Alano Español
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| Origin | Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Notes | recognised in Spanish legislation[3]: 13430 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Alano Español or Spanish Bulldog is a Spanish breed of medium to large sized dog of alaunt-bulldog type. It has at various times been used as a war dog, for bullfighting, for the management of cattle, for hunting and as a guard dog.[4]: 498 [5]
In the later twentieth century it became an endangered breed; a recovery project was launched, and numbers have since recovered. It was officially recognised under national law in 2004.
History
[edit]The origins of the Alano Español are unknown. One hypothesis is that it derives from dogs brought to Spain in the Migration Period in the fifth century by the Alani, a nomadic pastoralist people from Central Europe.[4]: 498
The first written reference to the breed in Spain is in a chapter of the fourteenth-century Libro de la Montería de Alfonso XI ("Book of the Hunt of Alfonso XI"), in which hunting dogs called Alani are described as having beautiful colours.[6] Dogs of this type travelled with Spanish explorers and were used as war dogs in the subjugation of Native American peoples, as well as in the re-capture of slaves.[7]: 23 Becerrillo, a ferocious war-dog owned by Juan Ponce de León, may have been of this type.[8][9]: 18 [10]: 77
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Dogs of this type are shown in the bullfighting ring in an etching by Francisco de Goya in his series La Tauromaquia of 1816.[11]
From the late nineteenth century the Alano began to decline, for a variety of reasons: in 1880, the use of dogs in the bull-ring was prohibited,[12] and the new practice of bullfighting on foot became more widespread; the manner of hunting changed, and more use was made of imported hunting dogs of foreign breeds;[4]: 499 extensive management of livestock became less common in parts of the country; and the handling of livestock in slaughterhouses was modernised and no longer made use of dogs.[12] The Alano was no longer needed for its traditional tasks, and numbers fell rapidly,[12] almost to the point of the disappearance or extinction of the breed.[4]: 499
A surviving breeding population was identified in the mountains of Enkarterri/Las Encartaciones in the Basque Country in the 1980s.[5] A breed standard was drawn up and a stud-book was started.[13] In collaboration with the Real Sociedad Canina de España and municipal administrations including those of Alanís de la Sierra, Archidona, Cazalla and El Ronquillo, a recovery project was launched.[13] There are two breed societies, the Asociación Nacional de Criadores de Alano Español (formed in 1995), and the Sociedad Española de Fomento y Cría del Alano Español.[4]: 500 [13]
The Alano Español was officially recognised by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, the Spanish ministry of agriculture, in 2004; together with the Pastor Garafiano, the Ratonero Valenciano, the Ratonero Mallorquín and the Ca Mè Mallorquí, it was added to the list of indigenous Spanish breeds.[3] It is not recognised by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale.
It has been suggested that the Cimarrón Uruguayo of Uruguay derives principally from the Alano Español.[14]: 25
Characteristics
[edit]
The Alano Español is a large dog of alaunt or bulldog type. Bitches stand some 55–60 cm at the withers, and weigh about 25–30 kg; dogs are on average about 3 cm taller and 5 kg heavier.[5]
The coat is short and thick but never velvety, and is most often a brindle; this may be of any colour, including grey or blue, with or without black. Other colours are fawn in any shade from sand-coloured to red, with or without black; and black-and-brindle – a black-and-tan in which the tan areas are brindled. The face may or may not have a black mask; the nose is pigmented black.[3]: 13430 [4]: 500 [5] White markings to the neck, chest or paws are acceptable, but excessive white is discouraged.[5]
The head is large, strong, squarish and brachycephalic.[5] The muzzle is short, ideally approximately 37% of the length of the head, with the lower jaw slightly concave; mild prognathism is tolerated.[15]: 121 [5] The ears are set high and are pendent if not cropped. The skin is very thick, with neck folds and some wrinkles on the face.[5]
Since the breed was used for hunting in packs, it is sociable with other dogs.[12]
Use
[edit]The Alano was used from Mediaeval times as a war dog. It has since been used for hunting of boar and deer, as a guard dog, and in the management of cattle, both at pasture and at slaughterhouses.[4]: 499 Until about the end of the nineteenth century it was used in the bull-ring; this use declined with the development of bullfighting on foot.[4]: 499
References
[edit]
- ^ The Bully Breeds by David Harris
- ^ John Beusterien (2016). Canines in Cervantes and Velázquez: An Animal Studies Reading of Early Modern Spain. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781317169963.
- ^ a b c Arias Cañete (2004). 5652. Orden APA/807/2004, de 24 de marzo, por la que se actualiza el anexo del Real Decreto 558/2001, de 25 de mayo, por el que se regula el reconocimiento oficial de las organizaciones o asociaciones de criadores de perros de raza pura (in Spanish). Boletín Oficial del Estado 77: 13430–13435.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Miguel Fernández Rodríguez, Mariano Gómez Fernández, Juan Vicente Delgado Bermejo, Silvia Adán Belmonte, Miguel Jiménez Cabras (eds.) (2009). Guía de campo de las razas autóctonas españolas (in Spanish). Madrid: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino. ISBN 9788449109461.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Spanish Alano: RSCE Standard No. 406 (Not Accepted FCI). Real Sociedad Canina de España. Archived 10 August 2019.
- ^ Alano Español in El Mundo del Perro Magazine, retrieved 23 February 2009
- ^ Mark Derr (2004). A Dog's History of America. New York: North Point Press. ISBN 9780865476318.
- ^ Selección de Leyendas puertorriqueñas - Becerrillo (in Spanish). University of Florida Digital Library.
- ^ Bryan Cummins (2003). Colonel Richardson's Airedales: the making of the British War Dog School, 1900-1918. Calgary: Detselig. ISBN 9781550592481.
- ^ Stanley Coren (2002). The Pawprints of History: Dogs in the Course of Human Events. New York; London; Toronto; Sydney: Free Press. ISBN 9780743227704.
- ^ [s.n.] (18 December 2001). Prints in the Goya Exhibit. SMU Meadows School of the Arts. Archived 6 March 2002.
- ^ a b c d "Alano Español". El Mundo del Perro. 22 October 2014.
- ^ a b c Nosotros (in Spanish}. Asociación Nacional de Criadores de Alano Español. Archived 25 April 2018.
- ^ Gabriel E. Fernández de Sierra, Beatriz E. Mernies Falcone (2013). Caracterización racial del perro cimarrón (in Spanish). In: Silvia Llambí Dellacasa, Rosa Gagliardi Berenguer (editors) (2013). Conociendo al perro cimarrón uruguayo. Montevideo: Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica, Universidad de la República Uruguay. ISBN 9789974009967, pages 21–30.
- ^ Manuel Jarén Nebot (2001). Alano Español (in Spanish). Torredonjimeno: Editorial Jabalcuz. ISBN 849523324X.