An old Dogo Cubano illustration, kindly given me by Mr. Venelin Dynchev, Bulgaria.
M. B. Wynn wrote in his 1886 book that he had inspected some of the most noted Cuban Bull-Mastiffs imported to England. He further wrote;
"Col. H. Smith in Naturalists Libary, states that he was informed in the West Indies by some cattle dealers, who cultivated the breed, that the
Cuban Mastiff was introduced from England about 1560, and that they were first kept at a monastry in the ancient capital of St. Jago, according to
accounts recieved from a priest by the cattle dealers who informed Col. H. Smith." Wynn also wrote an description of the dog in his book; "Larger
than our common Bulldog and smaller than the Mastiff, stout in proportion, muzzle short, broad, and abruptly truncate, with somewhat of an upward curve,
lips pendulous, ears partly so".
In the south of USA they kept Molosser dogs to guard the plantation slaves who where also called Cuban dogs. If these dogs where called so because they where imported
from Cuba or because they where used to guard, and hunt down runaway slaves, is uncertain. In the book "The Illustrated Dog" by Tom Howard there is a
wonderful painting by Richard Andsell (1815-1885), called "Hunted Slaves", which show these Cuban dogs.
A picture from the early 1940's.
Picture by Antonio Rodriguez, Miami, Florida.
The above picture was sent me by Antonio Rodriguez of Florida and show his mother and one of the Cuban dogs her family had at their farm in Cuba in the early 1940's.
Antonio tells further about the picture; "One of the pictures shows a female dog when she was a pup. The head is not
visible, and you can only see the body of the pup. This female was completely
white and looked very similar to what my Argentine Dogo looked like when he
was a pup, according to my mother. My mother tells me that the picture of the female dog was taken sometime
during the early 1940s. She recalls that these dogs were fierce. She tells me of
remembering many times when the female dog was in heat, and she was left
outside to roam around the farm during the night. The following morning, my
grandfather would find a dead male dog that had tried to obviously mate with
the female, but she had killed him during a subsequent fight. In addition, she
told me that these dogs were very loyal to the family and magnificent guard
dogs".
A picture from the late 1940's.
Picture by Antonio Rodriguez, Miami, Florida.
The second picture sent me by Antonio Rodriguez, and again his mother, now 10 years of age, and one of their farm dogs. Antonio
tells about this picture; "The second picture is of a male that is the son of the female in
the first picture. The male has a white coat with the exception of two black
patches, which cover each of the dog's eyes. This dog is clearly visible in
the picture, and my mother tells me that he was not yet full grown at the time
that it was taken. The male dog was supposedly a bit smaller than my one hundred pound Dogo when he
was full grown".
Cuban dog, 1998.
Picture by Dr. David Lackenby, Florida, USA.
The above picture was sent me by Dr. David Lackenby of Florida, and show the dog of one of his patients, a Cuban refugee.
The Cuban man had to leave his dog behind when he left Cuba and he did tell that his dog was a grand fighting Champion in Cuba.
The man told that the dog have much moore loose skin at the troat than it looks like in the picture, but since held by the skin in the neck
all this loose skin does not show.
There is hard to get any information on the state of the Cuban dogs today but it looks like the dogs described by Mr. Wynn in the late 1800's,
and the dogs in the illustration at the top at this page, no longer exists. When guard dogs for the slave plantations, and for personal safety,
no longer where needed these dogs vanished in their pure state. Crossed with all kind of other breeds, in the 1900's especially
Dogo Argentinos, and in the later years the Pit Bull, we can assume that no pure lines of the old Dogo Cubano still exists. Sadly, no steps have ever been taken in Cuba to preserve the old
breed. As we can see at the above 1940's pictures, and the 1998 picture, these dogs more resemble the modern Dogo Argentino, and Dogo-Pit crosses, than the old Dogo Cubano
in the illustration at the top of the page.
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MOLOSSERWORLD - THE KONRADSEN'S HOMEPAGE -
THE MASTIFF IN SCANDINAVIA -
KENNEL OL'NORSE
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