Cimarrón Uruguayo

The Cimarrón Uruguayo is a molosser-type dog from Uruguay. It descends from dogs that European colonists brought to the country and that later lived wild, before ranchers tamed them as guards. Today it is used in Uruguay for guarding, hunting and dog sports, and has also been put to herding and rescue work.

History

The breed comes mainly from the Alano Español and other European dogs brought by early colonizers and then released or abandoned. These dogs adapted to life in the wild and in time became numerous. In the eighteenth century, after attacks on livestock and even people, they were hunted, and the government paid a bounty for each dog killed.

Many survived all the same, particularly in the highlands of Cerro Largo. Ranchers there caught and tamed them and used them as guard dogs. The dog’s survival and fierceness have made it something of a national symbol, and it is the mascot of the National Army of Uruguay.

The Kennel Club Uruguayo recognized the breed after about twenty years of work by fanciers and breeders to document it. The FCI accepted it provisionally on February 21, 2006 and definitively on November 7, 2017, in Group 2 among the mastiff-type molossoids. It has been exported to the United States, where the United Kennel Club recognizes it in its Guardian Dog Group. Genetic studies of the breed are under way at the veterinary faculty of Uruguay’s Universidad de la República.

Appearance

The Cimarrón is a large, compact, muscular dog. Males stand 58–61 cm (23–24 in) at the withers and weigh 38–45 kg (84–99 lb); females are a little smaller. The coat is short and usually brindle, though it may be a pale yellow known as bayo, with a black face.

The ears are often cropped short when the dogs are very young. This is said to be a nod to the bounty days, when a dog’s ears were handed in as proof of the kill.

Temperament

The breed standard calls for great courage. The Cimarrón is a calm, stable dog that does not usually bark unless a threat is real, and it is described as intelligent and as friendly with children and other animals. As with any large dog, it needs to be well socialized from a very young age if it is to be kept safely as a companion.

Care and health

Dogs should be tested for hip and elbow dysplasia before being bred.

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