IN THE NAME OF GOD THE MOST COMPASSIONATE THE MOST MERCIFUL

 

A LETTER WRITTEN TO ASSIST HOW ONE CAN/SHOULD DISTINGUISH THE PRESA CANARIO FROM OTHER mosoller WORKING BREEDS  (DRAFT EDITION)

 


Dear seekers and enthusiastic persons in search of the perro de presa canario. My goal in this letter is to assist all of you with some clearly agreed upon yardsticks/tools applicable to many working breeds but specific to el perro de presa canario. Hopefully it will assist the individual/groups understanding and visual appreciation of the inward distinct inward traits of the perro de presa canario not easily noticed by many. As well as detailed functional aspects that traditionally compliment and make up the physical description of the perro de presa canario which is much easier for most moderately trained eyes to distinguish the perro de presa canario versus other mosollers.

 

In general the Perro De Presa Canario was re-invented in the late 70's once the breed had become near to extinct. Please note depending upon what breeder/recognized club affiliation  you reference it’s history the decision is split between being extinct or near to extinct. Therefore since the 70's up to 2010 el perro pe pesa canario is a rare breed in the world esp. in the west. That is why you must verify all info initially in your research of the breed. The Presa was re invented thru two main breeding programs in the 70's. 80's and early 90's in the Canary Islands of Las Palmas/ Lan Nazarote. Both programs deemed it necessary to cross breed in order to preserve/increase its population.  In general I am personally convinced 2 of the main breeding programs were all based out of utility one for land/livestock protection and the other for wining dog fights.  Both programs had breeders crossed into controversial organizations however both overall strove to use the best combination of the bulldog, mastiff and bardino majjero bred at the highest level of trait/type to eventually land the perro de presa canario.

                                               DESCRIPTION TRAIT/TYPE

Please note the integration of the bulldog, mastiff and bardino majjero are very important part of the reinvention of the perro de presa canario and it’s history. It played/plays an integral part of the innate traits and functional type that must be preserved in  any perro de presa canario today. There is a very old prophetic tradition (PBUH) that states.  "Actions are judged by intentions" Inmal Amilu bi Niyat"  The intention or better yet the objective  one breeding program aimed to produce the best fighting dog which would be tested against all fighting breeds that would reach the shores of Spain .(esp. during the time of World Wars/ Trade routes etc) It would have a high propensity to breed one of the worlds best fighting dogs with the innate traits of prey drive, defense drive, fight drive, full grips , high threshold for pain, excellent wind and independent rank ,handler safe and brave.  While it was the intent or objective  of the other breeding program  to build / breed the best independent rank dog with innate ability to guard it's livestock/property from stray dogs, stranger or wild animals. If needed the perro de presa canario out of it’s God given  innate ability or with minimum training would need to chase/ seize and kill any unwanted/unwelcomed visitors on it's master's property with out damage to his /her livestock. So this breeding program had the highest propensity to produce one of best independent guard dogs for land/livestock. The perro de presa canario was/is a dog that did not to be on the leash with it's handler like that a Doberman pincher/ German Sheppard in one style of security work in early pre industrial Europe. There fore the perro de presa canario was used for protection of land/live stock it  had to perform/produce dogs with the God given innate traits of prey. defense, fight, agility, rusticity and lo self preservation . (Example: It is known today that an el perro de  presa canario left own it’s own of mature age/trait  will guard/protect land/livestock  with ease it will chase down prey objects like deer, wildcat, coyotes, wolves , wild dogs etc. Along the chase it will seize any of the animals mentioned above and upon seizing it will do two things kill it or fight it. Upon its victory it will carry the dead animal back to den for play or feast. Therefore the perro de presa canario must display inwardly deep prey drive in order to chase, a full strong bite in order to seize, defense drive in order to ward off the unwelcomed, fight drive in order to engage /confront along with finish the fight, lo self preservation/deep nerves in order to stay in the fight even against all odds until it wins/dies. Externally it needs a body/vehicle that would allow it to run for many miles, maintain excellent agility as a pup to an adult, extremely well muscled/strong to chase/fight ,medium size to enable quick movement to wrestle, grapple and even catch the opponent.  This was traditionally done with out a leash this is what the perro de presa canario can /will do now on a farm with/with out it's owner. It is very important to pay attention to the el perro de presa canario’s ability to independently switch drives and at the same time utilized all three drives of prey, defense/fight at abnormal capacity is ideal. This is one of the innate reasons a presa needs very little training to harness all three drives (prey/defense/fight).

 

(Please note: Any trainer training a dog titled a perro de presa canario and training a routine out of one drive alone with very little presence of defense /fight without clearly listing its weakens is masking the dog/or meeting the demands of a paying customer who probably does not care about the fully matured adult working in all three drives ideally able to switch drives independently.

