The dogs that the Conquistadores brought to the New World as bioweapons weren't modern Mastiffs and Greyhounds. The Molosser breed was known as "Alano", and it probably looked more like a muscular Great Dane, which is one of its descendants. In fact, in Italy, the Great Dane is still known as an "Alano". This ancient Alano is not to be confused with the modern designer breed of the same name, which is more Bulldog-like. The Spanish Mastiff shown at the first of the video is a livestock-guarding breed, bred for reduced prey drive(otherwise they'd attack the livestock they are meant to protect), and are NOT related to the war dogs of the Spaniards. The sighthound breed used by the Spaniards was more aggressive than most modern sighthound breeds, and was the ancestor of the Spanish Galgo breed. Hernando de Soto also brought these dogs to North America, where they interbred with Native American dogs, known now as "Carolina Dogs", to produce the Catahoula Leopard Dog, Blackmouth Cur, Florida Cur and other "Cur" breeds that developed throughout the southern US. Occasionally, some lines of Catahoula will produce a huge "throwback" dog that closely resembles the Spanish Alano Mastiffs.
They crossed alanos with greyhounds and celtic hounds (wolfhounds/deerhounds) to make boarhounds (and crossing bull with sighthound is still how you make boarhounds). The boarhounds that were trained to attack humans would be called "bloodhounds" (not to be confused witht the st huberts bloodhound we know today). Bloodhounds were a big deal across all the colonial empires for terrorising and subjugating both natives and slaves. It wasn't an exact science with rules, so some of the bloodhounds would be just like alanos, others nearly like greyhounds, but most somewhere in between. Somewhere in between could end up bigger and more imposing than both bulldogs/alanos and the sighthounds, because you get the height and length of the sighthound with the strength of the bulldog. I have cousins that still breed boarhounds today, and cross bull terriers with greyhounds or deerhounds, the progeny can weigh up around 120-130 lbs. Bloodhounds in colonial times were recorded to weigh 170 lbs at times, and this is despite the fact bullmastiffs and the like typically were described as weighing maybe 60 lbs, even less sometimes. Fila Brasileiros are an example of a surviving "bloodhound". Most lineages around the world went extinct, as they were considered barbaric and dangerous and also just redundant when slavery was abolished. Cuban Bloodhounds, "Old Southern Boarhounds", Manila Bloodhounds and "Siberian bloodhounds" (really great danes) are referenced in historical texts. The Bully Kutta of India is likely another example of a surviving colonial bloodhound.
@@digs1223 No the modern presa is not a similar phenotype at all. Maybe a slender, old-line Bardino Majorero. She wrote "a muscular Great Dane". I'd say, looking at period art and modern performance dogs, many also looked like Bull Arabs or bully greyhounds (aka bull-lurchers, Aussie piggy dogs, kangaroo dogs).
you ever heard of skinwalkers motherfucker? You really think y'all powerful enough to fuck with America like how you think yall do? Your brain is shrinking
I don't hear enough about dogs of war. We've used them for their capability to inflict damage for millennia. Who could ever forget Maximus Deximus Meritius saying "on my signal, unleash hell " only to have his faithful mutt run after him. We hear so much about the role horses play in wars but not enough dogs
So true, we are programmed to ignore dogs, that is how dogs snuck into our camps in the first place, and our tendency to overlook them and not take them seriously persists.
In reading a fascinating account of DeSotos march through Florida and the south - the Spanish used Bruto and some other dogs to fight, and they were so feared they got men who were running away to surrender. Bruto was finally killed when he tried to attack the natives who were on the other side of the river and they shot him with arrows.
@@KA-om9ozholy cow you're not old enough to have kids and vote right? I sure hope you're not in control of a vehicle. Or able to make any decisions that impact the lives of anyone else. You're actually halfretarded
I first discovered this when I was doing research for my transcript. DOGS OF THE CONQUEST - I came across this book in the library at my University. I was amazed at the huge role these dogs played in this episode of history.
Great video! Just came across your page and I'm a huge fan! You're really solid at telling historic stories and making them interesting for more than just history buffs. You'll have more subs soon if you keep at it.
A neglected point is that Conquistadors relied heavily on warriors of their native allies and represented a small minority of the forces against the empire.
another neglected point is clarifying that prior to the arrival of the spaniards, there was no "indigenous" or "native" identity. people identified by the city-states they were from, and they did not all get along. Additionally, just as with the natives of new england, they were forced to make decisions that they thought might preserve the safety of their own city-states and people, and not necessarily the lives of their enemies.
This is true. They used the enemies of the Aztecs against them having beaten them in battle. However we rely on the memory of Bernal Diaz. I think his life was PTSD daily .
@wonka- don’t bother with any real history bro, this clown thoughtlessly swallows & then regurgitates the most debunked anti-European social marxist propaganda prepared as a political weapon against modern white people
Just one observation, they don't go ton"the Indias" to continue the war to Moro's, just trying to get the rearward of the ottoman empire cross the sea. They rol was someway similar to U.S. in siria or irak, carrying freedoms.
These war hounds were the original shock and awe weapon, I remember hearing somewhere, that the French in Algeria used war hounds with stainless steel capped canine teeth, the dogs were sent into caves to fight. As for greyhounds those are really fast, I was marking lines on a football pitch and a greyhound came hurtling towards me, as it passed I felt a bump on my leg, I figured thats all it was until the blood appeared on my trousers, the greyhound had taken a lightning fast bite as it passed by 😬
Shock and awe is the perfect way to put it. I’m honestly a little upset the terminology hadn’t occurred to me when making the video. Whether the Spanish, French, or modern military and law enforcement, dogs are frightening. Just their presence makes people uneasy. As for the Greyhound bite, my father had a wolfhound (similar build but much bigger) and he told me stories about how the dog would run by and slice the pants of people around the knee. If they want to they can draw blood easily.
Something way more primal about a dog chasing you hellbent on eating your face rather than a human on horseback 😂 couldn't even imagine war hounds. Buddy had a wolf/shepherd mix, named Benny. While sitting on their couch Benny found it amusing to put his front paws on back of couch behind you and literally put your head in his mouth, just standing there.. was senior in highschool and first time was utter fright.
The lost Roman hounds sound terrifying the Mastiff is the closest breed today but way smaller, these dogs were 200lb as a minimum whereas the Mastiff maxes out at 200lb and that's very rare. They also had spiked collars and blades on their forelegs pointing backwards to stop people grabing them.
Some context should be presented here. The Caribs were incredibly brutal themselves. They regularly raided Hispaniola for slaves, castrated them and even ate the captives. If they captured very young children they would raise them until they were large enough to eat. I think the dogs eating them was a kind of just dessert.
lol dude get the fuck out of here im of Taino descent and even i think your weak ass ideology is stupid. how you justify a colonization and extermination Job because they did some viking style raiding 😂
Very interesting pod cast , reallyenjoyed that one , dogs are amazing animals and the bond between dogs and humans is strong, dogs and humans will save each others lives , even cats get pissed if a person they don’t like comes into they’re domain .
Thank you, great video. As a descendent of both peoples in this video this really hit home. Mankind's brutality towards one another is unmatched in human history. I'm definitely looking into the book you mentioned here. 🤜🤛
Pawprints of history is hilarious title. A lot of the book is available online, including most of the section on the conquistadors. You can check it out on Google Books here: books.google.com/books?id=ndYgity6bNwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Very informative video. Being Puerto Rican and being a descendent of the Spanish and Taino and also african it is hard to hear about the things that went on back then but also very necessary to learn about all of it.
Wow, I never heard of greyhounds being war dogs before. Interesting. I can they how their speed would be very useful, if only to run down fleeing enemies and tangle them up until the 200lb mastiffs caught up
The greyhound originates with the arabs in north africa they were used a hunting dogs, they were much larger and much more robust than modern greyhounds
Absolutely. I have thought about diving into that before. The rival nature of these groups really prevented unification. Famously native groups like the Tlaxcala and others in Mexico were thrilled to team up against the Aztecs. The Westo in South Carolina eagerly sold their rivals to colonists as slaves. The Crow teamed up with Custer against the Lakota. Without help, conquistadors and colonists would likely have been forced out, at least for a time.
In 30 years of veterinary practice I never saw a 200 lb dog that wasn't morbidly obese- mastiffs included. I owned a large , fit male and he tipped the scales around 150. Their size is as exaggerated as the ludicrous casualty numbers from the Coren book
And yes such kind of dog will rip you appart that easy. 1 Bite to the head, belly, neck or any point where a artery is and it will be game over. Even a small wound from a tooth especially in that time would finish the job from infection after.
The Spanish Mastiff are huge dogs as well. And keep in mind these dogs are down scaled in modern times and made to be less agressive. In that time it was the other way around.
