Conosco la razza del cane.

Conosco is the first-person singular present tense of conoscere.

So:

• conosco = I know
• conoscere = to know / to be familiar with

In this sentence, conosco la razza del cane means that I know the dog’s breed.

Italian often uses two different verbs where English uses just to know:

• sapere = to know a fact, to know information, to know how to do something
• conoscere = to know someone/something, to be familiar with

So a learner may expect so la razza del cane, but that sounds less natural.

Your sentence with conosco is grammatical and understandable. However, in everyday speech, Italians might more often say:

• So di che razza è il cane.
• So qual è la razza del cane.

So the sentence is fine, but it may sound a little more formal or less conversational than those alternatives.

Because Italian usually drops the subject pronoun when it is already clear from the verb ending.

• conosco already tells you the subject is I
• so io is not necessary

You could say:

• Io conosco la razza del cane

But that usually adds emphasis, as if you are contrasting yourself with someone else:

• Io conosco la razza del cane, ma tu no.

Italian uses definite articles more often than English does.

Here, la razza means the breed. You are talking about a specific breed: the breed of that dog.

So:

• la razza = the breed
• razza by itself would sound less complete in this sentence

Del is a contraction of:

• di = of
• il = the

So:

• di + il = del
• del cane = of the dog

That is why la razza del cane literally means the breed of the dog.

Because cane is a masculine singular noun.

Its definite article is:

• il cane = the dog

After di, that becomes:

• del cane = of the dog

Della would be used with a feminine singular noun:

• della casa = of the house

So the article in del agrees with cane, not with razza.

Cane is normally treated as a masculine noun in grammar.

• il cane = the dog

It can refer to a dog in general, even if you do not know its sex. If you specifically want to say female dog, Italian can use:

• la cagna

But in ordinary general use, cane is the standard word.

Yes. Conosco la razza del cane has a normal, neutral Italian word order.

It follows the common pattern:

• verb + object

You can change the order for emphasis, but then the sentence feels less neutral. For example:

• La razza del cane la conosco.

That means something like:

• The dog’s breed, I know it.

So your original sentence is the most straightforward version.

Razza is pronounced roughly like RAT-tsa.

A few important points:

• the zz is a double consonant
• double consonants are pronounced more strongly or held a little longer in Italian
• the a sound is clear and short

So it is not pronounced like English raza. The double zz matters.

No. Razza can have different meanings depending on context.

Common meanings include:

• breed when talking about animals
• race in some contexts
• sometimes kind / sort in informal expressions

In la razza del cane, the meaning is clearly breed, because the sentence is about a dog.

Yes, it is grammatical and clear. An Italian speaker would understand it without any problem.

That said, in everyday conversation, people might more naturally say:

• So di che razza è il cane.
• So qual è la razza del cane.

So your sentence is correct, but it can sound a bit more formal, deliberate, or written than the most casual spoken alternatives.