For many years now i have been involved with this breed and met some great friends along the way, one of those friends is Dott Flavio Bruno
October 31st 2005 I first came to visit Flavio having stumbled across his website and making contact with him in hope to find some true rustic examples. Language was a problem I thought at the time but this proved to be no problem at all because the Cane Corso Flavio had to show me spoke a thousand words, so different to the examples I owned and had been educated in believing were correct or incorrect. After three days of traveling around his region to see dogs in different working environments I was convinced the next dog I owned would one day come from il Contado del Molise. Until that time arrived I wanted to see more examples, learn more about the bloodlines which had been selected and his reasons why. This proved to be not an easy task as he was not simply going to tell me why , he had spent many years selecting these examples and I think that maybe he wanted me to try figure out why myself.
On that first weekend at the kennels of il Contado de Molise there were pups from two litters at the time and one particular puppy I was very interested in and took many photos and video of. At the time I said if I was starting over I would love to take this puppy with me, he had a great character and structure. Unfortunately it was not the right time for me so already I was planning my return visit. The return journey could not come soon enough the Raduno 06 , again I met many great Cane Corso and also Volpino a breed I also discovered at Flavio’s kennels the year before. To my surprise the puppy I was interested in 'Ciccio' was there for me to see and what a great specimen he was at not even 1 year old ! I was introduced to Dott Paolo Breber a real gentleman and one of my requests to him was to select a dog from the many examples at the Raduno who best represented the Traditional Cane Corso.......His choice was Ciccio.
So it is now fast approaching 2009......we have visited Flavio two to three times a year because he has become a great friend, he always has something new to show me and the people of his hometown are always so welcoming towards us. Great food , great wine , great values, tradition and of course great dogs. Each time we return I have the feeling (Its good to be home) Slowly I learn the language but somehow we have a way of communicating without words. Well in all this time I have been learning more about his choice of bloodlines and have particular interests in certain lines and particular dogs. Many visits have passed while I have been waiting for the right dog to come along for me to use as a representive of il Contado Molise here in the UK and along the way I have made many friends…not to mention the great dogs I have also met.
I am very proud and honored that our friendship and trust has reached a point after all this time that Flavio chose to give to me Ciccio the puppy I met on my first visit and also Ophelia our Volpino, two great examples of two very ancient Italian breeds.
Good things come to those who wait.
We will continue to visit as usual because there is still so much for me to learn but mostly because Flavio is a true friend !
