-
-
PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS
-
- It seems me absolutely advisable to point
out that this work, that deals with the origin, old and recent, of the
Perro de Presa Canario, unlike others appeared in spanish or foreign
specialized magazines due to other pens, has been elaborated relying
on the historical references relative to the canarian dogs from the
most remote times when we have news about them until beginning of the
Seventies. This means that I have at all times concentrated on genuine
documentation that has become available over the past 25 years (nothing
has been invented, as will be demonstrated) in discovering the truth
about the Presa Canario, stage by stage and in the minutest detail, up
to December 31, 1997. And when the historical references lack, by
nonexistent, basing us on historical facts, in human and fauna
movements and on population immigration data, the most logical and
convincing hypothesis is put forth which fits in with what we do know
about Canarian history--a history about which we really know very
little, yet which interests us so. For mostly economic reasons many
fabrications have been invented about the origin of canine breeds in
general. So when one begins to have some interest in one breed in
particular it is best to pass over that chapter of the book and center
one's interests on the living dog, the present day one, and thus avoid
becoming victims of some author's vested interests. This is also true
for the history of the Presa Canario dog, whose origins have been
largely buried in falsehoods. In addition to the economic interests, a
false one, by mistaken, nationalistic feeling are the motor that
impels to great part of the authors to whom I talk about. Big error.
-
-
-
EARLIEST NOTION OF DOGS IN THE CANARY
ISLANDS
-
-
- "Plinio and Estacio Seboso thus named the
islands (Canaria), making derive their name from the large dogs they
found there at the time of Juba's famous expedition of which two were
to the King of Mauritania". This etymology, which was originally
accepted by all later authors who commented on this famous voyage, has
been refuted. Undoubtedly, in the Canaries there were no dogs of any
extraordinary corpulence. When describing the island, Bethencourt's
chaplains and historians expressly state, "There are pigs, goats,
sheep and wild dogs, similar to wolves but smaller". (Historia General
de las Islas Canarias, de Agustín Millares Torres, t. I, libro IV, I.ª
ediction, 1975, pág. 176) In Book II, page 134 of the same work we
read, "The true similarity between the names given to the islands by
Juba's men and the names they are known by today has been widely
disputed. Though curious, this dissertation does not portray that
great historic importance which some of our writers have since wished
to give to it. Undoubtedly, the two main islands were named "Canaria"
and "Nivaria", a fact which allows for no speculations as to the
exactitude of Plinio's narration. It is certain, however, that
information collected by Juba and transmitted to us by Estacio Seboso
and Plinio is incomplete and incorrectly corroborated or connected,
either due to inaccurate copyists or ignorance on the part of
commentators". And on page 135, where the author mentions old
historians or geographers, we read, "We have seen that Juba,
philosopher and naturalist in the universal sense of the word at that
time, was the first to obtain the most exact information about the
archipelago. And it is evident that since his famous expedition the
islands took on the name of "Canarias", either because of the dogs "ingentis
magnitudinis" of which Plinio spoke or for different reasons, the
later which others believe is a more sound hypothesis". "Considering
this and other logical observations, other new etymologies have
appeared which we will now briefly mention". Plinio assures us that on
the western slopes of the Atlas Mountains some villages existed known
as the Canaries and perhaps for this reason Ptolemy named Cape Bojador
(Morocco) "Caunaria Extrema". But did these names come from that name
which had first been given to the island "Canaria," or did it occur
the other way around and was it those villages and the African
headland which gave the name to the island? Whatever the case, this
curious similarity of their names should not be forgotten. Others
suppose that the Latin birch, euphorbia canariense, which Juba knew of,
wrote about and named after his doctor Euforbio, was what gave Gran
Canaria its denomination, derived from the Latin "canna." Thomas
Nichols agreed with this hypothesis in 1525 and added, "I have heard
the primitive inhabitants say that it was named "Canaria" because of a
certain variety of cane which grew abundantly in the countryside, from
which a dangerous, poisonous, milky substance was extracted". (book IV,
t. I., Pág. 176, of the same author). And on page 177 he adds, "The
island of Canaria was named "Tamarán" or "Tamerán" by its primitive
inhabitants, which appears to mean in their language, "country of
braves".
-
THE DOGS OF THE CANARY ISLANDS'
ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS
-
-
- Juba II lived from the middle of 1BC to 23
or 24 AD and the first conquerors reached Lanzarote in July of 1402.
That mean that 1379 years passed from the time of Juba's death to the
arrival of Juan de Bethencourt and Gadifer de La Salle with their
troops (mostly spaniards) on the coast of the Canary Islands. In all
this time, what has happened in the Canarian archipelago? Has its
fauna altered? Have new contributions been made by the navigators
mallorquin, geoneses, viking, etc? Juan de Bethencourt's chaplains
stated that the dogs were, "wild, similar to wolves, only smaller".
