Possibly Adding Dogo Argentino Puppy To Family - Input?
Hi everyone! It's been a long time since I was on these boards, but was reminded when I ran into Kona and Kimber(?), two adorable Kais at lure coursing over the weekend. I remembered these boards are particularly informative, so I thought I'd put a question to those of you experienced with Dogos that I've been mulling over.
I currently share my home with 3 spayed female dogs (Shiba Inu, Doberman Pinscher, Staffordshire Bull Terrier) and 2 neutered male dogs (Rhodesian Ridgeback, Siberian Husky). My boyfriend and I work about 30 hours a week at the carefree daycare and boarding facility we own together, and the boys go to work with us every day, and the older girls go once a week. Our shiba is only here half the time, as she is my boyfriend's family's dog, but stays with us for training and socialization. We have worked with dogs in packs and individually for about 10 years, and are very experienced with local popular dog breeds. But we have only met a handful of Dogos, and never spent an extended amount of time with them.
My plan for our little female Dogo is to spay early to keep the peace, and depending on her needs, either keep her as an active pet through nose work, lure coursing, or S&R, or maybe go into hunting. I've never hunted before, but I have always been interested in learning. If she shows inclination towards it, I'd be happy to try. A friend is taking a male from the same litter, so I thought maybe they'd be a good team if that happens. It's a priority for us to keep our dogs satisfied, so finding an activity or sport is not a problem.
I'm selecting my puppy in a couple days and have been thinking about it a lot. Our biggest concern is possible dog aggression. A Dogo that can't handle carefree daycare as an adolescent/adult is no problem for me, I pretty much expect it. But I worry about aggression within the house as she matures, especially with our spayed females. Our breeder reassures me that she will be submissive to the adults if raised with them though, and her dam is so dog-social, she can be crated with a buddy. But I'm trying to pinpoint what I should look for in the puppy when selecting. There is an ultra-submissive girl so far, but she literally just sits there while the other pups trample her, and my instinct tells me she might possibly be too submissive/weird/nervous.
My other concern is how Dogos do in a home with a lot of human and dog visitors. Our friends and family stay with us often, and our home is open to their well-behaved dogs/children also, so it sometimes can get full, but not crazy. They know to respect the dogs, and our dogs have places to chill out alone if they want to, but they usually like the company. If well bred and socialized properly, would a Dogo thrive in a situation like this, or would she merely tolerate it, or does it just not sound like the right match?
As our pack grows, we get more and more cautious about additions. Our Dogo will be the largest dog in our pack, and is the most "serious" breed out of them. So we are trying to make sure we are thinking this through, and these are the questions that come up that we can't figure out yet. Thanks for any help you can give us! We will be discussing this more in depth with our breeder also upon our next meeting, but love to hear from experienced owners.
I currently share my home with 3 spayed female dogs (Shiba Inu, Doberman Pinscher, Staffordshire Bull Terrier) and 2 neutered male dogs (Rhodesian Ridgeback, Siberian Husky). My boyfriend and I work about 30 hours a week at the carefree daycare and boarding facility we own together, and the boys go to work with us every day, and the older girls go once a week. Our shiba is only here half the time, as she is my boyfriend's family's dog, but stays with us for training and socialization. We have worked with dogs in packs and individually for about 10 years, and are very experienced with local popular dog breeds. But we have only met a handful of Dogos, and never spent an extended amount of time with them.
My plan for our little female Dogo is to spay early to keep the peace, and depending on her needs, either keep her as an active pet through nose work, lure coursing, or S&R, or maybe go into hunting. I've never hunted before, but I have always been interested in learning. If she shows inclination towards it, I'd be happy to try. A friend is taking a male from the same litter, so I thought maybe they'd be a good team if that happens. It's a priority for us to keep our dogs satisfied, so finding an activity or sport is not a problem.
I'm selecting my puppy in a couple days and have been thinking about it a lot. Our biggest concern is possible dog aggression. A Dogo that can't handle carefree daycare as an adolescent/adult is no problem for me, I pretty much expect it. But I worry about aggression within the house as she matures, especially with our spayed females. Our breeder reassures me that she will be submissive to the adults if raised with them though, and her dam is so dog-social, she can be crated with a buddy. But I'm trying to pinpoint what I should look for in the puppy when selecting. There is an ultra-submissive girl so far, but she literally just sits there while the other pups trample her, and my instinct tells me she might possibly be too submissive/weird/nervous.
My other concern is how Dogos do in a home with a lot of human and dog visitors. Our friends and family stay with us often, and our home is open to their well-behaved dogs/children also, so it sometimes can get full, but not crazy. They know to respect the dogs, and our dogs have places to chill out alone if they want to, but they usually like the company. If well bred and socialized properly, would a Dogo thrive in a situation like this, or would she merely tolerate it, or does it just not sound like the right match?
