CORDOBA.- Arsim Dreshaj, a Croatian who has lived in Sweden for years, has a breeding farm for Argentine mastiffs in the city of Mariestad (300 kilometers from Stockholm). His dogs are sold for about 2,500 euros and have Argentine blood, since the first female was bought from Cordovan Horacio Rivero Nores, who has the oldest kennel in the country without interruptions since his origin; he is in Falda del Carmen.
"I met the breed in 2004 in a book of hunting dogs -Dreshaj tells LA NACION-. I stopped everything to learn from those dogs; I read a lot, how the breed was born, why they were good for hunting. I couldn't drop the subject." The first dogo bought it in Spain and in 2018 he traveled to Argentina.
“After having my dogs, I am sure that Argentina is my favorite place in the world, so much so that I would like to move there,” he says. He invested about 10,000 euros to travel to the country and buy the female that was pregnant.
He explains that in Sweden the mastiff is not used so much for hunting as to accompany families because “they like nature, life outdoors. It is not a dog to sleep on the sofa. Some of his offspring are sold to hunters, but in general they are destined for family homes.
He is preparing an upcoming cross between his Argentine female and a dogo - also of local blood - that a friend of his has in Italy. "I will travel with the dog, because hers is a great animal and that is very good," he says.
Rivero Nores' father was a first cousin of Antonio Nores, the Cordovan doctor who in 1947 introduced the first breed of dog -and to this day the only one- in Argentina. “They had been working for about 20 years; he did not have a laboratory, but his test tubes were the females and the males that he was crossing, ”says Rivero Nores to LA NACION.
In 1968 the Argentine Cinological Federation recognized it as a breed and in 1973 the FCI did the same internationally. There are currently two other breeds seeking recognition, the Patagonian Barbucho and the Argentine Pampas.
Rivero Nores was one of the founders, in 1971, of the Club del Dogo in Córdoba; from there they began to work to spread the breed. “He had a very bad press -says the breeder-; when someone was bitten by a bulldog, the breed was criminalized. At that time, dogs were used to hunt wild boar, puma and peccary, which were allowed. Not today, because they are on yellow alert."
In Argentina, he estimates that there are about 1,000 people who are dedicated to breeding bulldogs, although only a few dozen are entities registered with the Federation with genealogical records and, therefore, pedigrees. In the '80s the breed begins to reach Europe; still -indicates Rivero Nores- it is “the best dog in the world for hunting; It has very good smell, physical structure and value. Over the years it begins to enter homes.
Breeding pedigree bulldogs is a business that has spread worldwide, there are recognized establishments in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, and official clubs all over the planet, including China, Japan, Korea, South Africa, and the United States.
“They may not have Argentine blood and be very good, but having it is a plus. That is why there are many who come to buy females and males to start their career - adds Nores Rivero-. Served bitches are sold, it is also possible to serve one that they bring to the country and there are even those who sell frozen semen”.
The price of the dog varies by sex (the female is worth more as a breeder), health, age, the history of the kennel and its background; It ranges between US$ 1,500 and US$ 6,000. Between four and six months is a good age to acquire it because there is already certain data about your health.
Nores Rivero points out that many international breeders bring bulldogs to shows in Argentina because being "champion in the country of origin also adds up." Sustaining a hatchery has a "high" cost. Just for food, a dog consumes about $8,000 a month, to which physical care, trainers, veterinarians and medications are added.
“He is an Argentine ambassador in the world”, draws Rivero Nores. Breed crosses made by Nores included the Cordovan Fighting Dog (PPC) as a base with English Bull Dog, Great Dane, Pyrenean Mastiff, Bull Terrier, Boxer, Pointer, Dogue de Bordeaux and Irish Wolfhound. Its creator defined it as "the best dog among all the dogs of prey and the one with the most prey among all the dogs in the world".
