Cordoba Fighting Dog Information & Dog Breed Facts

The history of the Cordoba Fighting Dog began during Argentina’s colonial period when people used and bred many fighting dogs for war. The Spanish used a number of different breeds, but perhaps the most commonly used were Alanos, which were not known as a specific breed at the time but instead as a type of dog. The Alanos were related to the Aluant breed, the Molossus dog of Rome, and the British Mastiff. These dogs were known to be fierce and muscular, perfect for the war, hunting, and cattle dogs.

Moreover, the population of the United Kingdom rose substantially during the 18^th and 19^th centuries as agricultural and medical advancements began to take root. Eventually, the population of Great Britain was so large that the island could not sustain it so trading ties were forged with grain-producing nations across the world. In the 19^th century, Argentina grew to become one of the largest agricultural suppliers for Britain. Around the same time, dogfighting also became extremely popular in England. In 1835, bull-baiting and bear-baiting, sports that previously pitted dogs in battles to the death against other animals, were outlawed by the Parliament. British fanciers and gamblers turned their interest to dogfighting, which became one of the most popular sports in urban areas. After a few decades of testing and experimenting, British dog-fighters determined that cross between the English Bulldog with several types of Terriers produced the greatest fighting dogs. Known as Bull and Terriers, these crosses possessed the size, strength, jaws, determination, and ferocity of the Bulldog and the speed, agility, dog aggression, quick temper, and willingness to fight to the death of the Terriers. Eventually, several distinct breeds developed from the Bull Terrier, although the Bull Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier proved the most long-lasting.

Furthermore, many British ships carried Bull Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers with them. These dogs provided companionship for the crew and occasionally entertainment in the form of dog fights. Eventually, Bull Terriers began to arrive in Argentine ports, where they made quite an impression. Argentine fanciers began to collect and battle these dogs themselves. Dogfighting became particularly popular in Cordoba, Argentina’s second-largest city and the capital of the province with the same name. Breeders in Cordoba decided to develop a new fighting breed based primarily on the Bull Terrier, but with crosses to a number of other breeds. The resulting breed was named Perro de Presa de Cordoba, which means Cordoba Fighting Dog. Although the particular breeds employed in the formation of the Cordoba Fighting Dog are unknown, local Alanos and Staffordshire Bull Terriers are certainly among them. According to experts, other breeds which may have influenced the Cordoba Fighting Dog include the Perro de Presa Canario, the Fila Brasileiro, the English Bulldog, the English Mastiff, the Boxer, the Bullenbeiser, and the American Pit Bull Terrier. The Cordoba Fighting Dog closely resembled a Bull Terrier but was significantly taller and with a head more reminiscent of an Alano. Although the breed apparently came in colors such as brindle and fawn, Argentine fanciers greatly preferred solid white dogs, which became one of the dog’s trademarks.

The Cordoba Fighting Dog earned a reputation for ferocity and bravery in the ring. The breed never gave up, regardless of the odds, and it was said to be extremely aggressive toward other dogs. However, it was difficult to breed the Cordoba Fighting Dog because it had become so dog aggressive that a male and a female would usually engage in bloody combat rather than a mate. Moreover, local hunters rapidly learned that the same attributes that made the breed the best fighting dog in the world, also made it an excellent boar hunter. The Cordoba Fighting Dogs were one of the few breeds with both the courage and the strength to take on a wild boar and hold it until their master arrived to kill it. On the other hand, however, the breed was so vicious that it couldn’t be employed in packs because the dogs would fight among themselves. Some Cordoba Fighting Dogs were capable of hunting with one other dog of the opposite sex, but this was not always the case.

In 1925, Antonio Nores Martinez and his younger brother Agustin, the sons of a wealthy Cordoban landowner, decided to breed a big game hunting breed from the Cordoba Fighting Dog. In the younger Martinez brother’s book called ‘The Dogo Argentino’, Agustin writes that his brother’s vision was to create “a new breed of dog for the big game, for which he was going to take advantage of the extraordinary braveness of the Fighting Dog of Cordoba”. The Martinez brothers began to cross female Cordoba Fighting Dogs with males of a number of foreign breeds such as the Pointer, the Grey Pyrenees, and Dogue de Bordeaux. The resulting breed became known as the Dogo Argentino, and quickly earned a reputation across South America for being the best breed to hunt boar and cougar. The Dogo Argentino was so successful as a hunter, that it would eventually entirely replace the Cordoba Fighting Dog for that purpose.

However, the breed was still used in dog fights for several decades and as a result of this countless breed, members die in combat against other dogs, which greatly diminished the breed’s population and gene pool. As breeders continued to choose more aggressive dogs, breeding them became increasingly difficult, implying that fewer and fewer puppies were being created to replace those who were being murdered. Most significantly, a series of political and economic crises in Argentina, during the 20^th century, made it hard for many Argentines to afford the pleasure of owning a dog. Dogfighting, an exceedingly nasty and brutal sport, became taboo as social mores changed. As a result of all these factors, the Cordoba Fighting Dog eventually went extinct, although it is not clear exactly when. The breed was still well-known around Cordoba in the 1920s and 1930s but disappeared sometime afterward.