Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

pallas · 28th January 2009, 02:22 AM

the alano espanol was the wardog of the spanish conquistadores, they set these dogs upon the indians quite often during the course of their conquests, even going so far as to keep indians prisoner as food for the dogs........of course they later where used as cattle dogs on the huge haciendas throughout spanish america.....the alano was one of two direct descendents of the alaunt, a large, primitive LGD/combat dog which had been brought into europe by the alans from the central asia/caucasus area in the 5th century, the other descendant of the alaunt being the old white english bulldog, which arrived in britain with the norman conquest in 1066. some say there might also be a third direct descendant of the alaunt, that being the dogue de bordeaux of france, which coincidentally was also used as a wardog (and later as a fighting dog in the ring) by the french from the 1200's on.

the alano still survives in spain in its pure form as a cattle dog and sometimes unfortunatly, as a fighting dog as well.....it has given rise directly to at least 4 other breeds, the presa canario (also known as the "dog of prey") of the canary islands, the El Gran Mastin de Borinquen (puerto rican mastiff) of puerto rico, the cimmaron uraguayo of uraguay, and the fila braziliero of brazil. the old southern white bulldog or "plantation" "old time" bulldog and the extinct cuban bloodhound also derive half their lineage from the alano.......

its a sort of sad twist that the original english bulldog no longer exists in its true form, instead having been warped into the grotesque lapdog that is the english bulldog of today. the american bulldog is what the english bulldog used to be.

and there ive gone rambling on about dogs for a half hour or so......

28th January 2009, 02:22 AM	#13
pallas Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 53	the alano espanol was the wardog of the spanish conquistadores, they set these dogs upon the indians quite often during the course of their conquests, even going so far as to keep indians prisoner as food for the dogs........of course they later where used as cattle dogs on the huge haciendas throughout spanish america.....the alano was one of two direct descendents of the alaunt, a large, primitive LGD/combat dog which had been brought into europe by the alans from the central asia/caucasus area in the 5th century, the other descendant of the alaunt being the old white english bulldog, which arrived in britain with the norman conquest in 1066. some say there might also be a third direct descendant of the alaunt, that being the dogue de bordeaux of france, which coincidentally was also used as a wardog (and later as a fighting dog in the ring) by the french from the 1200's on. the alano still survives in spain in its pure form as a cattle dog and sometimes unfortunatly, as a fighting dog as well.....it has given rise directly to at least 4 other breeds, the presa canario (also known as the "dog of prey") of the canary islands, the El Gran Mastin de Borinquen (puerto rican mastiff) of puerto rico, the cimmaron uraguayo of uraguay, and the fila braziliero of brazil. the old southern white bulldog or "plantation" "old time" bulldog and the extinct cuban bloodhound also derive half their lineage from the alano....... its a sort of sad twist that the original english bulldog no longer exists in its true form, instead having been warped into the grotesque lapdog that is the english bulldog of today. the american bulldog is what the english bulldog used to be. and there ive gone rambling on about dogs for a half hour or so......