 

 

Any trainer /decoy working or agitating the dog out of two drives however recognized other defects such as lost of wind, frontal bites, laziness etc should reference the cross of the bulldog, mastiff and bardino majjero historical traits if the dog is not lining up he/she should make it known. Also the trainer /decoy should detail the owner /breeder its defects so that the breeding program can test/select/cross/change/remove  esp. a fully matured adult  lacking the well deserved /needed traits to be presa de canario.  If the pedigree/breeding program confirms that it is 100 percent from sire/dam out of the fighting /agricultural lines of the perro de presa canario from the canary island and it is not working 2 out of 3 at an above average along with a list of serious other weakness (i.e. weak nerves,female who eat pups, etc) please do not breed it.

We personally believe that a well bred the perro de presa canario should take only 20 minutes tops ( in general )to ace or participate in basic bite work in prey/defense/fight again 2 out of three esp. for a fully matured a adult absent of any physical abuse.  In general the the perro de presa canario should be easy to train, very eager to learn and if anything the only problem should encounter are traits that do not compliment trainer/routine for example the “bark and hold” should be very difficult for the perro de presa canario deep in all three drives able to switch independently as a fully matured adult.)

 

  In my opinion it seems that the perro de presa canario bred for fighting has lasted longer and had more consistent lines than the one bred for protection of livestock/property. Hence it is important to take from both working lines of the perro de presa canario which is a molloser of independent rank and functional frame medium sized overall all brindles except for blue, all fawn, black and even pied colored esp with white on the face, neck, and boots.  It is unanimously agreed upon by recognized club registrations/reputable breeders that the presa canario is a cross of the bulldog/mastiff/bardino majjero.

 


THE FUNCTIONAL CROSS OF THE BULLDOG, MASTIF AND BARDINO MAJJERO

 

This is extremely important to recognize /study /evaluate in the pedigree/trait/type of your pup/adult and its lineage. The integration of the bulldog, mastiff and bardino majjero re-invented the perro de presa canario into a dog that had to stand on its own and defend the ground it stood upon especially on a farm or in a fight with stray dogs, wild animals etc. The bulldog brought prey drive, fight drive, full grips, lo threshold for pain and lo self preservation.   The mastiff of old age brought defense,fight drives ,man work,along with a well muscled frame, in general. The Bardino Majjero brought the suspicion towards any intruders, defense drive leaning to alertness, rusticity to work in all weathers all year around I personally think a strong immune system, pack drive from its innate herding drive along with innate strength to perform with low to due maintenance.  All together it bred a dog working in all three drives independently at an above average condition so if we were to gauge prey drive 1-10 the lowest number would be an 7 if we were to gauge defense /fight drive 1-10 the lowest drive would be a 7. The perro de presa canario was/is one innate package full with prey/defense/fight and full grips above average independently working/switching drives as needed.  It had/has a medium to large size functional frame allowing it to chase, seize, kill, eat its prey items with or without his/her owner present.

 

 

The perro de presa canario was the best combination of the bulldog, mastiff and bardino majjero at the highest level. So the perro de presa canario behavior is of zero tolerance at max, with full grips when in engaged in prey or defense and fight. Because of its deep prey/defense the perro de presa canario would chase down wild dogs and kill them. Or when put in the fighting ring you could bring three fights for over 45 minutes each dog to one well bred the perro de presa canario every day all day regardless of the weather. Because of its deep prey, defensive, fight  drives that run deep unlike a mastiff. The mastiff in general  will not chase the prey down until it is caught and it will not fight with zero tolerance for hours every day all day. The bardino majjero was a herding dog and could not handle wild dogs , coyote wolves etc on its own or just two of them it was not built to chase or over throw the wild animals along or in a group. The bulldog in general lacked man work, it was not built to take the weather all year round, it did not have sufficient size for large predator , it was not independent switching in all three drives neither was the mastiff or bardino majjero.

 

The recognition of the presa canario being composed of the bulldog, mastiff and bardino majjero is extremetly important specific to the recognition of its work ethos first foremost in trait. Because if one is able accept understand/recognize its traits visually in front of him/her/ then it is a huge evidence proven in it's pedigree  and breeding that should be pronounced in the dogs trait and type overall in litters.

The new owner of the perro de presa canario pup/adult can appreciate the inward unique traits of the presa canario that separate it from a cane corso, bull mastiff, pitbull, or contemporary bulldog .  This however is still not to easy to differentiate between a presa and other mosollers. Unfortunately most are unable to distinguish trait at a basic level let alone intermediate however most trained eyes are able to distinguish the physical appearance of the presa canario from other working breeds. Sadly most who are able to do some sort of distinguishing are still limited to type hence you get a whole lot of arguments on bone, mask, height and weight which really should not be a big headaches or arguments if we keep the history of the breed at reference paying careful attention to utility, origin, lineage and breeding program .