Friar Alonso de Espinosa in his book Historia de Nuestra Señora de
Candelaria, page 114, referred to the dogs which ate the aboriginal
Guanches' bodies after the Spanish slaughter of Acentejo (in the north
of Tenerife). He wrote, "These were small yapping dogs called
'canchas' which the Guanches bred". Well, were these dogs of the same
breed on both islands? Did they have the same origins? Or on which
island did they arrive first and when? For to take for granted that
dogs existed on the islands from the times of Juba II is a bit risky,
to say the least. But what does remain indisputable is their size;
they were small dogs.
-
-
| Skull of aborigine
dog photographed in the Tenerife Archeological Museum. It is no
more than 10 cm. in length, which means it corresponds to a dog of
small dimensions. |
 |
-
- To the inhabitants of Canaria and La Palma,
"the devil often appeared by night and day as large, hairy dogs and as
other figures which they named 'Tibisenas' and 'Irnene', (Fray Juan de
Abreu Galindo). On this occasion we are told of an imaginary demon god
in La Palma, where it seems there were no real dogs, I mean of meat
and bone, before the conquest. Nor were there any in Lanzarote,
Fuerteventura, La Gomera or El Hierro. Luis Diego Cuscoy says in his
book Los Guanches, page 108, "In Tenerife although we do not know of
the evidence of the dog related to myth, it is an animal which is
present in the worship of the deceased. There is no chronicler or
other ancient source which refers to the role played by the dog in
Guanche funeral rites. Archaeological excavations have revealed the
presence of dogs alongside the deceased, probably their owners. That
would represent the animal's part in guiding the spirit of the dead to
the land of the deceased. It is possible, almost certain in fact, that
the animal would be sacrificed at the time of its master's death. We
have verified the finding of a dog beside its master in various
sepulchral caves in Tenerife. But it was at the Llano de Maja
necropolis where, beside the shepherd's body (together with a complete
collection of funeral offerings: bead necklaces, burins, pieces of
obsidian, ceramics, teak firebrands) that a skull was found
corresponding to the mummified remains of a small-sized dog which had
short, dark, cream-colored fur. . . It formed part of the natives'
source of alimentation, but on a small scale". This is all we know
about the Canary Island dogs prior to the conquest. Therefore,
anything else which is not supported by new archaeological findings is
meaningless, purely speculative and pure invention.
-
-
-
| Skull of aborigine
dog, with momified remains, cream-coloured hair, photographed in
the Tenerife Archeological Museum. As with the previous one, it is
no longer than 10 cm. |
 |
-
PRESA DOGS OF ANCIENT TIMES
-
-
- Since this article is about the Presa
Canario dog, we will concentrate on this and ignore the other canine
breeds mentioned over and over in the the
Agreements and decrees of the Cabildo of Betancuria (Fuerteventura)
and
of
Tenerife. The "perro de ganado" (or cattle dog) from Fuerteventura
and the podenco Canario have been disclosed in depth in articles
published earlier in this magazine. On September 3, 1515, it was
recorded that "it was agreed that since the ordinances regarding dogs
are rather severe (being understood that in previous years, right
after the conquest of the island), nobody could have a dog unless it
was kept indoors or within the confines of one's property and tied up
all day and pig herders could have one dog in each hut as long as it
was not a dog of Presa..." (San Cristobal de La Laguna, Tenerife). In
another agreement dated 1516 it was authorized that "butchers, whose
job it was to chop and weigh meat, could each have two dogs at their
service, tying them up by night and day and only letting them loose to
seize or immobilize the cattle." It is inferred that these two dogs
were Presa dogs, since they were the type of dog always used for this
job. And so the ordinance goes on to say, "Furthermore, because there
are two dogs on this island who kill wild dogs (it is understood here,
'untamed dogs') and because they were kept for this purpose, these two
were allowed to stay. For example, in Adexe and Abona (in the south of
the island) where Pedro de Lugo was alderman, the dogs were trained
and kept as long as they did not come into the village." These two
dogs were probably Presa dogs too, fast on their legs in order to give
chase and strong enough to kill the wild ones. The 5 of January of
1526 in the Cabildo of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is agreed that "to
excuse the great damages that the great dogs of presa do in the big
and smaller cattles, than always there have been many complaints and
it cannot have better remedy to kill them all, and for it, be choose a
person who kills all and take the people that will be necessary,
except the gentlemen with bovine cattle have dogs, because they cannot
govern nor subjugate their cattles without them, provided they are not
harmful and they have them tied in their houses and in the town and
when there are necessity for this cattle that takes them responsible
person so that they do not do damage, and this is not understood
against the dogs of Pedro de Lugo that are taught to kill the wild
dogs and those of the butchers, according to what is ordered. And also
some gentlemen of gañanías can with license of the Cabildo have dogs
in their houses, provided they have them tied; that if damage will do
they pay it. That to all they kill them if they will not be gozques (small
dogs) of one span". And the 10 of December of 1526, within the house