Really cool topic! I've known of dogs in war and ancient civilizations, but I was totally ignorant about Spanish conquistadors and their use of them. Great job.
It’s amazing, and sad, how many types of dogs have been ruined by inbreeding. It looks like mastiffs used to be far more athletic (like big ass wiry pitbulls) instead of chunky saggy shadows of what they used to be.
That's why a lot of breeds have 2 variations, the "contest" and the "workforce". Contest are more standarized, while workforce if more focused in doing tasks right. You wont ever see an spanish mastiff contest looking like in a farm. Farm dogs are way more lean. Shepards share they best shepards dogs, not the more good looking. th-cam.com/video/G2fMkPsInQs/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=NazaretMart%C3%ADnC. In this video you can see a girl making puppy grew up with the sheeps so the puppy is part of the herd.
5:56 this thing on psychopathic cruelty.... Do they commited acts of arbitrary violence out of sadism against friends and foes, against allies and enemies?? or were they using the language of violence purposefully in situations of war and conflict when the outcome of not being assertive it's survival matter???
This is part of Dominican history and then in 1503 the remaining indigenous committed a mass unaliving of themselves starting with crushing the heads of their children and the babies and then hanging themselves maybe if this guy told the story accurately and mention the right countries, you can cross reference for yourself in the Spanish royal archives they have the most comprehensive archives of the Americas I’m not a random TH-camr, trying to erase the still existing Hispanics that occupy the majority of that island, and whose history is being given to a whole other people that had nothing to do with that era and arrived a good 200 years later.
And this is why they bought in Africans after from Senegambia the first slaves to ever hit the New World from Africa went to what is today Dominican Republic there was no Haiti back then and Haiti has no Taino anything
Thanks for this; I have read a lot of histories of the conquests of Mexico and Peru, but have not read of the role that these dogs played. One more factor to consider, alongside the disease, the steel, the artillery, and the conquistador mindset and religion.
Oft heard, never really thought of. This gem clarifies so many historical comments, and ill never gain think I could take on a pursuing hound (not that I’m likely to ever find myself in that position... but)... great content.
Poor dogs! Being exploited by asshole human animals, to do their dirty work! The domestication and farming of all nonhuman animals is, was, and will always be, WRONG!!!
It's impossible. I had that dog breed. They have huge stamina and jaw power but they come to a point where they overheat and lie down, mouth wide open, chest expanding and collapsing like fireplace bellows and you can even hear their heart beating from a relative distance. On top of that, they are guard dogs for herds of sheep, their instinct doesn't even cooperate.
@@veewsol7078 Some other people here are saying that they weren't really using mastiffs. That's just a modern comparison. Apparently they were actually using Alanos which were bred for just this purpose.
The Brittanic celts had the most powerful war dogs, trained to knock armored cavalry off their horses. The Cu, the ancestor of the Irish wolfhound was considered to be the toughest dogs in Roman gladitorial games. English mastiff ancestors also made it to the arena. There was no such thing as English back then. The modern Wolfhound is not the same as the ancient ones, who were more athletic and mean. The Irish Wolfhounds were almost extinct, a British Army officer bred the last few wolfhounds with Scottish deerhounds, Great Danes, Borzois and maybe others. The breeds hostility to men was almost bred out of them and their life span was badly shortened. Irish Wolfhounds could use some Airedale, Pitbull and Kangal blood.
Cuban doggo and Uruguayan Cimarron are some of the dogs that can be traced to the original that the spaniards used in America, naturally bred with native wild dogs. Irish Wolfhound is a really big dog 😅
One more note, one ancient civilization that used big mastiff type dogs to hunt and go to war was the Assyrians, they predated the Roman empire. To do a little research on the gamest dog breeds Google or search TH-cam for Doctor Carl Semencic creator of some of the first American Bandogge lines.
I told my neighbor walking his dog about how all dogs have biting teeth to rip apart prey. He mentioned about a drug dealer fella in our area. He fought about 9 police and killed a police dog with his hands but he was ripped to shreds before being arrested. He said he looked like a mummy with so many bandages. 20 minutes later I was playing with my dog and it whipped it's head around fast just once. One tooth punctured the skin and other moving teeth just shredded the skin on the other side of my arm. As tough as a jelly doughnut.
@@tangle70 yes you’re right I need to stop categorizing Catholics with Christians. So my bad I’m that But the Spanish Catholics were “men of god” but committed every sin known. No wonder god allowed the British to crush them
The conquistadors also used a lot of coca leaves to "feed" the slaves. The slaves were fed only coca leaves until they were dead. Coca leaves are extremely powerful.
Coca were used (and is used by natives ) before the conquistadors arrival , the conquistadors didn't use coca to feed anybody, natives were protected by "leyes the indias " they respected the promised they made for eg. The descendans of Moktezuma were and are wealthy people in Spain they made they languages had a written grammar way before german o english, they had problems with certains populations because they were numerous tribes and languages, not all the natives were the same neither the conquistadors, but take a look the natives are free and numerous nowadays in all Hispanoamerica, the lost of the natives cultures arrives with the independences .
Known for his superior intelligence, Becerrillo is the most famous of the conquistador dogs. He participated in the conquest of Puerto Rico, thus brother in arms with my ancestor, the conquistador Pedro de Cárdenas.
@@MH-ro1lgthe medieval age was weird some spanish only went to America to save souls, to study botanics, build universities , hospitals ( free health care)
Dogs are still used today for war. During the NATO aggresion on Yugoslavia the border guard units who held the line on the Albanian border against the US trained KLA had dogs with them as part of regular deployment. One dog in particular was crowned "Major" Lister a German shepherd who during firefights and the fiercest battles managed to kill the terrorists that were near his handler. So much so that he had his own little "Seat" during the commemoration of those died during the war.
My old dog was a mastiff x pitbull. Rather large about 45+KG in his prime to tire him out I would have him chase a car going through the second largest cemetery in the southern hemisphere through a hilled and windy route, maybe 3KM per trip. It would take 3+ trips to deplete his energy. Some dogs can endure hours of conflict, hence pitbulls are the fighting dog as they can scrap for hours where bigger more ferocious on impact dogs can only go minutes.
Thank you so much for doing this video! I do table-top miniature wargaming and I have put on several games of Conquistador's for the guys and there seems to be little information on their use of dogs.
The history of domesticated animals is fascinating. I did a research paper on wild wolf populations of North America during the Colonial Era about 10 years ago, and I was surprised how difficult it was to find good primary sources, despite a ton of tantalizing secondary sources. I could usually find good primary sources when it came to dog-fighting, because the events would often be published in a local newspaper and the fights would often pit recently trapped wild wolves against domesticated dogs. The event organizers seemed to have a very good idea on wild wolf populations, because they were constantly trying to trap them for their next event.
There is NOTHING fascinating about the domestication and farming of nonhuman animals! You would have to be a descendant of the colonizers if you think like that. Boooooo!!!!
Terrorising like supressing cannibalism and human sacrifices? Like founding 700 cities in a century? Like making a Neolithic Civilization to one of a baroque culture in 100 years ? Like founding universities, roads, hospitals , schools, Institutions ?
Amazing stories that I know nothing about. I learn something everyday there are packs of wild dogs between Vegas and Big Bear and my friend broke down out there the open one year just happened to be packing a pistola when she broke down you got outside the car to make a call and see if she couldn't fix it herself and that's when it happened he barely got back into the cab of the truck oh yeah that was a close call Little Miss big britches almost bought the farm so yeah it's plausible more than plausible of these kinds of events and it's just really out of necessity awesome job keep up the good work now if we can only find a way to end this division in our beautiful country that would be something you see our diversity is our strength last time I heard it was the United States of America so be strong be kind do a good job help out when you can
These dogs were still good boys, to their owners lol! Shoot my grandpa was born in 1930 and even he didn't see dogs as pets but as tools for hunting surviving in the woods . Just found your channel good stuff man appreciate it
It’s very interesting. I lived in Lancaster PA for a while and the Amish have a very utility based relationship with their animals. A lot of the horses are very gaunt and worked. They are not pets. They are tools. It is a very different thing than what I am used to.
Dogs love their owners 💯 but they were first domesticated not as pets but as tools to help us. We owe dogs alot. Beautiful creatures with hearts of gold
@@sanderson9338 Tools, yes but they've always been our companions as well. It's kinda like children were laborers in nearly every family up until a few generations ago. They were still loved and cuddled, but whupped if not up at 530 to milk. bonding thru love and affection 30k yea ago is how we selected the wolves to breed to turn into what we have now. They were not doted on the way they are now. The dog has always selflessly worked and fought and bled for food, warmth and for one thing above all else: for scritches and for the honor of being called good boy or good girl
I still don't understand how a man with an obsidian club actually dozens of men, cannot kill a dog?? Was it the armour? Or was it propaganda to scare the natives??