 

On this note the principles/concepts mentioned above assist in debuging all of the modern day arguments of the dogo canario versus the perro de presa canario. 

 

 

Because one of the most important understanding from the above mentioned principles/concepts illustrate that it should not be have been a problem to cross the authentic presa canrio in the early 80's or the re invented the perro de presa canario in the early 80's or 90's.  as it can be traced 100% back to the main  two breeding programs initiated in the Canary Island.  Especially since the breed was re-invented out of two camps of utility therefore it had to a cross into another mosoller who would benefit working traits 1st and foremost. So persevering or adding a full bite, great wind, excellent agility, deep defense /fight drives along with full blown prey drive was a given. The presa de canario was crossed with traditional a working mastiff, bulldog and bardino majjero out of fighting/agricultural lines. That cross had to add produce a medium to large size moloser with deep prey/defense/fight/bite/wind/agility/rusticity etc .  The type in regards to color, length and width with out compromising utility had to take the back seat. In order to preserve purpose the best  perro de presa canario that would win the fight or protect the land/livestock. So if a presa was 30 perecnt white, 50 percent white it did not matter. That’s why we have so many photos of black, white, brown and brindle old presa’s.

 

 

Therefore today the title of the presa  canario versus the dogo canario is not so important as much as tracing the pedigree, history, adherence to overall traditional standards of the perro de presa canario.  Once one can confirm the pedigree, lineage, and breeding program of your presa  (traced 100 percent back to the canary islands) all you have to do is select approximately the traits/type matched up in breeding pairs that land within a 85% percent ratio or more of the traditional bred perro de presa canario more so trait than type. It was bred complimenting the best of fighting lines along with the best of the working agricultural lines which both can be found in dogs registered by the UPPC, the UKC and FCI.  However most of the registered breeders esp in America to this day do not pay attention to the above mentioned principles/concepts. (Just take a look at any of online forums we have a whole lot of unnecessary arguing) That is why you can have one breeding program leading towards prey driven dogs with grips with the type/structure of a traditional presa canario. However  in litters/or individual representatives of the breed we find them leaning towards mostly prey driven dogs with lo to moderate defense drives. i.e not enough drive to build independent rank so that on its own it will defend home/owner in a real life situations. It is always good to see one of our working breeds excel in weight pulling or schutzhund however if it is leaning heavily to one innate drive instead of all three this would not be the best example of the inward state of the traditional presa de canario in our opinion.  You may have it’s pedigree, and linage intact but if the breeding program is producing heavy prey driven dogs with lo defense drives  or lo to no fight drives it is a not a true representative of el perro de presa canario in it traditional  heritage of traits/type as mentioned above.

 

On the other hand you can have a presa canario or dogo canario titled in the show ring with good hips or decent hips very social in a three generation pedigree however his/her nerves or shot of being a decent guard dog or the dog is too lazy quits with 30 to 40 minutes looses interest,  it lacks  above average performance in 2 innate drives out of 3 or the dogs is faced with issues of obesity or some other chronic disease.  (Examples include dams that can feed litters, males who can not breed naturally, dams that die giving birth or continuously have false pregnancy etc unfortunately many of these types of problems are papered champions/workers and are sold for extravagant prices. In many case in North America esp in the 90’s not able to all proving work ethos, lineage, and what breeding program did its lineage truly emanate.

 

All of the health problems we can list in this breed new and old are mainly due to breeding programs that paid attention to paperwork and physical type instead of utility/selection/testing working ethos. Therefore it was taken out its traditional work ethos/habitat for more than three generations easily and should be no longer really considered a perro de presa canario it is deserving of another name. One again can find this problem in all recognized club registrations UKC, UPPC, FCI etc. In our opinion (El Primo/Al Islah) the Presa Canario was its 1st recognized name of the breed but more importantly careful attention must be paid to which breeding program your pup/adult can trace it s origins. The type/title debate of the presa versus the dogo canario again just needs one to trace its pup/adult origins and breeding. Because at the end of the day if the lineage, pedigree, the breeder, the breeding program with its  origin line up 100 %  to the the traditional perro de presa canario that is what you will get. That is why an experienced trainer/decoy or breeder knows what he or she is looking for from established lines on the island or more importantly what traits are pronounced after performing a number of tests. The seasoned trainer/decoy/breeder will also avoid the weak bred dogs by his/her selection of tests based on the desired traits of the breed. A seasoned eye/soul with select by the lines, desired working traits first the physical makeup second making sure the line is healthy, robust and consistent with the traditional presa canario overall.

