National dogs of Uruguay

The Internet is such fun. Noodling around this weekend, I found a site devoted to a breed of dog called the perro cimarrón, billed as the national breed of Uruguay. They are good sized, descended from the dogs that came with the Spanish and Portuguese, and look like something that would be a hog dog around here. They are listed by a breeder as being good for hunting large game, working stock, and guard duty. Some of them look a little blackmouth cur and some look a little pitbull. There are a lot of brindle coats.

Go to this site to see samples of the cimarron. Click around on the pix and videos ("perros trabajando") to see the dogs working the Hereford cattle that predominate in that South American country. Like many real working breeds, the cimarrones look to vary considerably in appearance. Hate to think what the AKC would do if they ever got ahold of this likely looking breed of dog. What cachet to have a cimarrón to walk on the sidewalks of New York. That cimarrón means 'wild.' (Bands of runaway slaves in the Caribbean were known as maroons and the name came not from the color but from a corruption of the word cimarrón.)