Love at First Sight

The Dogo Love at first sight. By Massimo Inzoli At the beginning of the 20th Century, Cordoba (the Old Fighting Dog of Cordoba), precisely to give agility, strength, size, a good nose, in Argentina was a city with two faces: On resiliency and intelligence to a unique canine area. the Belle Epoque, a society that was obsessed because it was already identified with that when one stops to think of the fact they were withone side spirituality, lived the that fervency made of itself what feel defined better These dogs were of a good size, and almost bringingrace. It was together truly a Molosser-type dense and difficult dogs cocktail,with by crossing to the other side of the street from completely white, at times with beige or black other morphological types. However, one the city’s poverty-stricken youth, and that fell spots. Courageous, bold, almost to the point should not forget that even if these were asleep to the song of the waltz and mazurka. of ferocity, they were untiring and resistant established breeds, they were less evolved In short, Cordoba had the appearance of to pain. Wounds did not seem to bother them, and extreme than our modern dogs, in the a capital that wanted to show itself to be allowing them to be victorious in any type of sense that the breeds were distinct but not as important in the eyes of the country. typey as the dogs of today. Antoniofight. Nores Martinez, in a brilliant I think it is very important to understand the was a cruder and crueler aspect that had inspiration along with his brother Agustin, fundamental characteristics of this new breed arrivedOn the other in this side, land not with far the from active the first,practice of referred to in Nores Martines’ famous speech dog into one that was more noble and useful – presenting the dogo he held to the Buenos namely,conceived a caza of transforming mayor, or catch that hound,old fighting capable Aires hunting club in 1947. bullfighting, and passed on the predilection of hunting boar, puma, jaguar, fox and other for cock-fighting. Later, it pushed to create and prefer another type of fighting, more resulting in huge losses to farmers of the silence on the hunt, so as to not be heard by Thesebrutal twoand oppositeemotional: lives dog co-mingled, fighting. and period.scourges that invaded the Argentine fields, itsThe prey. first quality the dog had to have was not in different social strata as one might be led to believe, but also in more evolved To advance their design, they crossed this Second, the dog had to be a good scenter and unsuspected social circles. In order to perro de pelea with breeds that were already who could follow the trail of the prey without accomplish their barbaric purpose, they used putting his nose to the ground, but capable of mastiff-type dogs in repeated crosses until recognized in the dog world, such as the air-scenting in the manner of a Pointer. Boxer,fixed in Pointer, type and Pyrenean were internationally Mountain Dog, This dog came to be considered indigenous Dogue de Bordeaux, Bulldog, Bull Terrier, The third quality was agility, resulting in a andthey was developed called viejo a type perro suitable de pelea for fighting.Cordobes dog who was very explosive and agile in his SPRING Iss UE Irish WolfhoundModern Molosser and Great - Dane,April 2010all to try Page 1 movement, without becoming too heavy a The expression must be of distinct hardness, molossoid type. but lively and intelligent. The eye shape that it should not be too broad in size so as to tends toward the triangular, and must be in to make this calculation. Let’s say instead The fourth quality had to be medium size, in a semilateral position, of a good dark color must be of a dark color, preferably black. the sense of not being a giant, nor a dog that with lids that cover them well, to protect the be aesthetically displeasing or disfiguring. It was too small or too light. eyeball. During winter, the Dogo develops an Finally, the dog had to be a good guardian – undercoat that can at times have some one who defends the things and people he The stop is average, marked at the point gray hairs. It would be better if the white loves. where the slight concavity of the muzzle stayed clear in all the seasons, and also if the switches to the convexity of the skull. undercoat was white. These few concepts expressed by the creator of the breed set forth its One thing is great importance is not to basic characteristics. temporal and jaw confuse the white of the Dogo with albinism, Goodmuscles, muscle which fills must the which fortunately is very rare in dogs. Created Clearly, this type of be well developed. by a mutation in the part of the genome called brutal hunting is not These features make the C locus, it causes the inhibition or total practiced today in many the head typical and cessation of pigment in the skin, coat and countries because of very functional. mucous membranes. cultural differences with the breed’s motherland. Another key feature One subject of discussion among Dogo Fortunately we live in a of type besides a good fanciers and experts in recent years is size. society where the dog head and expression is no longer seen as a is proportion and standard approved by the FCI gave a height means to an end who can substance. The dog minimumThe problem of 60 stems centimeters from the (23.5 fact that inches) the first and must be rectangular a maximum of 65 centimeters (25.5 inches) an end himself. This type but not too long, without taking into account the differences ofbe huntingsacrificed, is very but ratherrisky with good transverse between the sexes. In reality these heights for our friend the Dogo, diameters and not were substantially exceeded by males who and is not to be practiced with a front that is were winning in half the world’s rings coming or encouraged with him. to 70 centimeters (27.5 inches) at the withers, The chest is well descended, arriving at least creating much confusion in those who The fact, however, that fact that it is not to the level of the elbow,straight which andgives deficient. correct followed the breed. shared or practiced does not take away from lung room to allow good breathing capacity the fact that to understand the essence of and endurance. the breed, one must understand and know founder of the breed, Dr. Antonio Nores the reason for the Dogo’s existence in the For a dog of good substance, we must have a Let’s take a look backward: In 1946, the worldwide panorama of dogs. correct, well-proportioned skeleton with well- his new creature in the May issue of Diana developed muscles and no fat. A Dogo that magazine.Martines, published It did not makea definitive any mention standard of We have seen its original purpose and the lacks substance will never have perfect type. of the size of the Dogo. It is possible to characteristics desired by the father of the Dogo Argentino, but what makes it in fact a Regarding movement, the Dogo is the recently deceased Ruben Passet, which Dogo? predisposed to an extended trot, with long includesverify this a photographicallyspecific detail in the reproduced book by stretches of powerful galloping. He has an This is a molossoid dog of a lighter type, almost feline gait, in the sense of walking in a made of a rectangular shape, with length of light way, silent and almost sullen. But when Antoniocopy, certified made byregarding an Argentine size is notary, found in of his body longer than the height at the withers. his interest is awakened, there is a sudden commentsthis first standard. preceding The this only standard, reference in Dr.which The head is of a lighter brachiocephalic change of attitude and he becomes agile the cynologist says: “I tried to have the Dogo type, having a cephalic index greater than and explosive, capable of sudden changes of Argentino be a mesomorph, or normal type, direction. and a macrotalico, preferring those of greater sinuous appearance in the sense that a slight size – that is, a dog weighing between those.” concavity50. The upper of the profiles foreface of correspondsthe head have to a a One issue that is much discussed is that of slight convexity of the skull. The muzzle is the coat, which was intended by the creator lighter, shorter than the skull and must be of the breed to be a snowy white that made tragedy, Dr. Antonio died. We know that the strong and well developed, with lateral planes it visible and discernible in the Argentinian reinsLater, ofbecause the breed of a were kidnapping taken by ending his brother in as parallel as possible, but a lip that is not so mountains. The pigmentation is black, and a Agustin, to whom we owe the Dogo Argentino heavy or abundant as to impede the dog from well-pigmented front of the muzzle as well as as we now know it. breathing with ease. well-pigmented black eye rims is very much sought after. Agustin Nores Martines took charge of The cranio-facial axises are almost parallel in the sense that there is a slight tendency for The mark around the eye cannot be more has been in force until a few years ago. This a mild convergence created from the upper than 10 percent of the head.

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