Dogo History

The Dogo Argentino started out as a man’s dream. Dr. Antonio Nores Martinez wanted to create a new breed for Argentina to become an Ultimate large game hunter.  His dream was not fully completed before his untimely death and his younger brother, Agustin, went on to finish what his brother set out to create.  In recent years Antonio’s Grandson, Ulises D’Andrea Nores, has gone on to share this wonderful breed with the world and teach us all that this breed does not just live in the past as a functional hunter but still lives for what it was created for in our present time. We have been blessed to aquire a few special Dogos directly from Ulises born at the original breeding place in Corboda Argentina.  These Dogos have all come to us from strong hunting lines and have shown to be ‘True’ Dogo Argentinos.  We will strive to protect this wonderful breed and leave the current breed politics out of our program. All of our Dogos will be hunt tested as Form does follow Function however we also believe that since we were not blessed with X ray vision we will also use the high standards of OFA to fully health test our Dogos. 

El Dogo Argentino was created by adding blood from 10 different breeds.  Each breed was not equal parts of the final breed but each added its own strength.

1) the Fighting Dog of Cordoba, to which he added blood from

2) the Pointer to give him a keen sense of smell which would be essential for the hunt.

3) The Boxer added vivacity and gentleness;

4) the Great Dane it's size;

5) the Bull Terrier, fearlessness;

6) the Bulldog gave it an ample chest and boldness;

7) the Irish Wolfhound brought it's instinct as a hunter of wild game;

8) the Dogue de Bordeaux contributed it's powerful jaws;

9) the Great Pyrenees it's white coat and

10) the Spanish Mastiff gave it's quota of power.

Antonio and Agustin Nores Martinez had gathered ten Cordoban bitches as their nucleus and began bringing in the first of the contributing breeds as studs until the early offspring showed promise in the desired direction.

After a thorough and minute character study and selection, through different generations, Dr. Antonio Nores Martinez accomplished his purpose, obtaining the first family. Its strength, tenacity, sharp sense of smell and bravery make it the best dog among those used for hunting wild boars, peccaries, pumas and other country predators which can be found in the vast and heterogeneous areas of the Argentinean territory. Its harmony, balance and its excellent athletic muscles are ideal characteristics for enduring long trips in any weather conditions and then fighting fiercely with the pursued prey'.

The breed's first public appearance took place at the "Hunting Dog Show," organized by the "Buenos Aires Hunters Club" on grounds of the Argentine Rural Society, September 28, 1947.

The original standard for the breed had been published in the May 1947 issue of Diana Magazine, No. 89, pp. 28-40, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Antonio Nores Martinez passed away tragically November 2, 1956, his dream somewhat to be fulfilled. Agustin Nores Martinez became sole guardian of the breed and, under his direction, additional breeding among the original Dogo Argentino families already on the ground was undertaken during the following fifteen years. Simultaneously, most specimens were being tested in the Argentine wilderness, proving themselves as excellent big game hunters. The Dogo Argentino was fast becoming a legend. 

Agustin Nores Martinez wrote:

"... It was year 1925. My brother Antonio and I had yet to reach our eighteenth birthday (he was a year older than me), and by that time we were both absorbed by a true passion for dogs of all breeds, passion which was to remain constant through our entire lives, since so it was, till his untimely death, and so it will be, God willing, till the upcoming of my own... It was during that time when my brother Antonio developed the idea of creating, via the crossbreeding of various existing breeds, a strain of dogs capable of hunting in our own farmlands and woods, capable of racing towards the quarry and killing it, or at least grabbing it till the arrival of the hunter. This idea appeared mainly due to the failure of many European hounds which, by the nature of our vary vast lands, the size and strength of our wild boars, were not up to the task...
... I can still remember as if it had happened yesterday, the day when my brother Antonio told me for the first time his idea and his intention of using the dog known as "Viejo Perro de Pelea Cordobes" (old fighting dog from Cordoba) as a basis for it. This dog was a descendant of Spanish mastiffs brought to America by the colonists, crossbred with Bullterriers and other fighting breeds for the sole purpose of dog fighting. The idea was to use the extraordinary courage and fighting spirit of these dogs as basis, adding other breeds which could give them height, sense of smell, speed, hunting instinct, and, above all, to take away that "fighting eagerness against other dogs" instinct which made them useless for pack hunting. We wanted them to be friendly and capable of living freely within families and on estates, keeping the great courage of the primitive breed, but applied to a useful cause: big-game hunting and as means of controlling predatory species..."

The book "The Real History of El Dogo Argentino", compiled by Dr. Victor Valino, translated by Dr. Marcelo Fernández, 1995