Many experts believe
that "attack (presa) dog" Alano, Dogo and Bulldog are different names applied to
the same type of dog with a wide variety of physical characteristics. 
The existence of the Alano
in Spain dates back several centuries, although it is not very clear what was its origin,
something lost in the twilight of time. The alano has always been used to guard
farms and cattle, and like hunter.
There are various theories
about its source. One of them points to a possible Iberian origin, based on its
introduction into the peninsula with the invasion of the Barbarians in the 4th century. As
early as the year 1350 King Alfonso XI published his "Book of Hunting," and in
the 15th century "Treatise of Hunting," author unknown, there is a detailed
physical description of the dog. When talking about the Alano dog everyone knows that it
relates to a speedy attacker, and that in order to warrant the name must possess certain
characteristics: pug-nosed and with a solid head, with long-bodied proportions, high croup
and well boned.
Also its character was
clearly defined around its function as a clutching dog; "not seizing out of hunger or
for a prize, but due to its God-given natural temperment" (what we call today an
"attack(presa) instinct.")
There is no doubt about the
fact that these dogs were very widespread, as demonstrated by their appearance in the
works of the great painters, who were the authentic chroniclers of the realities of the
epoch. Thus, as examples, Alanos are the dogs portrayed by Velazquez in the hunting scene
hanging in the National Gallery, London; those shown by Goya in his
capture of a bull; or those that appear in an engraving of the French romanticist,
Blanchard, or described in the writings of Cervantes and Lope de Vega.
Impressed by the
appearance and performance of our Alanos, also called "bull-dogs" and
"attack dogs" during the 17th century, the English, Germans and French imported
them into their countries, as shown by writings of the period that refer to them as
strains of Bulldog, (bull-dog), Bullenbeiszer (bull-gripper) y Bordeaux Dogo,
respectively. These breeds gave rise to others, such as the Boxer, Bullmastiff, Argentine
Dogo, etc. 
In the year 1873 there
appeared in the British press a description of one of the "Spanish attack dogs"
- called the "Bull" - that was exported there to renew the bloodlines of their
Bulldog, and that stated: "When it fights, it holds its adversary only by its head,
in absolute silence and totally indifferent to any pain. It is rather slow in its
movements, with a sort of swaying when it walks carrying its head low."
With the inception of dog
breeding in Spain the first Alanos appeared in dog shows. The last pair of Alanos was
exhibited in 1963 in the Retiro Park in Madrid. There followed the conjecture about its
extinction, and the affirmation that the Alano had disappeared, without any scientific
basis to justify this audacity.
Where have the Alanos existed?
In all of the
Mediterranean Europe, and also in the British Isles (source of the ancient Mastiff and
Bull-mastiff,) in Germany (source of the ancient Boxer and German Dogos,) in France
(source of the ancient Bordeaux Dogos,) in Italy (source of the well-known Neapolitan
Mastiff and Corsican Cane.) In all of these countries their present-day breeds stem from
the same common origin, in turn the same as the Spanish branch.
In Portugal, they call
the Alanos, "Caes de Fila," synonym for a dog that pursues, seizes or holds.
In America the names of
dogs such as presa "presa" (seizure) and "bull" dogs in Mexico;
"bravo" (brave) dog in Colombia; Cuban Dogo in the Caribbean; the Cordovan
fighting dog in Argentina or the Brazilian "Fila" are nothing more that the
identities of different strains all derived from the Spanish hunting dogs or Alanos that
were introduced originally in the colonization of America.
They were the dogs that accompanied the Spanish
explorers (America).
The chronicles of the
historians of the period mention the dogs that the Spanish explorers brought with them to
penetrate the virgin forests or to guard the camps.
There were innumerable
anecdotes regarding their intelligence, bravery and loyalty. Full pages were devoted to
describe the services performed by some of the dogs. Fernández de Oviedo tells us of a
dog named "Becerrillo" that always accompanied the explorer, Diego de Salazar.
It was said that ten soldiers with Becerrillo were feared more that a hundred without the
dog.
For that reason it
participated in the booties and received a salary like a soldier. He had several arrow
scars, like a veteran, but his well-earned reputation for bravery was won without being
bloody or cruel to the vanquished. The end of Becerrillo was like that of his son,
"Leoncillo," pierced by arrows in a battle with the Indians.
"Leoncillo"
was the dog of Nuñez de Balboa, and consequently was the first European dog to see the
Pacific Ocean. The historian, Lopez de Gomara, wrote that Leoncillo earned more than a
rifleman. He was alert against ambushes, able to face off a jaguar, invaluable for
avoiding swampy terrain, fearsome and tame according to his own estimate of the situation.
Thanks to the dogs that they used, the explorers were able to find paths without
knowing the land. In the struggle against the natives, the Alanos produced as much
surprise and terror as the firearms.
