co.uk
Telephone - 07767 607718
