UNDERSTANDING THE DOGO

One of the first Pointers we put in the breed was Zug de Tregroas, imported from France by engineer Miguel Arrambide, around 1927, jointly with a female called Hantippe de Saint Fargot. Arrambide gave them as a gift to my father, of whom he was a friend. He was also friend of us; a gentleman, in sport and in life; legendary figure in Cordoba, of whom I keep the best of memories. He joined us in memorable partridge hunting journeys, in the fields of Cordoba, south of Santiago del Estero and Santa Fe. Those Pointers, who had cost him a real fortune, brought with themselves the titles of French and European champions, both in structure and work. I myself hunted with Hantippe for several years.

In this breed we also used the stud services of Crack, a white and chocolate Pointer, son of the former couple, belonging to Arrambide, as well as Champion, black and white, and Cup, white and chocolate, with whom my father and some brothers hunted for many years. These dogs were registered in the Sociedad Rural Argentina, after which, Dr. Rafael Magnelli Ferrari, a known pointerman who did very much for the breed, traded with my father a son of the aforementioned couple for a puppy son of Dados Pigal and Mora, two dogs imported by him. That puppy was also introduced by us in the breeding process, and years later Dr. Magnelli Ferrari, who was the founder of the magazine called 'La Diosa Cazadora', which later evolved into the magazine 'La Diana', gave my father a son of You de Grand Charmon, a French champion Pointer imported by him. And with my brother we also utilized this new Pointer blood-line to introduce it in our melting pot.

Much later on, we used blood from a nearly all-white Pointer that I got from Mr. Julio Alberto, who sent it to me as a gift to Esquel.

In 1937 my brother brought to Esquel an excellent Pointer, Tom, who was son of Diana, sent to my father in Cordoba by Dr. José María Cullen. Diana was daughter of Lord, a dog who had won several field trials and structure shows, and was considered to be one of the best Pointers of his time in the country. Tom gave us many litters with great nose, and I credit him for the good temper of the Dogos I found when I established myself in Esquel, 20 years later. These dogs, in spite of my continuous traveling to Esquel and all my contacts, were the result of natural selection, enforced by hard work in the mountains, hostile climate, the hard and even cruel life they faced, the snow and the icy water rivers, which they swam across, the fangs of the wild boar, and the claws of the puma. This natural selection is an indispensable ingredient that goes along with the human work. No doubt Mr. Solanet would not have been able to create his magnificent 'Criollo' horse had he been not helped by the harsh climate for example, which was the same as that where the Dogos were forged.

These are , briefly, the different lines belonging to the best stocks of Pointer blood which we used for the Dogo.