hi meredith,
i am eddie originally from texas, but i am currently living in italy. i looked into this breed for a few years before i decided to purchase one. when i arrived in italy i decided i wanted one. my wife and i owned a rottweiler privously and loved the breed but wanted to look into the rare breed scene. when we came across pictures of the cane corso, we immediately were impressed with it's apperance. next was to find out what kind of temperment they had especially towards children, since we have a 2 and 4 year old with a newborn on the way. we heard nothing but good words about the breed so we contacted a breeder here in italy. she invited us to her house and when we saw our first cane corso in person, we fell in love with the breed. we put a deposit down that day and 3 months later we were picking up our pup. we are very happy with him. he is now 7 1/2 months old and, is excellent with my kids as well as other kids out on our walks. he is not dog aggressive at all and loves to play with other dogs. his guardian instincts are top notch as well. all in all i am very happy with the breed. please take your time in finding a good reputable breeder. there are others from pennsylvania here on this forum. i am sure they can help you in finding a puppy. good luck.
ciao,
eddie