As our pack grows, we get more and more cautious about additions. Our Dogo will be the largest dog in our pack, and is the most "serious" breed out of them. So we are trying to make sure we are thinking this through, and these are the questions that come up that we can't figure out yet. Thanks for any help you can give us! We will be discussing this more in depth with our breeder also upon our next meeting, but love to hear from experienced owners.
Comments
Before you decide to hunt a dogo, make sure you understand how they hunt. They're not bay or tee dogs, they're fighters. Hunting a dogo can be a violent experience.
I've been around a lot of Dogo, I owned one to 6 months old then had to put him down due to an extreme health issue. I now have a 7 week old male. So, my ownership experience is limited, but I've been around the breed a good bit.
However, my focus on the dogo is hunting, so I have zero knowledge of non-hunting or show/hunting kennels.
Where do you plan to get your dogo pup from?
I primarily hunt wild hogs here in socal with my kishu ken and its extremely difficult. It takes a lot of time and patience to big game hunt with dogs. During the first few years of training and hunting, a person will need to spend on average of 4 to 6 days in the field per month to get a dog started. There's also a lot of equipment you will need to get started such as tracking collars, cut vests, gun, k9 first aid kit, maps, etc
Best thing is to get out with a experienced dog hunter or hounds men and get first hand experience on what its actually like. Hunting with dogs is a huge commitment and so its always best to get some prior experience before going in first hand. I hope I didn't turn you off from it but with a dog like a dogo, a big game dog can become a huge liability to keep and its always best to know what you're getting into
Hi Brad! I do have a breeder - I'm talking to Debonair here in San Diego. She seems like a typical show kennel and when I came across some negative information about her, I spoke to Del Rio in Arizona (who was my first pick when it came to breeder practices) who vouched for Debonair. The mother of this litter is particularly dog friendly, as is the uncle, which is why I'm extremely interested in this current litter.
I have talked to hunters and read/watched a lot of stuff on the internet, but never been actually present in a hunt. But I really enjoy what Dogos do, and seeing them reach their full potential. Not that I am a violent person, but I am definitely not dainty or faint-hearted. I look forward to it, although I am unsure what my ultimate reaction will be. I know it's possible I will say, "Nope, not for me!" Although right now I love the idea of it.
Something many breeders/owners have mentioned to me is the interesting phenomenon of the soft, manageable, easy to train Dogo puppy that can mislead many new owners. Apparently they are known for being great puppies and then entering adolescence with a roar. Most dogs develop similarly, but I've been told it's very noticeable in Dogos. Have you experienced that at all?
Hi shishiinu! Sorry, I can't figure out your name from your handle! My friend is looking to hunt boar with his pup. He has an APBT he trained for birds right now, and is an experienced deer hunter. So he's excited to work with a dogo. If our dogs show the inclination, I am definitely going to ask to learn from him and probably also look for experienced hunters we could meet up with. Like you! Haha.
Thanks for all the input!
-Tammy
Our state definitly needs more dog hunters and I would highly recommend you join California Houndsmen for Conservation (CHC). They are fighting really hard to try and preserve our tradition even though we continue to lose our freedom to hunt with our dogs.
Gen
I think all Molossers grow like that. They're pretty easy puppies, then they go an "asshat phase", then they chill out.
Dogos are mos def soft - like handler soft. So they can be misleading: with their owners they are easy and biddable, but they're still a very aggressive breed. Aggression is paramount in the dogo temperament as w/o that aggression they couldn't do their work.
The working Mastiffs are great dogs 90% of the time. The 10% they are bad tho, they are REALLY bad. You just have to always remember what they are and what they're capable of and set them up for success in all situations.
Caz and Che both have been really bad with potty training, as was my friend's male and female pup. There is no official source of info on this particular issue in the breed (because the dogo is a "healthy breed" - sure). But, just something to keep in mind.
So, when your pup is horrible to potty train, you'll know it's pretty typical of the breed due to the weak bladder issue.
Brad, it's good to hear about Dogos from your perspective. Sometimes when I'm researching new breeds, it's easy to get caught up in the hyperbole all over the internet, and then I meet some individual dogs or talk to owners of the breed and remember, they are still just a dog. With asshat moments. And I can handle that.
Navydog, you are absolutely right about the risk to the dog being a factor as to whether or not I hunt her. I love the idea of hunting my dogs and seeing them in their element, but in reality, I may chicken out at the first scratch or sign of danger. Hah. My Dogo is on the smaller side, so maybe that will give her extra agility in a scrap and give me confidence, with a cut collar on. I will be hunting her with her brother, and hopefully they will make a good team. Two Dogos are better than one?
