And Now About Dogos - by my human Kym

At first, I found most of my information on the breed Dogo Argentino by searching on the internet. Then later, I bought several books from Zona in Argentina. I won’t bore you with the particulars of size, weight and color. You can get the breed standards from the Dogo Club of America, as well as Central Pets.com. I want to tell you about my experience of living a dogo and what to expect. By the way, the typical comment from the average Dogo Guardian is “I’ll never own another breed again!”. Dogo guardians are crazy about their Dogos - and here’s why:

My Dogos love to touch: First of all, they are the most endearing of canines. Not only do they shower you with love and devotion, but a Dogo has to touch their masters. Te-Che and Nela do not lie at my feet, they lie with a paw or a nose touching me. Next, they have tremendous personalities. They engage you with a “come on and love me” signals (a bow, a dip, a lick, and even a smile). It is simply impossible to ignore them, and so they quickly have you bond to them (and they to you).

My Dogos love to be noticed: Although my Dogos are large (Pimpinela weighs in at about 105lbs) when we go for a walk, inevitably a passerby will ask to pet them. Now why will perfect strangers want to pet a large mastiff? Because they love everyone (until there is a good reason not to) and they give them the “come-on, don’t you want to pet me?” They are is so good natured, that it shows. Te-Che is a real cutie and he really likes giving puppy kisses to all.

My Dogos wait for a situation to happen that requires them to get tough: Ok, so you heard that the Dogos are mean and great watch dogs, right? Well, not exactly.... Dogos are very laid back and passive (typical mastiff) - until the situation arrives - then they are very fast to meet the situation. Unlike Dobermans and Shepherds, they are not active watch dogs or body guards. They are gentle until they need to be otherwise. However, keep this in mind: A dogo will never start a fight (not with animals or humans), but if it comes to fight - they’ll finish it - but by catching and suppressing. They are not bred to kill, but to catch and wait for their hunter/human.

Handle Dogos with Love: Now of course these are my opinions, and I am sure you will hear others. I base this on my own personal experiences. Also, my Dogos are well loved and have never been abused or even spanked, smacked or hit. Correction with a Dogo must be positive and with love. These are powerful animals that are bred with extreme high pain thresholds. They can however be emotionally hurt very easy as they are really sensitive. Even training must be in short sessions with excessive praise, so that they respond to your correction, rather than resent it. Unlike the Labrador Retriever who loves to please, the Dogo is an independent working hound. They want to know why you need to have them sit or lie down. They are thinkers, and as such are not good “performers”. Now that doesn’t mean you can’t train them, it just means you need to work at it.

“Dogo” translates to “Mastiff” - not dog: When the Romans invaded Britain,, they did it with their War Mastiffs. In the early English language, this mastiffs were referred to as Dogues (Dogue in French still means Mastiff) and other canines were called Hounds. Around the 1300-1400 in England, there were so many decendents of these large Mastiff “dogs” that they started referring to all canines as dogs. By the way, in old England, there were usually at least one or two Mastiffs per Village used as protection against wolfs and other predators. However, they were quite frequently referred to as “Mat” dogues, because they would lay at their master’s hearth mat - until trouble arrived!