The following is a quick translation I've made of the speech which Antonio Nores

Martnez gave when presenting the breed. It was pronounced after a formal fight t
ook place between "A", an extraordinary specimen of Dogo Argentino, and "Pepe Jos S
talin", a 7-year old great boar stallion kept by the Nores in a corral Dogo Arge
ntino

Breed's Presentation Speech, A. Nores Martnez, Club De Cazadores, BSAS, 1946

"Sirs,"
"The Hunter's Circle of Buenos Aires has conceded me the honor of speaking from
this prestigious tribune. I gladly accept it and I thank you for your amability.
"
"I want to express my deepest gratitude to the honourable Comission and to his p
resident, for the honour that has been rendered upon me".
"Dear Sirs:"
"No other animal species has suffered the consequences of the laws of evolution
like the canine one". "It's fidelity to man, from prehistory to modern times, ha
s served the dog to obtain an admirable ability to adapt itself to geographical
and climatic changes, due to it's continuous fight for survival carried on along
side it's master".
"Who has not observed the enormous morphological difference between a robust Ala
no and a tiny Pekingese? Or between the aristocratic and agile Irish Wolfhound a
nd the achondroplastic Basset? Or also between the marvelous coat of a Setter, o
r a Collie"?
"Aren't this differences bigger than those between a lion and a tiger, a llama a
nd a guanaco, or an anthopoid and a primitive human being"?
"Why is it that differences between members of a same species can be larger than
those between members of different species? This question admits only one answe
r: Adaptability, proper to the canine species; acquired by following his master
through all the periods of history, all the paths of the planet, all the incleme
nt skies. Following with the same abnegation masters of any race, any character,
any culture".
"Because, sirs; history teaches us that in the night of times, at the dawn of pr
ehistory, when the first trail and the first human footprint showed up, right in
there, same as now, the footprint of our four-legged dear friend also showed up
. The everyday companion; in happiness, in pain, in misery, in opulence, in hope
and uneasiness, near a child's cradle and a man's gravesite, in life and death.
...there was the dog. The only creature as noble as to lick his master's wound b
efore his, offering happily his own life; the only creature as noble as to kiss
man's hand either when patted or hurt".
"Sirs, I see in all this much more than the mere realization of an instinct; I s
ee the flow of a superior sentiment. I see, in the first gesture, a little bit o
f charity and a lot of abnegation; in the second, gratitude; and in the third, I
see the sublime act of forgiveness".
"This magnificent ability to adapt itself, both physically and psychically, prop
er of the canine race, is what has allowed the development of a great number of
breeds. Some of them were created through natural selection, some others were se
lected by man, searching for practical results or aesthetic ones, or to fight ag

ainst loneliness. All breeds have a common trait, though: fidelity towards man,
the worst tyrant nature has ever created".
"More than 20 years ago, using the qualities of the canine race, I proposed to m
yself selecting a new breed with the adequate conditions for big-game hunting as
it is done in our country".
"Our hunting modalities are not like the ones we find in Europe, and for that re
ason the breeds selected in that continent have proven to be inadequate here. In
Argentina we hunt in endless woods without natural limits, very thick and intri
cate, in many cases without trails or paths. In these conditions, the boar, puma
and peccary, after hearing the dogs, could easily dissapear in terrains coverin
g thousands of hectares, if they weren't attacked and forced to stop so the dogs
can have the possibility of finding them".
"Without a prey dog capable of catching the quarry, every hunting intent would b
e futile".
"That being said...what qualities should a prey dog have in order to be capable
of fighting against pumas and boars?"
"In first place, he must folow the scent in silence, because if not the prey wou
ld run away. He needs a good nose, but has to scent the wind and not the trail,
so as not to get disoriented with old scents".
"He must be agile, but more proficient in combat than in sheer speed, because an
y dog that is not excessively heavy can outrun the boar, puma, or peccary".
"Lastly, his COURAGE must predominate over all the other qualities. If he finds
himself in front of the boar or the puma, he should be able to stop any of them
by himself, even if wounded, until the other dogs or the hunter reach to help hi
m. And if both the latter don't show up in time, he should be able to kill the a
nimal by himself".
"I believe that COURAGE and BRAVENESS should be the fundamental qualities of the
breed, because in the thickest of our native woods, a dog which limits himself
to finding the prey is of no use if the latter has the possibility of running aw
ay. It is imperative that the dog attacks it, and catches it".
"Regarding size, and bearing in mind the type of vegetation commonly found in ou
r woods, it's preferably the medium one. However, it is better to use the larges
t animals in the selection process, because the hard outdoors work and poor feed
ing, typical of a working dog, tend to reduce the animal's size".
"COURAGE is also the indispensable quality for the guard dog, which is the alter
native function for the Dogo Argentino. In general terms, people believe that a
guard dog is the one who barks and even bites a stranger if need be. According t
o this definition, all dogs of all breeds would be good guard dogs. In my belief
, a guard dog is something more: He must be willing to die defending his home an
d his master".
"I have no use for a guard dog who attacks an intruder and backs off after the f
irst hit or knife stab. In my opinion, this animal is undeserving of his master'
s trust, and also undeserving of being called a "guard dog".
"I have mentioned the fundamental qualities that I tried to obtain in the Dogo A
rgentino; facts will tell if my efforts have been successful or not. Being a par
t of the process, I cannot pronounce myself on that".
"However, we must remember that, precisely because of the canine race's ability

to adapt, we must always consider, for selection purposes, both the morfologial
aspects and the education aspects, the latter oriented to fulfill the objectives
of the breed. We could say that, to achieve the constant betterment of a breed,
we should apply the following formula: F x M + E, which means: Father x Mother
+ Education. In genetical language we could say that heritage + education + envi
ronment (that is, genotype + phenotype) conform the indispensable conditions to
mantain and further enhance one breed's characteristics".
"It is indispensable that we pay attention to these aspects, sirs, for a sheer b
iological principle: In biology, evolution is life, and inertia is death. Specie
s and breeds which don't get better, get worse; those who do not evolve, involut
ionate, which means a regression, the abandoning of the path followed for genera
tions; they degenerate, losing the qualities formerly obtained for the desired o
bjectives".
"To conclude, sirs, I present my excuses if I have emphasized my words with too
much passion, but I want to remind you that the person who dedicates his life to
an idea needs to be proud of it, because passion is the engine, the force behin
d the ideas; ideas born without passion are born dead. That's why the history of
mankind is the history of human passion; the biography of the great people is a
lso the apology of their great passions".
"I have finished"