Cane Corso vs Mastiff

You’ll never get bored with a Cane Corso around—you simply won’t have time for it. The training, socialization and exercise needs of this breed will keep you busy throughout their whole life. This is a working breed who was bred to be a guard dog, making them sensitive, serious and intensely loyal. With members of their own household, Cani Corsi (that’s the plural term for the breed) can be affectionate companions, but they’re also naturally alert to new people coming to the house and may react toward strangers—both two- and four-legged—if not properly trained and socialized.

Properly trained and socialized Cani Corsi will be calm and confident. They should ignore strangers and animals who pose no threat to themselves or their people. Thankfully, their high intelligence makes it easy to teach them the difference.

Extreme loyalty and a courageous nature are the defining characteristics of a Mastiff’s temperament. While a Mastiff’s massive weight and height may put off some potential pet parents, this breed is quite friendly and makes an excellent family pet. If little ones are in your mix, know that with early and consistent training, having a Mastiff with kids is very doable since barking and biting aren’t common to this breed. Their kindly personality extends to four-legged pals as well, which means you can often add this colossal canine to homes with cats and other dogs.

A Mastiff has competency in spades, thanks to their innate intelligence and eagerness to please. As a quick learner, the Mastiff thrives on service, perhaps because this working breed has a long history of guarding and fighting alongside soldiers in battle.

It may seem counterintuitive that such a large animal might not have deep energy reserves, but this is actually the case with the Mastiff dog breed. Slow and steady wins the race here, so low-key pup parents are often the best pairing for this majestic creature.