Dogo Argentino
Breed at a glance
- Origin
- Argentina
- Weight
- Males
- Height
- Males
- Coat
- short
- Colour
- white
Use
The Dogo is kept principally for hunting large game such as peccaries , wild boar , and pumas . [ 2 ] : 146 [ 3 ] : 340 [ 4 ] : 189 [ 5 ] : 140 [ 6 ] [ 1 ] It has a good nose, good speed, and good stamina; it may occasionally be trained for police or military work. [ 12 ] : 153
intro
The Dogo Argentino (plural Dogos Argentinos ) is an Argentine breed of large dog of mastiff type. It was bred in the early twentieth century in Córdoba in central Argentina, primarily for hunting large game such as peccaries , wild boar , and pumas . [ 2 ] : 146 [ 3 ] : 340 [ 4 ] : 189 [ 5 ] : 140 [ 6 ] [ 1 ] The foundation stock included the now extinct Córdoba fighting dog , a fighting dog of bulldog type , a Bull Terrier and a Mastín del Pirineo . [ 7 ] : 338 [ 6 ] : 21
History
In the 1920s Antonio Nores Martinez, a young student of Córdoba in central Argentina, set out with his brother Augustin Nores Martinez to create a new breed of big game hunting dog , especially wild boar. [ 1 ] [ 3 ] : 340 [ 7 ] : 338 [ 2 ] : 145-146 He wanted it to have the fighting qualities of the Old Cordoba Fighting Dog , but with greater size and strength. [ 6 ] : 23 He started with a Bull Terrier bitch with considerable fighting ability, which he bred to a spotted fighting dog of bulldog type . He selected and inter-bred their offspring, selecting for white coat colour and rejecting any animal that was retrognathous (undershot). In the eighth generation he introduced a Pyrenean mastiff bitch; by the twelfth generation his dogs were breeding true. They became well known for their success in the ring. [ 6 ] : 21 Nores Martinez later introduced crosses with a variety of other dogs including the Irish Wolfhound , Boxer , Great Dane , Bull Terrier , Dogue de Bordeaux , and Spanish Mastiff . [ 2 ] : 146 [ 7 ] : 338-339 In 1947 he presented his breed to the Club de Cazadores ('hunter's club') of Buenos Aires ; in 1948 a breed standard was published in the magazine Diana . [ 6 ] : 28 Antonio Nores Martinez was murdered in 1956; however Augustin, now an international ambassador , would continue to promote the Dogo during his travels. [ 7 ] : 339 The Dogo was definitively accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1973. [ 8 ]
Regulation
Ownership of dogs of this breed is illegal or restricted in some countries, including Australia, [ 13 ] Austria (Lower Austria, [ 14 ] Vienna [ 15 ] and Vorarlberg [ 16 ] ), the Cayman Islands, [ 17 ] Cyprus, [ 18 ] Denmark, [ 19 ] Fiji, [ 20 ] Hong Kong, [ 21 ] Iceland, [ 22 ] New Zealand, [ 23 ] Norway, [ 24 ] Singapore, [ 25 ] Turkey, [ 26 ] Ukraine, [ 27 ] and the United Kingdom. [ 28 ]
Characteristics
The Dogo Argentino is a large dog: weights for dogs are some 40–45 kg (90–100 lb) , for bitches slightly less; heights at the withers are in the range 60–65 cm (24–26 in) for bitches and 60–68 cm (24–27 in) for dogs. [ 1 ] [ 9 ] The length of the body is slightly greater than the height at the withers, up to a maximum of one tenth more. [ 1 ] [ 9 ] The coat is short and always white. A single black or dark-coloured spot on the head is tolerated as long as it is no larger than one tenth of the size of the head. [ 1 ] [ 9 ] The muzzle is of about the same length as the skull. [ 1 ] [ 9 ] Like many other breeds, the Dogo has some genetic predisposition to congenital deafness ; it is also predisposed to laryngeal paralysis/polyneuropathy complex . [ 10 ] : 3 The dogs usually live for some 10 to 12 years. [ 11 ] : 84