Dogo Argentino

[BJean]

I guess if you really wanted a Dogo Arg., you could embark on a breeding program to replicate the look of a Dogo Argentino utilizing breeds already in Aust.

Edited July 4, 2013 by lilli

[blakkjackal]

I guess if you really wanted a Dogo Arg., you could embark on a breeding program to replicate the look of a Dogo Argentino utilizing breeds already in Aust.

I do hope the sole reason for wanting a Dogo isn't just looks.

[kelpiecuddles]

I don't think there is anything wrong with saying you like the look of a dog and you would actively seek out a dog that had a certain look. I was more than happy to admit in another thread that I would happily adopt a pup of a certain cross breed from the pound because I liked the look of the cross. Doesn't mean i would encourage people to cross those two breeds and I certainly wouldn't ever buy a pup of that X off a BYB but I have no qualms about admitting I liked the look of those pups and that I would seek out a similiar X through a pound or rescue. I already own one of the breeds invilved so in my case I had no concerns about the activity levels, probable temp, etc.

Edited July 4, 2013 by kelpiecuddles

[blakkjackal]

It's not so much that you like the look of something. Lilli's suggestion just sounded plain... weird. I mean, if you want a Dogo (the whole package), how could a large, flop eared white dog of mixed background even remotely come close to the real thing? The Dogo is so much more than just a large white dog. Most of the breed's charm lies in its temperament.

Edited July 4, 2013 by Hockz

[BJean]

I guess if you really wanted a Dogo Arg., you could embark on a breeding program to replicate the look of a Dogo Argentino utilizing breeds already in Aust.

I do hope the sole reason for wanting a Dogo isn't just looks.

A lot of people choose their dog based on looks and livability.

[BJean]

It's not so much that you like the look of something. Lilli's suggestion just sounded plain... weird. I mean, if you want a Dogo (the whole package), how could a large, flop eared white dog of mixed background even remotely come close to the real thing? The Dogo is so much more than just a large white dog. Most of the breed's charm lies in its temperament.

IME it is not weird at all. A lot of people contact me about my breeds based on the look of the dog and a hopeful idea about livability.

Most breeds start out with intentional mixed breeding of different breeds. And this is fine tuned over generations. a breeding program to recreate a similar looking dog with a more Australian(ized) or 'livable' <sic> temperament is a lot more realistic than pining over photos from abroad and/or ye olde.

fwiw most breeds today have had their temperament made more livable by changes in prime function.

[minimax]

I guess if you really wanted a Dogo Arg., you could embark on a breeding program to replicate the look of a Dogo Argentino utilizing breeds already in Aust.

I do hope the sole reason for wanting a Dogo isn't just looks.

A lot of people choose their dog based on looks and livability.

One of the big reasons I like my breed is their looks ... and I'm sure a lot of people like their breed because of their looks. It's not always about "being pretty on the inside" as we like to convince ourselves.

[BlackJaq]

I think Lilli is right in that most people only want the look, not a specific temperament. Many breeds are being changed temperament-wise to make them suitable for pet ownership only and many times things that are even written in the breed standard in the country of origin are completely ignored or even selected against overseas because your average pet owners would just not be capable of coping with that breed trait but still, people want that look.

I read an article sometime, cannot for the life of me remember what it was, but I clearly remember the author saying "people want a Benji in a Rottweiler body" (meaning they want a generic, low level of activity, easy-to-get-along-with, friendly to everyone and everything, uncomplicated temperament but with whatever look they prefer, which many working breeds, whatever their purpose, just do not have as it totally clashes with their intended purpose)

It is an extremely sad turn of events and makes a viable working breeding program for a lot of breeds very difficult indeed, especially due to large litter sizes and the number of actual working homes available. If you breed your dog for a job, and then sell it to a pet home, where the owners will have to work very hard to make life livable with this dog due to the fact that they just cannot provide the job it was bred to do, you are pretty much wasting your time as a breeder, because you get no feedback from that dog on how well it performs the job you bred it to do and a lot of the things you carefully selected for and even imprinted on your pup before it was 8 weeks old, are now a hindrance to the pet owners...

But unless you sell any excess pups to a pet home (say your bitch had 12 pups but you only have 8 working homes lined up), what are you going to do? Stop breeding working line dogs? Compromise their working ability to be able to sell excess pups as pets? Kill any excess pups at birth? All the options suck, really and so a lot of breeds end up with pet/show lines only (I am not talking breeds where their original purpose is illegal now) and those that do have "working" lines often did have to make that compromise on performance and pet suitability. No offence to anybody breeding "working line" anything but except for a handful of breeds, this is reality because you cannot create working homes out of thin air and it should be the aim of a breeding program for working ability to produce pups that can and will work well, not to have a number of pups that are no good for the job so they can go to pet homes.

If you don't use it, you loose it and anybody who thinks their pet bred, non working selected dog will perform just as well as a true working line is probably kidding themselves, especially if they never actually worked any of their dogs.

*Dons flame suit* as I know my view is an unpopular one hehe

Edited July 4, 2013 by BlackJaq

[Nekhbet]

You can get something similar, go trawl the pig dog forums there's plenty of bull arab x's that are white.