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][4]: 340 [8]: 338 [3]: 145-146 He wanted it to have the fighting qualities of the Old Cordoba Fighting Dog, but with greater size and strength.[7]: 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.[7]: 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.[3]: 146 [8]: 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.[7]: 28 Antonio Nores Martinez was murdered in 1956; however Augustin, now an international ambassador, would continue to promote the Dogo during his travels.[8]: 339
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][10] The length of the body is slightly greater than the height at the withers, up to a maximum of one tenth more.[1][10]
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][10] The muzzle is of about the same length as the skull.[1][10]
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] Hong Kong,[18] New Zealand,[19] Norway,[20] Turkey[21] and the United Kingdom.[22]
^"Haltung von Listenhunden in Wien" [Keeping listed dogs in Vienna]. oesterreich.gv.at - Österreichs digitales Amt (in German). Retrieved 24 February 2024.