If anyone is interested to know, my puppy's name is Turtle and is coming home in 2 weeks after her ears are done. I will post updates and pictures! Her littermate Dakota went home yesterday with my friend, and also happens to be fully deaf. His owner plans on training him to hunt upland birds and trying him out on boar under an experienced hunter. Hopefully we can meet up with Gen in the fall! I'm extremely interested to see how Dakota develops. As a puppy, he is very forward and dominant. I will post updates about him as well for those interested.
Thanks for all the info everyone!
-Tammy
Gen, I was so excited to learn about hunting boar with you, but now I am more hesitant with my weak knee and presently pregnant condition.
For those that are interested, Turtle is extremely submissive to humans, teetering on the edge of being a little weird (slightly excessive cowering, quick to alarm bark if your hairstyle changes or you put on a hood, etc), and has absolutely no hold to her bite in tug games. Yet! Her personality suits me fine for now, as it makes her super easy to control and direct, you just have to be soft with her. Experience is making her more confident and intelligent, and she's learning, but so slow! Must be a mastiff thing. You can see her making progress, but nothing at the rate a GSD would learn at for instance. With dogs, she is a fun-loving, slightly hard-headed normal puppy most of the time, very pit-bull-ish. I do see that "duality of nature" dogo people talk about, as she can turn it on and get very intense at times. So far I've seen it the following instances, all after 6 months of age: hiking in areas without any other people, being charged by cows, when humans behaved threateningly outside the car she and I were in, and at daycare when correcting dogs that get excessively excited/hyper. I can see her developing into the type of dog we do not allow at daycare that will target wiggly, over-excited dogs that appear unstable and over-correct them, so we're watching this behavior of hers very closely and are prepared for her to go through life without daycare or dog parks if it escalates or is uncontrollable.
Other fun things I have noticed that may or may not be a breed thing: she and her brother both have extremely high pain tolerances (she does not react at all when a toe gets accidentally stepped on, or a friend stands unknowingly on her tail for 10 minutes), they do not feel the cold the way my other short coated dogs do, and she and her brother both are extremely food motivated and can be food aggressive with other dogs, but not with people. For example, Turtle will guard her food from other dogs with warnings and mock charges, but her Siberian Husky brother can shut her down quickly and send her away. She will share things like treats, bully sticks, or food residues/spills discovered on the floor, however. Turtle's littermate Dakota will actually leave his food to bite and hold a dog wandering 20 yards away, as his owner found out recently. The other dog only suffered injured pride and a couple minor punctures, as they were able to open Dakota's immature jaws quickly when it happened. Both Turtle and Dakota will approach a dog eating in a kennel and proceed to guard that dog's food from him from the OUTSIDE. Hilariously ill behavior to observe when we realized what they were doing to the poor hungry dog.
Lastly, Turtle has been minimally vaccinated and raw fed on whole prey her entire life with me beginning at 11 weeks. Her brother has also been minimally vaccinated, but fed Canidae kibble, with some raw meat as treats. He developed spontaneous hot spots and chronically inflamed, itchy, thickened ears with tons of discharge by 6 months. Turtle has not had either of those conditions. We chose a local breeder to give us a leg up in the battle with the skin allergies this breed is prone to, so they might have better reactions to our town's environmental allergens, but this was just a highly illustrative and encouraging example that raw diets really are the best!
She's going through foundational e-collar training with me right now, which is new to me also and our trainer at work is showing me the ropes. It's similar but different from the clicker training I am accustomed to, but knowing what these dogs are capable of and seeing glimpses of the possible intensity of drive Turtle has the potential for, I think e-collar obedience training is the right method for me and her. Especially as my employees like to remind me, shaking their heads, "5 dogs and a stroller soon!" She's doing amazing with it, and it's fun to see my normally dopey, melty, lovey big puppy act all smart and sharp when she's in a training session.
With current life events underway, I'm happy right now just to continue her basic training and see where it takes us. Pretty sure she will love lure coursing, so she can tag along when we take her Ridgeback brother out to fun runs, and it's possible we might dabble in therapy certification, as she LOVES to meet people and is super gentle and affectionate.
Her littermate Dakota is now learning the ropes about upland game hunting with his owner and his veteran hunting partner, a 6 year old pit bull. When they left, Dakota was making slower progress than his owner would have liked, but he is accustomed to training Labs and his very sharp little pit, so he's adjusting to Dakota's pace. Dakota's deafness does not seem to hold him back at all.
Okay, that's it for my lengthy info about my experiences with Turtle the Dogo Argentino! Hope it can give some insight and entertainment for those people who were as curious as I was about life with this breed, and any opinions or advice from others are always appreciate!
-Tammy
P.S. I told my husband I would like a Presa Canario in 5 years and he said ABSOLUTELY NOT. We'll see what happens.