It was mostly propaganda. The Spanish was pretty well known to embellish things to make the Spanish empire back home happy and continue funding their travels
Not really used for evil, this is how people were then, the Romans were rough also. There is not a group of people in the past who were not involved in war, not from Europe, not from Africa. Good content but do not judge based on what you perceive to be today's values. Look at the Russians in Ukraine, or ISIS, or the civil wars in Africa.
I generally agree with your sentiment. The Roman’s for example fed people to lions as punishment for crimes and had their beast hunts in the coliseum for sport. As a cultural practice I can see it through the lens of the time. There is endless nuance to history. But I can’t get past sending a dog after someone as part of gambling or sport. That is evil and some in the ranks of the Spanish like De Las Casas spoke out against it. But I will concede that in different cultural circumstances we would behave far worse and they may behave far better. That makes the question of evil a really hard one to contextualize.
@@datesanddeadguys I appreciate your open mind to my comments. I agree sending a dog after someone is cruel, but we sitll do it in our military today if needed. Working dogs are a tool to protect human life. I don't like it but I understand it, I do not believe in hunting animals as a sport, so can def see your perspective
@@BG-lb1fb I agree, human history is brutal, some people actually do horrific things thinking they are in the right, this isn't evil. Torturing and raping babies is certainly evil but I'd be very careful what else I would throw in
Actully what the spanish were doing was even evil for time and yes we can judge them if we want. Are you really this ignorant to say what they were doing was not evil just cuz it was 500 years ago like a bafoon
No other nations committed atrocities anywhere close to the scale of Europeans. Under their control the globe has rapidly declined to the brink of complete nuclear destruction
The kind of mastiffs from Game of Thrones were Italian Mastiffs. Another name for them is Cane Corso. I used to use them to guard my homestead from coyotes. I still have 2 of them but they are old and retired.
Man's best friend in our past certainly wasn't a friend to the natives. Rather sad to think about what transpired. I'm a ex professional dog trainer / handlier. Gun dogs mainly Labs, Pointers with some Walker Hounds I've trained and worked with. Loyal and eager to please. My one Lab Duke certainly loved to be out in the field or marsh. Such a strong drive and excellent nose Duke had for game birds. 💪🏻🙏🏻✨
Actually the oldest dog breeds known to humanity come from the native Americans and Mexicans. They domesticated dog breeds aswell 🤣 They used to have their own small packs of dogs in many tribes
I'll add that they didn't use them for dishonorable combat or to dispatch the innocent but rather great defenders and hunting partners ect. Euro used dogs trained to bite genitals and kill children. Sadly. But they also had badass armor for their dogs. The Spanish dogs. They looked like Roman armored dogs.
@@jimbob465 you sound like a child not knowing how the animal kingdom works. Children know nothing of honor. You are probably a big fat beer bellied man child... Disconnected from nature much?
Thank you, very informative video, history must never be forgotten!! I've known about the Spanish War dogs for a while. Knowing that the Spanish fed my ancestors to their dogs was and is a heart breaker. It saddened me that no one commented on that fact!? Only how wonderful and loyal dogs are willing to please their masters. I hope that no one group, or people will ever be subjected to that cruelty again! There are acts that are unforgivable this is one of those.
Considering that your ancestors ate each other as normal practice and considered other humans as a legitimate source of proteins I wouldn't feel so much hurt.
This was a very informative video. The imagery (though sad) was evocative. Unfortunately, there was a lot of room tone. The low levels coupled with the room tone made this difficult to hear well, when played on a cell. I have some very low cost ways of fixing these if it is of interest. Thank you for the history lesson!!!
This explains a lot about the disposition of the Mastiff breed. Some are sweet, and many remember what their original purpose was. Ditto the Akita. Think carefully and do your research into the temperment of the family line if you are considering a breed with a bloody heritage.
Taking the Cortés army from the time of the Otumba battle, over 600 Spaniards warriors (with their armor, crossbows, arquebuses and swords), some dozens of horsemen and wardogs. And their allies: Tlascalteca nation, totonaca people, etc, around 120.000 mesoamerican warriors.
Outstanding presentation, brother! Not sure the early Spanish conquests of the Americas would've been as successful without their loyal and fierce war dogs. That also brought to mind two items to ponder regarding Ibero-Amercan history. 1. How much did the Reconquista (from Muslim donation of the Iberian peninsula) contribute toward the incredible cruelty of Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors employed against native peoples? 2. (Re: conflicts with the Apaches and Commanches) There's no mention of war dogs being employed by the Spanish during their conflicts/struggles with the two groups, why not especially if they were successful campaigns of conquest earlier on? Your content most informative. Thanks for sharing! 👍🏼🇺🇸
I can’t speak to your first item but on the second I know a little. The practice of dogging fell out of favor because the priests objected to it. I don’t recall if it was outright banned but that is what diminished it.
Just a little point about the "incredible cruelty" of Spaniards and Portuguese;: First of all I think that when you are so massively outnumbered you MUST be cruel against some to avoid having to kill much more people both between the possible enemies and between the allies that can be persuaded of treasoning you(this is A.K.A psicological Warfare medieval style). Second: the natives were not especially sensitive to cruel acts; they also extirped Hearts, burn people Alive as religious sacrifices, kill babys to Tlaloc, drown other víctims, killing others by beating them with sticks, remové their enemie's skins and then wear them and a long list of atrocities...if you want to "impress" people from such culture you cannot be mild... Third these acts happened mainly in the XVI and XVII centuries, no less than TWO hundred years AFTER that the civilized Usonians used to offer a payment for human scalps in at least one of the states of the Union ( being the scalps of Indian women and children paid at a lower price).
You should not believe in black legends, how about the british, who erradicated the 95% of the native americans? Why the only reserves of native americans are on spanish territory? The diference bwtween spanish empire and british empire, radicates in the greatness of the spanish and the decadency of the british, thats why today near 700 million people speaks spanish and only 300 million english. Being part of the spanish empire was the best that happend to america, we preserve thay history in books and founded the first universities in the continent, also the first human rights declaration, while the stupid english and the bastard americans took almost 400 years to free the slaves.
@@oscarw.alcantara4459 Sorry you should check out when the british genocide started, almost a 100 years after spain reach america, so the argument of the period its just a joke for non well educated person. only 20000 spanish people in the first 100 years of the discovery of america, where sent there, and they conquered from mexico to peru, how? helping smaller native tribes fighting the manhunting mayans etc on their respective parts of america, so the cruelty you are talking was mostly enforced by the natives themselfs against mayans, incas etc. After those manhunt tribes where overtrhow, the natives joined the spanish country as provinces, with a system of goverment called virreinato, wich means that in those new parts of spain surged a underking that controlled the province, wich is a decentralizated form of goverment, and wich mean that they are not colonies they are part of the country as much as any spanish province. The british genocide started a 100 years later, when the fireweapons where easy to get and they could erradicate easily entire races, like the native americans that fought only with arrows. So nobody is talikng about how cruels spanish where, im talking about how other empires where way more cruel than the spanish, and it does not exist any genocide on spanish territory like exist in the british part of america, and i repeat yes in the conquer of america it exist killings from the spanish, wich are a joke compared with the british genocides. Just a quick reminder: Ireland: 1845 - 1 million killed by the british Australia: 1770 - 870000 killed by british (95%) of population India: 1760/1943 - 100 million (some estimate up to 165M) killed by the british North america: combining the british efforts and americans they got the 90% of the population 11 million Please find a document from the spanish empire that states in 1775 that the goverment will pay 50 pounds for every native american killed (25 if it was a woman 20 if it was a child) no it was george 2 Hitler is a joke compared with the british empire, again i state the most easy to understand argument, why spanish have 700 million speakers arround the world and english only 300million? Because we didnt comit genocides as british, we where angles that build the first universities and hospitals in america and preserve their culture, compared to the british that only brought death and poverty.
It sounds absurd on it’s face but there are things that make me wonder. The Mastiffs are likely bigger than the natives. And the witness made a point to address how he thought it was possible which makes me think he felt the numbers he through out there were crazy too and he felt the need to explain why they were not. I would still bet there was some exaggeration but regardless it seems like a straight horror show.
@datesanddeadguys ya the natives couldn't have been very big.. the guy I know who breeds them is 7 foot tall and 350 pounds and he was struggling to hold his 150 lb female and the male he has is over 200 lbs with a head that more than rivals a basketball on steroids.. I fully belive it was a slaughter
Conquistadors were not horrible people they were the product of those violent times. Imagine yourself (poor soldier with no money or possessions with no future) being 4000 miles from home with a handful of compatriots and no back up and in front of you a culture more gruesome than you could imagine (human sacrifices, cannibalism) I don't think you gonna bring them flowers... For my part I believe Conquistadors were the sharp edge of human race.
