Cani Corsi are bred down from Neapolitan Mastiffs and Molessers, which were Ancient Greece's big-boned guardian dogs. They were first used as war dogs and then used as boar hunters and farmstead guardians.

Long known only in southern Italy, Cani Corsi have increased in popularity elsewhere once the breed was revived in the 1970s and later exported to the United States in the late 1980s.

Long known only in southern Italy, Cani Corsi have increased in popularity elsewhere once the breed was revived in the 1970s and later exported to the United States in the late 1980s.