I found this on a DDB breeders website. "This notion ties in with the debate that the Dogue comes from the Alano Dog, a dog of smaller size from Spain. The Alano, also known as the Black Dogue, is a non-FCI recognized dog that exists sparsely today, while others insist that the breed is extinct and fanciers are "rebuilding" the breed. A theory is that the Dogue was brought to Europe by the Alans, an Oriental tribe that settled north of the Gironde estuary. The Alano is described in a quote (roughly translated) from Martinez del Espinar, year 1644, as having a "wide and lifted forehead, sunken and bloodshot eyes, an expansive look, and a neck short and wide. The Alano weighs between 35-45 kg and stands 62-63 cm for males and 57-60 cm for females. It has triangular ears, small vanilla colored eyes, a head shaped like two cubes, and a short, wide muscular neck, with loose skin to protect it against the razor teeth of its enemies. The Alano also has wide round ribs to hold its powerful heart and lungs. To see the Alano, one would notice that the Alano looks strikingly similar to the Dogue de Bordeaux."