@@trey9775 Conquistadores never went to look for people to conquer. They were looking for a route to do trade with other people and stumbled across a barbaric obscene backward culture and were horrified of what they saw. The 'millions' you talking about never existed in the whole history.
@@ComboMuster any book from primary source accounts will tell u the The sadistic invading Europeans u people celebrate indiscriminately fed natives to dogs, murdered, raped, enslaved and looted in the name of the pedo Catholic Church. They wrote about all of this in their own personal diaries.
Regarding the estimate of how many men the dogs killed in an hour, I think it may be that they were describing a rate it took for dogs to kill one or two men then extrapolating to get the amount they might kill in an hour.
Much obliged again. Thank you for the very way this man's best friends got I learned a lesson tonight sir! Seems similar to german war dogs long after Arminius, pictures show the same breed. Anyway, it's a cruelty thing to abuse animals in that way 😢. God's Blessings from Northern Germany Ludwig.
Yes many of the best Roman legions were made up of Spanish men. It’s documented the men were smaller than Germanic tribes but there discipline and tactics won out again and again!
It's almost certainly important to realize for people comparing them to "My dog" or "Dogs I've seen" are completely misled. These are war dogs. They were surely bred for an amount of time we can only imagine for the purposes of killing. It's extremely easy to imagine that over all the time since these events the dog breeds involved were bred weaker and weaker to the household sorts we have nowadays. To doubt the dog's ability to tear through humans is to doubt the humans ability to manipulate and alter the form of canines to our desires (which is something anyone whose seen a pug and a wolf knows is the height of folly). For far longer than we've had to breed the dogs of today into their form, these dogs were bred for a far harder world and a far more brutal purpose from the days of the Romans.
I appreciate it. The Spanish colonization of the Philippines started in the same time frame as some of the South American and Caribbean conquests so I would have to assume to some extent they did use war dogs. But I took a quick look and found no glaring references to it so I can’t be sure.
@@datesanddeadguys I have not heard of any local history about the Spanish war dogs in the Philippines, I wonder how the Juramentados would fare against them if ever they did clash back then.
Hey, I like your videos but can you work on your sound settings? you sound far away and quiet. I have my speakers turned all the way up trying to hear you.
I have Fila Brasileiros, large South American Mastiff type dogs the only dogs bred specifically for hunting people. Slaves and Indians Extremely aggressive and distrusting of strangers
The first defeat inflicted by Filipinos on Western invaders took place on April 27, 1521, on Mactan Island when followers of a local chief, Datu Lapu-Lapu, repulsed a force of 49 Spaniards, with some native warriors, led by Ferdinand Magellan the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by a poison arrow...
I think most people even at the time would have been disturbed by violence like that. The conquistadores were hardened professional soldiers in a time where constant brutal warfare was the norm and if they lost they were likely to be treated just as badly by the Indians. We only see one side because they didn't loose.
I am always skeptical about war stories involving dogs. We are talking about a native group that lived amongst and worshipped jaguars. I'm going to be as blunt as I can. If a group of humans with pointy sticks can kill mammoths and elephants. What chance does a dog have?
they worshiped jaguars because they feared them skip forward a couple hundread years,the direct decendents of the same breeds of dogs the spanish used as war dogs (Dogo Argentino) were and are specifically bred to hunt puma/jaguar/panthers. so i think that fact alone kinda speaks for itself. i grew up hunting boars in the jungle with pitbulls, if you have ever seen a 100lb pitbull trained correctly unleash its speed and power on a 200lb armored, tusked, hellpig , you would understand why they were a brutal tool of war.
@ Deezy907 a 100lb pit bull dies very quickly with simple objects. A spear. A club. Do you believe the natives didn't have weapons? Tell me, what are the odds of who wins a fight, a 180lb man with a baseball bat or a 100lb pit bull? And be realistic...
@Unlucky Guy they might have, but dogs aren't very frightening to soldiers, even in ancient Roman times. I'm skeptical of dogs being effectively used in any battle.
Imagine standing on the battlefield, the sound of bones being crushed and flesh being torn as screams of agony come from under the bodies of giant beasts. Power. Power can be terrifying when unleashead without regard for its capacity.
The dogs that the Conquistadores brought to the New World as bioweapons weren't modern Mastiffs and Greyhounds. The Molosser breed was known as "Alano", and it probably looked more like a muscular Great Dane, which is one of its descendants. In fact, in Italy, the Great Dane is still known as an "Alano". This ancient Alano is not to be confused with the modern designer breed of the same name, which is more Bulldog-like. The Spanish Mastiff shown at the first of the video is a livestock-guarding breed, bred for reduced prey drive(otherwise they'd attack the livestock they are meant to protect), and are NOT related to the war dogs of the Spaniards. The sighthound breed used by the Spaniards was more aggressive than most modern sighthound breeds, and was the ancestor of the Spanish Galgo breed. Hernando de Soto also brought these dogs to North America, where they interbred with Native American dogs, known now as "Carolina Dogs", to produce the Catahoula Leopard Dog, Blackmouth Cur, Florida Cur and other "Cur" breeds that developed throughout the southern US. Occasionally, some lines of Catahoula will produce a huge "throwback" dog that closely resembles the Spanish Alano Mastiffs.
Found the dog breeder! That’s above average knowledge levels
Absolutely, the presa canario is probably both a descendant and a similar phenotype to those dogs of old.
They crossed alanos with greyhounds and celtic hounds (wolfhounds/deerhounds) to make boarhounds (and crossing bull with sighthound is still how you make boarhounds). The boarhounds that were trained to attack humans would be called "bloodhounds" (not to be confused witht the st huberts bloodhound we know today). Bloodhounds were a big deal across all the colonial empires for terrorising and subjugating both natives and slaves. It wasn't an exact science with rules, so some of the bloodhounds would be just like alanos, others nearly like greyhounds, but most somewhere in between. Somewhere in between could end up bigger and more imposing than both bulldogs/alanos and the sighthounds, because you get the height and length of the sighthound with the strength of the bulldog. I have cousins that still breed boarhounds today, and cross bull terriers with greyhounds or deerhounds, the progeny can weigh up around 120-130 lbs. Bloodhounds in colonial times were recorded to weigh 170 lbs at times, and this is despite the fact bullmastiffs and the like typically were described as weighing maybe 60 lbs, even less sometimes. Fila Brasileiros are an example of a surviving "bloodhound". Most lineages around the world went extinct, as they were considered barbaric and dangerous and also just redundant when slavery was abolished. Cuban Bloodhounds, "Old Southern Boarhounds", Manila Bloodhounds and "Siberian bloodhounds" (really great danes) are referenced in historical texts. The Bully Kutta of India is likely another example of a surviving colonial bloodhound.
@@digs1223 that dog looks insane. Id surrender in a minute if i say an armie of those.
@@digs1223 No the modern presa is not a similar phenotype at all. Maybe a slender, old-line Bardino Majorero. She wrote "a muscular Great Dane". I'd say, looking at period art and modern performance dogs, many also looked like Bull Arabs or bully greyhounds (aka bull-lurchers, Aussie piggy dogs, kangaroo dogs).
The Spanish undoubtedly learned the use of war dogs from the Romans.
The Spanish were Romans.
There was 1000 years between the 2 eras.
@Tickles I was about to say lol
Exactly
But similar to dogs and wolves, we also crave dead flesh
you ever heard of skinwalkers motherfucker? You really think y'all powerful enough to fuck with America like how you think yall do? Your brain is shrinking
Your analogy on human flesh being like a jelly doughnut compared to a wild boar is so perfect I can’t even begin to think how to top that. Bravo!
I don't hear enough about dogs of war. We've used them for their capability to inflict damage for millennia.
Who could ever forget Maximus Deximus Meritius saying "on my signal, unleash hell " only to have his faithful mutt run after him.
We hear so much about the role horses play in wars but not enough dogs
So true, we are programmed to ignore dogs, that is how dogs snuck into our camps in the first place, and our tendency to overlook them and not take them seriously persists.
The account of unleashing 20 giant mastiff during the height of the battle was pretty incredible. Imagine suddenly being hit by a wave of such beasts!
Who can forget Shakespeare: “Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war”.
@@jackwolf3948that's incredible, how the hell did the dogs differentiate between fighters though?
@@Sawrattandudes in armour vs naked snack.
In reading a fascinating account of DeSotos march through Florida and the south - the Spanish used Bruto and some other dogs to fight, and they were so feared they got men who were running away to surrender.
Bruto was finally killed when he tried to attack the natives who were on the other side of the river and they shot him with arrows.
They didn’t shoot him with a 9mm Glock…derrr😂
Poor Bruto!
