Thread by @Paracelsus1092

Since Bully XL dogs are on the TL, we should look at some of the dogs that are banned in the UK, and why?

Dogs are not equal in their capacities, and nothing shows this better than the history of one banned breed - the Dogo Argentino - and its ancestor, the Córdoba fighting dog

The UK Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 lists four specific breeds to be made illegal to own, breed or sell:

- Pit Bull Terrier
- Japanese Today
- Fila Brasileiro
- Dogo Argentino

The Dogo Argentino made the list because it was a breed designed to fight other dogs, although they can be used for search-and-rescue and other activities.

The origins of the modern Dogo take us back to Córdoba in Argentina, around the 1920's. A young medical student called Antonio Nores Martinez was looking to develop a new breed of fighting dog, to beat the competition of the city.

He and his brother Agustin started with the ultimate raw material, which they then crossed with Boxers, Pointers, Wolfhounds and others to create a more stable and reliable fighter.

Why would they need to do this? What was wrong with their native fighting breed?

The Old Córdoba Fighting Dog, or 'viejo perro de pelea Cordobes', was a truly intimidating animal. Created by dog fighters in the city, crossing old mastiff lines, they bred an animal that was so aggressive it seemed to defy nature.

The Córdoba dogs were noted for their stamina, strength and ability to ignore pain and injury. Not only this but they would rather fight to the death than back out, they would turn on their own pack in bloodlust.

Eventually they were almost impossible to breed, since they often preferred to fight one another than mate. The male Córdobas would rather kill the females than impregnate them.

This instability is what prompted the Martinez brothers to start developing a better fighting and hunting animal, one with the best of the Córdoba, but without its ultra aggression.

People like to imagine that dog owners are the problem, that the specific breed is irrelevant. But any glance through the history of fighting dogs should dispel that. The Córdoba was not a sheepdog, or a gun dog, it was an animal bred to fight to the death, now thankfully extinct