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About the Breeders
About ten years ago, we bought a house on top of a mountain with 16 acres and 14 miles of woods behind it. It is located alongside the Delaware river. I had raised American Pitt Bull Terriers for over 20 years but wanted a different type of dog in this area. We were looking for a dog that got along with other animals and dogs, that wouldn't roam and be an excellent guard dog. We had gone to A.K.C. and rare breed dog shows for 2 years in our search. We became more interested in rare breeds because the dogs were more primitive and used for their working ability rather than looks. While most of the dogs that were well-known were being bred by every backyard breeder and their true working ability was bred out of them. After 2 years of going to shows and visiting
breeders we were at a rare breed show in N.J. and it was the tournament of Champions (only champions from any breed were allowed) there were 30 dogs in this tournament. Well, to make a long story short, out comes the most magnificent specimen of a dog we have ever seen, winning the tournament hands down. This was our introduction to the Cane Corso and Ch Cocomo. Well right after the show, we ran over to the owner of Ch Cocomo who happened to have pups out of Cocomo with him and we bought our first Cane Corso right then and there (now known as Ch Rocco). Six months later, we were lucky enough to acquire Ch Cocomo and our obsession with Cane Corsos took off.
After getting CH Cocomo, we decided to start going to shows even though Kris and I never showed a dog before in our lives. We had watched enough shows & thought we knew what we were doing (looking back now, we didn't have a clue).Well, I decided to show Ch. Cocomo (I took the easy way out)and Kris took Midnight. Well, Kris went out first and Midnight was doing great until she saw me outside the ring and before you knew it, Midnight dragged Kris from one side of the ring to the other. For the rest of the Summer, I would not get Kris to show a dog again. Well after that experience, I became nervous as my turn to present was up. I went out
to the ring and forgot everything, but a funny thing happened, Cocomo took control of the show and I just followed him and watched as he did everything on his own. He made me look good and we won two Best in Shows that weekend. Since then, in the past years we have 18 champions and nine best in Show winners. We know that shows are just a beauty and movement contest but, we also temperament test our dogs and do a lot of protection work with them. We are striving to breed the best Cane Corsos in the world, look and temperament wise.
(Pictured to the left are: Mike Sottile, Corrado Bellapianta, Kristie & Ed Hodas)We have traveled to Italy in our quest for improving our stock. We started off in Rome and went on to Naples and to the Cane Corso capital, Puglia. We went on dirt roads where only one car could fit through and we saw the Cane Corso in the mountains and fields guarding goats, sheep and chickens. We spoke to breeders, farmers and historians. We were lucky enough to have a good friend of mine with us who interpreted
and who had cousins and uncles that have raised Cane Corsos for decades. We met many breeders including Corrado Bellapianta and Leone, who are well know breeders and who have raised Cane Corsos for generations with their parents and grandparents. Thanks to this trip we now have different blood lines from all parts of Puglia, Calabria an Sicily. (Pictured to the right are: Leone, a breeder in Italy, with Ed)
Although we have 21 dogs, we are only keeping the dogs that we can be proud to put the Bel Monte name on them. We exercise our dogs faithfully year round. In the summer, they swim upstream into rapids of the Delaware. In the Winter we drop them off at the bottom of the mountain and they follow the truck home. We're looking into a lure coursing machine for the near future. All of this pays off greatly, because at the shows, our dogs stand out with their muscles showing ready for work. We now have five generations of our own breeding and have created a look that people now regard as a Bel Monte quality dog.
We at Bel Monte are going to strive to preserve the beauty, temperament and working ability of the Cane Corso. You have to see one to believe it and we are looking forward to showing you that they are everything we say they are.
Pictured to the left: Giancarlo Malvasi from Cerberus Kennels in Italy, Mark & Tracy Wilson and Ed Hodas.