@@KA-om9ozI wouldnt be surprised if they did, its Florida after all
@@KA-om9ozholy cow you're not old enough to have kids and vote right? I sure hope you're not in control of a vehicle. Or able to make any decisions that impact the lives of anyone else. You're actually halfretarded
I first discovered this when I was doing research for my transcript.
DOGS OF THE CONQUEST - I came across this book in the library at my University. I was amazed at the huge role these dogs played in this episode of history.
Great video! Just came across your page and I'm a huge fan! You're really solid at telling historic stories and making them interesting for more than just history buffs. You'll have more subs soon if you keep at it.
I appreciate it! Channel is growing pretty fast and this videos are fun to make. Happy you liked it.
Better off reading a history book, and not getting your education from 8 minute TH-cam videos. It's not the same thing.
A neglected point is that Conquistadors relied heavily on warriors of their native allies and represented a small minority of the forces against the empire.
another neglected point is clarifying that prior to the arrival of the spaniards, there was no "indigenous" or "native" identity. people identified by the city-states they were from, and they did not all get along. Additionally, just as with the natives of new england, they were forced to make decisions that they thought might preserve the safety of their own city-states and people, and not necessarily the lives of their enemies.
European invasions only destruction
This is true. They used the enemies of the Aztecs against them having beaten them in battle. However we rely on the memory of Bernal Diaz. I think his life was PTSD daily .
@wonka- don’t bother with any real history bro, this clown thoughtlessly swallows & then regurgitates the most debunked anti-European social marxist propaganda prepared as a political weapon against modern white people
Cope harder
Remember, they were fighting the moors for 800 years. War is in spanish blood.
Just one observation, they don't go ton"the Indias" to continue the war to Moro's, just trying to get the rearward of the ottoman empire cross the sea.
They rol was someway similar to U.S. in siria or irak, carrying freedoms.
@@PC-pi1zp deberías conocer un poco mejor la historia.
@@PC-pi1zp😂😂😂😂🤦🏻♂️
Great storytelling man! I've been binge watching since found your channel
These war hounds were the original shock and awe weapon, I remember hearing somewhere, that the French in Algeria used war hounds with stainless steel capped canine teeth, the dogs were sent into caves to fight.
As for greyhounds those are really fast, I was marking lines on a football pitch and a greyhound came hurtling towards me, as it passed I felt a bump on my leg, I figured thats all it was until the blood appeared on my trousers, the greyhound had taken a lightning fast bite as it passed by 😬
Shock and awe is the perfect way to put it. I’m honestly a little upset the terminology hadn’t occurred to me when making the video. Whether the Spanish, French, or modern military and law enforcement, dogs are frightening. Just their presence makes people uneasy.
As for the Greyhound bite, my father had a wolfhound (similar build but much bigger) and he told me stories about how the dog would run by and slice the pants of people around the knee. If they want to they can draw blood easily.
@@datesanddeadguys I guess this why they used the greyhound mastiff combo, to devastating effect.
Something way more primal about a dog chasing you hellbent on eating your face rather than a human on horseback 😂 couldn't even imagine war hounds. Buddy had a wolf/shepherd mix, named Benny. While sitting on their couch Benny found it amusing to put his front paws on back of couch behind you and literally put your head in his mouth, just standing there.. was senior in highschool and first time was utter fright.
The lost Roman hounds sound terrifying the Mastiff is the closest breed today but way smaller, these dogs were 200lb as a minimum whereas the Mastiff maxes out at 200lb and that's very rare. They also had spiked collars and blades on their forelegs pointing backwards to stop people grabing them.
They were docked tails and ears, absolutely cruel as fuck but that is how they were bred. They may or may not had skull caps depending on sources.
Some context should be presented here. The Caribs were incredibly brutal themselves. They regularly raided Hispaniola for slaves, castrated them and even ate the captives. If they captured very young children they would raise them until they were large enough to eat. I think the dogs eating them was a kind of just dessert.
Also: The Caribs were simply small island Tainos; they were not the innocent victims presented in historical fairytales...
lol dude get the fuck out of here im of Taino descent and even i think your weak ass ideology is stupid. how you justify a colonization and extermination Job because they did some viking style raiding 😂
@@joseanfigueroa8785Hey, I’m grateful my Spanish padres raise me to care for my children. Not sacrifice them, lol.
Actually this was proven to be untrue. Stop the nonsense!
@@coleburns5497so you’re glad your people were murdered, raped, and colonized by the Spanish? That’s the dumbest thing I have heard this week. SMH 🤡
something nice and light to watch on my lunch break
Very interesting pod cast , reallyenjoyed that one , dogs are amazing animals and the bond between dogs and humans is strong, dogs and humans will save each others lives , even cats get pissed if a person they don’t like comes into they’re domain .
Just stumbled on your channel mate, needless to say I’m in instant fan, keep it up, subscribed 👍
I appreciate the support! I’m excited about it. Its growing pretty fast and the topics are fun to research and put out there. Thank you.
Thank you, great video. As a descendent of both peoples in this video this really hit home. Mankind's brutality towards one another is unmatched in human history. I'm definitely looking into the book you mentioned here. 🤜🤛
Pawprints of history is hilarious title. A lot of the book is available online, including most of the section on the conquistadors. You can check it out on Google Books here: books.google.com/books?id=ndYgity6bNwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
@@datesanddeadguys thank you for the link.
INDEED....well put... IT'S not relative to one side ..it's nature.
You ok? :(
Very informative video. Being Puerto Rican and being a descendent of the Spanish and Taino and also african it is hard to hear about the things that went on back then but also very necessary to learn about all of it.
If you want to learn, don't think that this guy's talk is accurate. Pure Yanky anti Spanish propoganda!
@plusultra6199 nope all its all true Europoor keep coping😂
No te fías de los Anglosajones , ellos inventaron la “ leyenda negra “ para desprestigiar a los Españoles!! 👍
Basically Lions. Loyal Lions. Must have been absolutely terrifying for the those tribes.
"Dates and Dead Guys", what a name for a history channel. Subscribed.
Wow, I never heard of greyhounds being war dogs before. Interesting. I can they how their speed would be very useful, if only to run down fleeing enemies and tangle them up until the 200lb mastiffs caught up
It’s terrifying. Put it up there in ways I would least like to die.
They used a breed of Spanish Greyhounds used for hunting.
@@datesanddeadguys They also used Alanos extensively.
That is a frightening looking dog.
The greyhound originates with the arabs in north africa they were used a hunting dogs, they were much larger and much more robust than modern greyhounds
With metal warriors, pestilence, horses & giant warhounds I bet the natives felt like they were in a grimdark version of the Chronicles of Narnia.
It must have felt very alien.
Dont forget they had a lot of native allies (they were the main Manpower)
Absolutely. I have thought about diving into that before. The rival nature of these groups really prevented unification. Famously native groups like the Tlaxcala and others in Mexico were thrilled to team up against the Aztecs. The Westo in South Carolina eagerly sold their rivals to colonists as slaves. The Crow teamed up with Custer against the Lakota. Without help, conquistadors and colonists would likely have been forced out, at least for a time.
@@datesanddeadguys Divide & conquer, a tale as old as time.
@@datesanddeadguys Divide et impera
In 30 years of veterinary practice I never saw a 200 lb dog that wasn't morbidly obese- mastiffs included. I owned a large , fit male and he tipped the scales around 150. Their size is as exaggerated as the ludicrous casualty numbers from the Coren book
I agree. Humans arent as tough as wild boars but they don't rip apart that easy, that fast.
A Boerboel can be that. While still in shape.
And yes such kind of dog will rip you appart that easy. 1 Bite to the head, belly, neck or any point where a artery is and it will be game over. Even a small wound from a tooth especially in that time would finish the job from infection after.
The Spanish Mastiff are huge dogs as well. And keep in mind these dogs are down scaled in modern times and made to be less agressive. In that time it was the other way around.
@@ColdestRage303 I googled them, they look like big a**holes.
Really cool topic! I've known of dogs in war and ancient civilizations, but I was totally ignorant about Spanish conquistadors and their use of them. Great job.
It’s amazing, and sad, how many types of dogs have been ruined by inbreeding. It looks like mastiffs used to be far more athletic (like big ass wiry pitbulls) instead of chunky saggy shadows of what they used to be.
That's why a lot of breeds have 2 variations, the "contest" and the "workforce". Contest are more standarized, while workforce if more focused in doing tasks right. You wont ever see an spanish mastiff contest looking like in a farm. Farm dogs are way more lean. Shepards share they best shepards dogs, not the more good looking. th-cam.com/video/G2fMkPsInQs/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=NazaretMart%C3%ADnC. In this video you can see a girl making puppy grew up with the sheeps so the puppy is part of the herd.
5:56 this thing on psychopathic cruelty....
Do they commited acts of arbitrary violence out of sadism against friends and foes, against allies and enemies?? or
were they using the language of violence purposefully in situations of war and conflict when the outcome of not being assertive it's survival matter???