 

 

Currently we have a lot of healthy looking watered down dogs undeserving of the name perro de presa canario. One resolution to this problem would be to have the paperwork identify these type of breedings absent of work ethos, selection, lineage, and testing for more than three generations as “SHOW LINES” therefore it would be made clear that after 2 definitely 3 generations much of the inward behaviors of the traditional presa canario had been greatly compromised in order to make a popular a new version of the perro de presa canario possibly in pheno type.  It should also be made known that no one should in general breed any of these type of “show lines” into "working lines"  or proven stud/dam from the perro de presa canario esp. working in 2 out of 3 or all three drives along with all the other attributes deserving of the perro de presa canario like loyalty, rusticity, scissor bite, full grips, excellent agility, balance temp with all family members, confident, overall healthy dogs requiring low to due maintenance.

 

So in our opinion (El Primo/ Al Islah) the perro de presa canario is official based on historical reference, pedigree, lineage, breeding progam and experienced  dog men. In our program the presa de canario   must ace all three drives fighting, defense and prey to the highest level possiblie in one package with a full mouth bite. Along with stable innate endurance easily up to the age of eight years,loyal, rustic, full scissor bite, full grips, excellent agility, balance temp with all family members, confident, overall healthy dogs requiring low to due maintenance, good lungs or natural wind , desire to please its master, independent rank drive, loyal and easy to train ranging from 80-130lbs in general. All brindle except blue, all fawn, black and white preferable no more than 20 percent specific to the back of neck area, mouth , chest and forelimbs near the bottom. That is why in the early 70’s and even up to the late 80’s  it did not really matter if the original presa was crossed with and old working line mastiff or bulldog because both dogs when bred correctly  preserved the deep prey/defense /fight/with full grips and perfect scissor bite. That is why it was a benefit for the perro de presa canario to be reinvented crossed with the bardino majjero to increased prey/suspicion along with the rusticity to live outdoors all years around with minimum maintenance

 

Our goals (El Primo/Al Islah) are to breed the perro de presa canario working in all three drives at bare minimum 2 out of three careful selectiion to ace all three. It should reflect in trait/type the integration/crossing of the traditional working bulldog, mastiff and bardino majjero unto the re-invented presa de canario.  So we have to test all selections and be honest in our observation so that our presa evalutations are accurate gauging the inward maturity of a fully matured presa able to engage all three drives of prey, defense and fight with full grips deeply independently switching with or without its owner. It needs no masking, it needs no great trainer, it does need an experienced and well grounded handler with working breeds. It is not for the pet quality owners and super friendly low rank dogs.  Any well bred fully matured presa with minimum assistance of  a trainer will perform in all in all three innate drives of  prey, defense, and fight with a full grip, excellent agility, overall good health up to the age of 8 years old easy, willing and enable to defend the ground it stands on man/animal. All brindle except blue, all blacks, fawn with white marking on the back of the neck, mouth, forelimbs and tip of it tale. Adhere to the agreed standard of the breed legal tender since 1988 in the canary islands. We personally recognized that program from the Iberian Peninsula modern contribution to working breeds and a new line of presa.  We also know that world had various types of presa found in older world civilizations in North Africa etc.  However it was  titled with different names due to language and before the invention of the camera. Unfortunately many of the world’s oldest libraries were destroyed especially during the period of  colonization” ” of older lived and well documented advanced civilizations.  

 

Copy written portion of my letter to the seekers and enthusiastic persons in search of the perro de presa canario.  October, 2010 Edition El Primo/ Al Islah

 

More to come with this letter …….TBA

 

Best regards.

El Primo/ Al Islah

Br. AmN

 

“Information is power”

 

“Knowledge is humility “

 

Yusuf ibn Husayn said: “With manners you will understand Knowledge. With Knowledge, you will correct your actions. With actions, you will attain wisdom. With wisdom you will comprehend Zuhd (renouncing the worldly life) and be granted it. With abandonment of the worldly life, you will long for the hereafter. And with longing for the hereafter, you will achieve God’s contentment.”

 

Welcome to MYPRESA.COM holding, training, evaluating and breeding El Perro De Presa Canario.  We have in our possession two impressive lines of the  Presa Canario breed 1st being El Primo and the 2nd Al Islah. Welcome to our fleet with it’s navigation guarded and guided by Br. AmN and the counsel of  El Primo and Al Islah all dedicated  to the tradition of the Perro De Presa Canario Thank you for visiting our page.For more information on the lines of El Primo and Al Islah go to it’s page.

Also check our blog @ www.mypresa.com/blog

Muchas Gracias,
El Capit'an del Primo y Al Islah
Br. AmN
Email: elprimo@mypresa.com