This is part of Dominican history and then in 1503 the remaining indigenous committed a mass unaliving of themselves starting with crushing the heads of their children and the babies and then hanging themselves maybe if this guy told the story accurately and mention the right countries, you can cross reference for yourself in the Spanish royal archives they have the most comprehensive archives of the Americas I’m not a random TH-camr, trying to erase the still existing Hispanics that occupy the majority of that island, and whose history is being given to a whole other people that had nothing to do with that era and arrived a good 200 years later.
And this is why they bought in Africans after from Senegambia the first slaves to ever hit the New World from Africa went to what is today Dominican Republic there was no Haiti back then and Haiti has no Taino anything
Thanks for this; I have read a lot of histories of the conquests of Mexico and Peru, but have not read of the role that these dogs played. One more factor to consider, alongside the disease, the steel, the artillery, and the conquistador mindset and religion.
Peru and Mexico did not exist in that era yet
Loving the channel. Just came across it. Any Native American history and stories are great. Ancient war tactics are fascinating
Oft heard, never really thought of. This gem clarifies so many historical comments, and ill never gain think I could take on a pursuing hound (not that I’m likely to ever find myself in that position... but)... great content.
I think it’s possible each dog killed that many people. We are talking about game dogs that live for what they do.
just like most dogs live and love to do what jobs they were bred for and trained to do.
Poor dogs! Being exploited by asshole human animals, to do their dirty work! The domestication and farming of all nonhuman animals is, was, and will always be, WRONG!!!
It's impossible. I had that dog breed. They have huge stamina and jaw power but they come to a point where they overheat and lie down, mouth wide open, chest expanding and collapsing like fireplace bellows and you can even hear their heart beating from a relative distance.
On top of that, they are guard dogs for herds of sheep, their instinct doesn't even cooperate.
@@veewsol7078 Some other people here are saying that they weren't really using mastiffs. That's just a modern comparison. Apparently they were actually using Alanos which were bred for just this purpose.
not the same breed@@veewsol7078
Keep em coming dude
The Brittanic celts had the most powerful war dogs, trained to knock armored cavalry off their horses. The Cu, the ancestor of the Irish wolfhound was considered to be the toughest dogs in Roman gladitorial games. English mastiff ancestors also made it to the arena. There was no such thing as English back then. The modern Wolfhound is not the same as the ancient ones, who were more athletic and mean. The Irish Wolfhounds were almost extinct, a British Army officer bred the last few wolfhounds with Scottish deerhounds, Great Danes, Borzois and maybe others. The breeds hostility to men was almost bred out of them and their life span was badly shortened. Irish Wolfhounds could use some Airedale, Pitbull and Kangal blood.
Cuban doggo and Uruguayan Cimarron are some of the dogs that can be traced to the original that the spaniards used in America, naturally bred with native wild dogs.
Irish Wolfhound is a really big dog 😅
One more note, one ancient civilization that used big mastiff type dogs to hunt and go to war was the Assyrians, they predated the Roman empire. To do a little research on the gamest dog breeds Google or search TH-cam for Doctor Carl Semencic creator of some of the first American Bandogge lines.
"My dog gets tired after 12 throws"..😂😂
Great job. Appreciate you sir
So, when Mark Anthony cried "Let loose the dogs of war" in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", he was really saying some mean stuff.
Amazing !! This is the first time that I've heard of these war dogs!
The fear factor was huge,because any large bore type spear will slay a dog if leveled and bravely used
I told my neighbor walking his dog about how all dogs have biting teeth to rip apart prey. He mentioned about a drug dealer fella in our area. He fought about 9 police and killed a police dog with his hands but he was ripped to shreds before being arrested. He said he looked like a mummy with so many bandages. 20 minutes later I was playing with my dog and it whipped it's head around fast just once. One tooth punctured the skin and other moving teeth just shredded the skin on the other side of my arm. As tough as a jelly doughnut.
That would explain the South American preference for chihuahuas
Tiny terrors but definitely less stressful than a mastiff.
Chihuahuas are North American.
@@theATkid yes I believe Cortez first recorded their existence and named them after Chihuahua New York 😅
@@speakupriseup4549 Mexico is part of North America dipshit
Laughed way harder than I should have.
U have any idea or possible links to see what the armor the dogs wore looked like?
These videos are fun and great learning tools
They are fun to make and research. Good to hear people are enjoying them. Thank you.
It never ceases to amaze me the evil men will do to other men. We live a very sheltered life now a days.
Exactly and these Spanish invaders were “Christians”
@@j.porlando5091 Weren't they Catholic?
@@tangle70 yes you’re right I need to stop categorizing Catholics with Christians. So my bad I’m that But the Spanish Catholics were “men of god” but committed every sin known. No wonder god allowed the British to crush them
@@j.porlando5091 The Spaniards liberated natives that were oppressed by the Aztec that would rip their hearts out.
@@uptown_rider8078 false. they enslaved the natives they “liberated” working them to death
The conquistadors also used a lot of coca leaves to "feed" the slaves. The slaves were fed only coca leaves until they were dead. Coca leaves are extremely powerful.
Nice fairy tale; were they also vampires..?
@@joseanfigueroa8785 You obviously ignore how powerful are the leaves. Same effect as the shit You shove up your nose and brain
Coca were used (and is used by natives ) before the conquistadors arrival , the conquistadors didn't use coca to feed anybody, natives were protected by "leyes the indias " they respected the promised they made for eg. The descendans of Moktezuma were and are wealthy people in Spain they made they languages had a written grammar way before german o english, they had problems with certains populations because they were numerous tribes and languages, not all the natives were the same neither the conquistadors, but take a look the natives are free and numerous nowadays in all Hispanoamerica, the lost of the natives cultures arrives with the independences .
This was actually horriffic. Thanks.
Known for his superior intelligence, Becerrillo is the most famous of the conquistador dogs. He participated in the conquest of Puerto Rico, thus brother in arms with my ancestor, the conquistador Pedro de Cárdenas.
Awesome story and great history as always!
If you had the choice between losing 20 of your men’s lives, or releasing the dogs - what would you do?
I would simply go back to Spain and build my life there.
@TheRach a life of poverty isn't appealing to conquerors
@@MH-ro1lgthe medieval age was weird some spanish only went to America to save souls, to study botanics, build universities , hospitals ( free health care)
That closing line though…. lol. Well done sir.
Dogs are still used today for war.
During the NATO aggresion on Yugoslavia the border guard units who held the line on the Albanian border against the US trained KLA had dogs with them as part of regular deployment.
One dog in particular was crowned "Major" Lister a German shepherd who during firefights and the fiercest battles managed to kill the terrorists that were near his handler.
So much so that he had his own little "Seat" during the commemoration of those died during the war.
My old dog was a mastiff x pitbull. Rather large about 45+KG in his prime to tire him out I would have him chase a car going through the second largest cemetery in the southern hemisphere through a hilled and windy route, maybe 3KM per trip. It would take 3+ trips to deplete his energy. Some dogs can endure hours of conflict, hence pitbulls are the fighting dog as they can scrap for hours where bigger more ferocious on impact dogs can only go minutes.
Thank you so much for doing this video! I do table-top miniature wargaming and I have put on several games of Conquistador's for the guys and there seems to be little information on their use of dogs.
The history of domesticated animals is fascinating. I did a research paper on wild wolf populations of North America during the Colonial Era about 10 years ago, and I was surprised how difficult it was to find good primary sources, despite a ton of tantalizing secondary sources. I could usually find good primary sources when it came to dog-fighting, because the events would often be published in a local newspaper and the fights would often pit recently trapped wild wolves against domesticated dogs. The event organizers seemed to have a very good idea on wild wolf populations, because they were constantly trying to trap them for their next event.
There is NOTHING fascinating about the domestication and farming of nonhuman animals! You would have to be a descendant of the colonizers if you think like that. Boooooo!!!!
awesome video dude
Terrorising like supressing cannibalism and human sacrifices? Like founding 700 cities in a century?
Like making a Neolithic Civilization to one of a baroque culture in 100 years ? Like founding universities, roads, hospitals , schools, Institutions ?
What a beautiful touching commentary, thanks
The ancient world was a cold brutal place. There are many mass graves that were filled with Natives, by Natives. Cool look at the use of war dogs.
Amazing stories that I know nothing about. I learn something everyday there are packs of wild dogs between Vegas and Big Bear and my friend broke down out there the open one year just happened to be packing a pistola when she broke down you got outside the car to make a call and see if she couldn't fix it herself and that's when it happened he barely got back into the cab of the truck oh yeah that was a close call Little Miss big britches almost bought the farm so yeah it's plausible more than plausible of these kinds of events and it's just really out of necessity awesome job keep up the good work now if we can only find a way to end this division in our beautiful country that would be something you see our diversity is our strength last time I heard it was the United States of America so be strong be kind do a good job help out when you can
These dogs were still good boys, to their owners lol! Shoot my grandpa was born in 1930 and even he didn't see dogs as pets but as tools for hunting surviving in the woods . Just found your channel good stuff man appreciate it
It’s very interesting. I lived in Lancaster PA for a while and the Amish have a very utility based relationship with their animals. A lot of the horses are very gaunt and worked. They are not pets. They are tools. It is a very different thing than what I am used to.
Dogs love their owners 💯 but they were first domesticated not as pets but as tools to help us. We owe dogs alot. Beautiful creatures with hearts of gold
@@sanderson9338 Tools, yes but they've always been our companions as well. It's kinda like children were laborers in nearly every family up until a few generations ago. They were still loved and cuddled, but whupped if not up at 530 to milk.
bonding thru love and affection 30k yea ago is how we selected the wolves to breed to turn into what we have now. They were not doted on the way they are now.
The dog has always selflessly worked and fought and bled for food, warmth and for one thing above all else: for scritches and for the honor of being called good boy or good girl
This is still the case for many hunting/game dogs here in the states.
Same with my grandpa.
Very interesting and well articulated, thank you.
I still don't understand how a man with an obsidian club actually dozens of men, cannot kill a dog?? Was it the armour? Or was it propaganda to scare the natives??
It was mostly propaganda. The Spanish was pretty well known to embellish things to make the Spanish empire back home happy and continue funding their travels
That was a hell of a report, very interesting
Not really used for evil, this is how people were then, the Romans were rough also. There is not a group of people in the past who were not involved in war, not from Europe, not from Africa. Good content but do not judge based on what you perceive to be today's values. Look at the Russians in Ukraine, or ISIS, or the civil wars in Africa.
I generally agree with your sentiment. The Roman’s for example fed people to lions as punishment for crimes and had their beast hunts in the coliseum for sport. As a cultural practice I can see it through the lens of the time. There is endless nuance to history. But I can’t get past sending a dog after someone as part of gambling or sport. That is evil and some in the ranks of the Spanish like De Las Casas spoke out against it. But I will concede that in different cultural circumstances we would behave far worse and they may behave far better. That makes the question of evil a really hard one to contextualize.
@@datesanddeadguys I appreciate your open mind to my comments. I agree sending a dog after someone is cruel, but we sitll do it in our military today if needed. Working dogs are a tool to protect human life. I don't like it but I understand it, I do not believe in hunting animals as a sport, so can def see your perspective
@@BG-lb1fb I agree, human history is brutal, some people actually do horrific things thinking they are in the right, this isn't evil. Torturing and raping babies is certainly evil but I'd be very careful what else I would throw in
Actully what the spanish were doing was even evil for time and yes we can judge them if we want. Are you really this ignorant to say what they were doing was not evil just cuz it was 500 years ago like a bafoon
No other nations committed atrocities anywhere close to the scale of Europeans. Under their control the globe has rapidly declined to the brink of complete nuclear destruction
The kind of mastiffs from Game of Thrones were Italian Mastiffs. Another name for them is Cane Corso. I used to use them to guard my homestead from coyotes. I still have 2 of them but they are old and retired.
A Mastiff who has a caring owner will be loyal to him or her, everyone else is under the Mastiffs watchfully suspicious eye.
Thanks for posting.
Man's best friend in our past certainly wasn't a friend to the natives. Rather sad to think about what transpired. I'm a ex professional dog trainer / handlier. Gun dogs mainly Labs, Pointers with some Walker Hounds I've trained and worked with. Loyal and eager to please. My one Lab Duke certainly loved to be out in the field or marsh. Such a strong drive and excellent nose Duke had for game birds. 💪🏻🙏🏻✨
Actually the oldest dog breeds known to humanity come from the native Americans and Mexicans. They domesticated dog breeds aswell 🤣
They used to have their own small packs of dogs in many tribes
Every people's throughout time had and loved dogs
I'll add that they didn't use them for dishonorable combat or to dispatch the innocent but rather great defenders and hunting partners ect.
Euro used dogs trained to bite genitals and kill children.
Sadly.
But they also had badass armor for their dogs.
The Spanish dogs.
They looked like Roman armored dogs.
@@DEATH14269 dishonorable combat?
Grow up kid
@@jimbob465 you sound like a child not knowing how the animal kingdom works.
Children know nothing of honor.
You are probably a big fat beer bellied man child...
Disconnected from nature much?
As a Mexican, I love understanding the Spanish conquest, from every perspective. Great job!
FYI. There's actually a dog collar museum in Kent UK. It's located in a castle there. They have King Henry 8 dog collar there. Complete with spikes
Thank you, very informative video, history must never be forgotten!! I've known about the Spanish War dogs for a while. Knowing that the Spanish fed my ancestors to their dogs was and is a heart breaker. It saddened me that no one commented on that fact!? Only how wonderful and loyal dogs are willing to please their masters. I hope that no one group, or people will ever be subjected to that cruelty again! There are acts that are unforgivable this is one of those.
You can thank those people that you're reading right now instead of playing in a dirt hut too.
Considering that your ancestors fed on other tribes...
Considering that your ancestors ate each other as normal practice and considered other humans as a legitimate source of proteins I wouldn't feel so much hurt.
This was a very informative video. The imagery (though sad) was evocative. Unfortunately, there was a lot of room tone. The low levels coupled with the room tone made this difficult to hear well, when played on a cell. I have some very low cost ways of fixing these if it is of interest. Thank you for the history lesson!!!
Nice content dude
This explains a lot about the disposition of the Mastiff breed. Some are sweet, and many remember what their original purpose was. Ditto the Akita.
Think carefully and do your research into the temperment of the family line if you are considering a breed with a bloody heritage.
100% correct !!!!!!!!!
Nobody says what percentage of that Spanish army was indigenous...
over 99%
Taking the Cortés army from the time of the Otumba battle, over 600 Spaniards warriors (with their armor, crossbows, arquebuses and swords), some dozens of horsemen and wardogs.
And their allies: Tlascalteca nation, totonaca people, etc, around 120.000 mesoamerican warriors.
your pronunciation of "tómalos" sounds a lot like "tamales" and i can't stop laughing
Outstanding presentation, brother! Not sure the early Spanish conquests of the Americas would've been as successful without their loyal and fierce war dogs. That also brought to mind two items to ponder regarding Ibero-Amercan history.
1. How much did the Reconquista (from Muslim donation of the Iberian peninsula) contribute toward the incredible cruelty of Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors employed against native peoples?
2. (Re: conflicts with the Apaches and Commanches) There's no mention of war dogs being employed by the Spanish during their conflicts/struggles with the two groups, why not especially if they were successful campaigns of conquest earlier on?
Your content most informative. Thanks for sharing! 👍🏼🇺🇸
I can’t speak to your first item but on the second I know a little. The practice of dogging fell out of favor because the priests objected to it. I don’t recall if it was outright banned but that is what diminished it.
Just a little point about the "incredible cruelty" of Spaniards and Portuguese;:
First of all I think that when you are so massively outnumbered you MUST be cruel against some to avoid having to kill much more people both between the possible enemies and between the allies that can be persuaded of treasoning you(this is A.K.A psicological Warfare medieval style).
Second: the natives were not especially sensitive to cruel acts; they also extirped Hearts, burn people Alive as religious sacrifices, kill babys to Tlaloc, drown other víctims, killing others by beating them with sticks, remové their enemie's skins and then wear them and a long list of atrocities...if you want to "impress" people from such culture you cannot be mild...
Third
these acts happened mainly in the XVI and XVII centuries, no less than TWO hundred years AFTER that the civilized Usonians used to offer a payment for human scalps in at least one of the states of the Union ( being the scalps of Indian women and children paid at a lower price).
You should not believe in black legends, how about the british, who erradicated the 95% of the native americans? Why the only reserves of native americans are on spanish territory? The diference bwtween spanish empire and british empire, radicates in the greatness of the spanish and the decadency of the british, thats why today near 700 million people speaks spanish and only 300 million english.
Being part of the spanish empire was the best that happend to america, we preserve thay history in books and founded the first universities in the continent, also the first human rights declaration, while the stupid english and the bastard americans took almost 400 years to free the slaves.
@@oscarw.alcantara4459 Sorry you should check out when the british genocide started, almost a 100 years after spain reach america, so the argument of the period its just a joke for non well educated person. only 20000 spanish people in the first 100 years of the discovery of america, where sent there, and they conquered from mexico to peru, how? helping smaller native tribes fighting the manhunting mayans etc on their respective parts of america, so the cruelty you are talking was mostly enforced by the natives themselfs against mayans, incas etc. After those manhunt tribes where overtrhow, the natives joined the spanish country as provinces, with a system of goverment called virreinato, wich means that in those new parts of spain surged a underking that controlled the province, wich is a decentralizated form of goverment, and wich mean that they are not colonies they are part of the country as much as any spanish province.
The british genocide started a 100 years later, when the fireweapons where easy to get and they could erradicate easily entire races, like the native americans that fought only with arrows.
So nobody is talikng about how cruels spanish where, im talking about how other empires where way more cruel than the spanish, and it does not exist any genocide on spanish territory like exist in the british part of america, and i repeat yes in the conquer of america it exist killings from the spanish, wich are a joke compared with the british genocides. Just a quick reminder:
Ireland: 1845 - 1 million killed by the british
Australia: 1770 - 870000 killed by british (95%) of population
India: 1760/1943 - 100 million (some estimate up to 165M) killed by the british
North america: combining the british efforts and americans they got the 90% of the population 11 million
Please find a document from the spanish empire that states in 1775 that the goverment will pay 50 pounds for every native american killed (25 if it was a woman 20 if it was a child) no it was george 2
Hitler is a joke compared with the british empire, again i state the most easy to understand argument, why spanish have 700 million speakers arround the world and english only 300million? Because we didnt comit genocides as british, we where angles that build the first universities and hospitals in america and preserve their culture, compared to the british that only brought death and poverty.
Incredible cruelty? How were the conquistadors more cruel than other conquerors throughout history?
You sir just earned yourself a subscriber!
I have no doubt Spanish mastiffs had at least 50 kills per dog.. I know a breeder of them and those dogs are literally the Arnold of dogs scary
It sounds absurd on it’s face but there are things that make me wonder. The Mastiffs are likely bigger than the natives. And the witness made a point to address how he thought it was possible which makes me think he felt the numbers he through out there were crazy too and he felt the need to explain why they were not. I would still bet there was some exaggeration but regardless it seems like a straight horror show.
@datesanddeadguys ya the natives couldn't have been very big.. the guy I know who breeds them is 7 foot tall and 350 pounds and he was struggling to hold his 150 lb female and the male he has is over 200 lbs with a head that more than rivals a basketball on steroids.. I fully belive it was a slaughter
May I ask your thoughts on the Argentino Doggo?
@dubuyajay9964 don't know much about then... im sure it's a hand full
Fun Fact: these dogs of war were starved for days up until the point of insanity then they were released on the native population
Conquistadors were not horrible people they were the product of those violent times. Imagine yourself (poor soldier with no money or possessions with no future) being 4000 miles from home with a handful of compatriots and no back up and in front of you a culture more gruesome than you could imagine (human sacrifices, cannibalism) I don't think you gonna bring them flowers... For my part I believe Conquistadors were the sharp edge of human race.
“Horrible people” is an understatement for invaders who barbarically massacre millions of innocent people unprovoked.
@@trey9775 Conquistadores never went to look for people to conquer. They were looking for a route to do trade with other people and stumbled across a barbaric obscene backward culture and were horrified of what they saw. The 'millions' you talking about never existed in the whole history.
@@ComboMuster any book from primary source accounts will tell u the The sadistic invading Europeans u people celebrate indiscriminately fed natives to dogs, murdered, raped, enslaved and looted in the name of the pedo Catholic Church. They wrote about all of this in their own personal diaries.
@@ComboMuster murderous encounters was exactly their mission. Read history
@@deneenhill5913 I read history, you should too. Conquistadors were the edge of humanity.
Regarding the estimate of how many men the dogs killed in an hour, I think it may be that they were describing a rate it took for dogs to kill one or two men then extrapolating to get the amount they might kill in an hour.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition
Much obliged again. Thank you for the very way this man's best friends got I learned a lesson tonight sir! Seems similar to german war dogs long after Arminius, pictures show the same breed. Anyway, it's a cruelty thing to abuse animals in that way 😢. God's Blessings from Northern Germany Ludwig.
Yes many of the best Roman legions were made up of Spanish men. It’s documented the men were smaller than Germanic tribes but there discipline and tactics won out again and again!
The 11 Hispanic legion was the best; most of the beat elites Romans Warriors where Spaniards and Italians.
Great soldiers indeed
The strategy of using 1000's of Chihuahuas en mass against the Conquistadors, although visually and audibly terrifying, proved to be ineffective.
I remember reading somewhere that Romans also used dogs in battle.
"Cerberillo "... named after the 3 headed dog "Cerberus" who prevents would -be escapees from Hades.
It's almost certainly important to realize for people comparing them to "My dog" or "Dogs I've seen" are completely misled. These are war dogs. They were surely bred for an amount of time we can only imagine for the purposes of killing. It's extremely easy to imagine that over all the time since these events the dog breeds involved were bred weaker and weaker to the household sorts we have nowadays. To doubt the dog's ability to tear through humans is to doubt the humans ability to manipulate and alter the form of canines to our desires (which is something anyone whose seen a pug and a wolf knows is the height of folly). For far longer than we've had to breed the dogs of today into their form, these dogs were bred for a far harder world and a far more brutal purpose from the days of the Romans.
De las Casas is well known for magnifying everything a hundred fold.
I just found this channel and it is awesome! I wonder if the Spanish brought those war dogs to the Philippines when they invaded.
I appreciate it. The Spanish colonization of the Philippines started in the same time frame as some of the South American and Caribbean conquests so I would have to assume to some extent they did use war dogs. But I took a quick look and found no glaring references to it so I can’t be sure.
@@datesanddeadguys I have not heard of any local history about the Spanish war dogs in the Philippines, I wonder how the Juramentados would fare against them if ever they did clash back then.
Probably less effective against enemies with steel weapons and armor(to an extent) like the Moros had.
The Philipiines was conquered with the aid of Tlaxcalan warriors.
Hey, I like your videos but can you work on your sound settings? you sound far away and quiet. I have my speakers turned all the way up trying to hear you.
I have Fila Brasileiros, large South American Mastiff type dogs the only dogs bred specifically for hunting people. Slaves and Indians
Extremely aggressive and distrusting of strangers
nice story of long forgotten history thank you
My ancestors were bad ass.
I didn’t know dogs use youtube! 😮
😂
The first defeat inflicted by Filipinos on Western invaders took place on April 27, 1521, on Mactan Island when followers of a local chief, Datu Lapu-Lapu, repulsed a force of 49 Spaniards, with some native warriors, led by Ferdinand Magellan the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by a poison arrow...
Remember “Becerrillo….” 😉 Don’t forget the Gran Mastín de Borikén…. Great content like always
Don't know if they were evil men, perhaps by our standards, I would just say they were ordinary men of their time
I think most people even at the time would have been disturbed by violence like that. The conquistadores were hardened professional soldiers in a time where constant brutal warfare was the norm and if they lost they were likely to be treated just as badly by the Indians. We only see one side because they didn't loose.
No you’re absolutely right. They were good hearted, upstanding men
Is this where they get the term ,dogs of war?
I am always skeptical about war stories involving dogs. We are talking about a native group that lived amongst and worshipped jaguars. I'm going to be as blunt as I can. If a group of humans with pointy sticks can kill mammoths and elephants. What chance does a dog have?
It's how they used the dogs, a fear weapon
they worshiped jaguars because they feared them skip forward a couple hundread years,the direct decendents of the same breeds of dogs the spanish used as war dogs (Dogo Argentino) were and are specifically bred to hunt puma/jaguar/panthers. so i think that fact alone kinda speaks for itself. i grew up hunting boars in the jungle with pitbulls, if you have ever seen a 100lb pitbull trained correctly unleash its speed and power on a 200lb armored, tusked, hellpig , you would understand why they were a brutal tool of war.
@ Deezy907 a 100lb pit bull dies very quickly with simple objects. A spear. A club. Do you believe the natives didn't have weapons? Tell me, what are the odds of who wins a fight, a 180lb man with a baseball bat or a 100lb pit bull? And be realistic...
@Unlucky Guy they might have, but dogs aren't very frightening to soldiers, even in ancient Roman times. I'm skeptical of dogs being effectively used in any battle.
@Unlucky Guy I mean, look at the story, "in one hour, each dog tore apart no less than 100 Indians." Do you believe that's possible? Lol
Could use a bit of acoustic padding in that room you record in. Audio quality could use a bump up, great stuff anyway.
Surviving in a unknown territory full of strangers is not evil, its called survival and using what you got to stay alive.
Spanish didn't have unknown territory they invasion/slavers/colonist.
Those are some heavy words we should all take the heart " I will not let the Mercy and compassion of a dog outshine that of a true Christian "
Conquistadors were studs
Imagine standing on the battlefield, the sound of bones being crushed and flesh being torn as screams of agony come from under the bodies of giant beasts. Power. Power can be terrifying when unleashead without regard for its capacity.