the Advanced "Was speak on the decrees that arrange that there be not
dogs, that those be fulfill. Because it is damage that the breeders of
cattle have dogs. It is ordered that the cattle man do not have dog of
presa nor of another kind, but for taking and subjugating the cattle
are four great dogs of presa, that are in hands of four of the
gentlemen, each one his dog, tied, under control; and when there are
to use them to take some cattle, takes it under control and in the one
of the dogs that Pedro de Lugo, already late, had, in Abona, to kill
them, that succeed the licensed Valcárcel, stay according to the
decree to kill the wild dogs and the dogs of Juan Alonso and of
Francisco de Berlanga, guanches, whom also wild dogs kill, provided
they have them under control and tied them, and in all the others the
decrees are valid. And that all those that they have small and great
dogs males and females come to register them within ten days in front
the justice of this city and its regions and the other parts of all
the island, after it is announced ten days". In an Agreement of date
25 of August of 1617 (Villa de Betancuria - Fuerteventura) we read: "They
agreed that all neighbor who will have dog of presa loose and without
chain, it can kill any person without being punished". In another one
with date 19 of February of 1618 (Villa de Betancuria - Fuerteventura),
we read: "They sent that those that will have presa dogs not bring
them loose, but they have them under control, in such a way that they
do not damage the cattles. Their owners will not give them to slaves,
young soldiers nor boys so that they take them to grasped "- to pursue
to the goat cattle that walked loose by the field semi wild- In the
Agreement of Betancuria (Fuerteventura) dated October 21, 1624, we
read, "Dogs cause a great deal of damage to goats and sheep, whereby
it is agreed that within eight days all but one dog per household will
be killed, one dog being left for guarding the home. And this means
hunting and Presa dogs." On August 16, 1630, it is agreed (Betancuria)
that "in order to have a Presa dog one must make it known to the local
authorities." And in January of 1645 a document written by the General
Representative, Sebastian de Betancor (Betancuria) requested that the
dogs on the island be killed because of the great damage they cause.
It is agreed on Sunday 22 in a public announcement that "all neighbors,
inhabitants and residents kill all their dogs, except one, which they
are allowed to keep to guard their homes, but if it is a Presa dog or
a cattle dog it must be tied up." Adrian El Luchador, a Canary Island
wrestler, born in Fuerteventura, commented to me on one of my visits
there to study the indigenous Perro de Ganado (recognized in 1996 by
the Spanish Royal Central Canine Society as the Perro Majorero) that
with the help of a number of friends, he was very successful in using
a strong Perro de Ganado Majorero of his own to give hunt to various
wild dogs who fed themselves basically off goat and sheep in an area
known as Pozo Negro, an open area where volcanic lava predominated.
According to Adrian, that dog was a pure breed, and it behaved as its
ancestors had. But such dogs are no more, or are very few, and in any
case, he did not know where any could be found. After several years of
study and going over the matter again and again, I have reached the
following conclusion. Presa dogs and Perros Majoreros on that island,
as on the other islands, coexisted and bred amongst themselves
throughout various centuries, from the beginning of the fifteenth
century to the end of the nineteenth century. And sometime afterwards,
we do not even know the approximate date (I personally think maybe at
the end of the last century, beginning of this one), the Presa
disappears, only traces of it remaining, no doubt in decline,
basically due to negligence on the part of the herdsmen. Crossbreeding
did the rest. The Perro de Ganado Majorero in Fuerteventura, or its
sort, disappeared from the other islands just like the Presa did. I
wish to say that if the old Presa Canario of Iberian stock disappeared
as a breed, it has continued in the purest of the Perro de Ganado
Majoreros to the present day. It is true that very few of these dogs
are of significant pure breed, but they do exist. In fact, right now
we are trying to recuperate the breed with part of this genetic
material.
-
-
Tarajal de Irema Curto
-
-
-
- ORIGIN
-
- Much speculation has been made about the
origin of the Presa dogs mentioned in the official documents which we
have cited above. Some wrote and spoke about their descendence from
the aboriginal dogs which the conquistadors found on the islands.
Nobody thought there was any connection between the Canary Island dogs
(Presa dogs, Perros Majoreros, perdigueros, podencos, etc.) and the
Spanish ones, which were undoubtedly brought to the islands already in
the first dates of the conquest. The great animosity that the "nationalists"
of the times (1970's) felt towards the Spanish conquistadors and
colonizers lead them to not only ignore but also to silence such a
possible reality. What is certain is that immediately after the
conquest of the throne of Castilla, a wide variety of fauna was
introduced into the Canaries. Spanish dogs, in all their diversity,
were an important part of this fauna. These dogs (in the hands of
their owners) established themselves day by day on the islands
conquered by their owners, and continued with the same functions they
had on the continent. As we have seen, Presa dogs were used by
butchers to immobilize the cattle at slaughter time and they were also
used to guard homes and properties. Nobody knows whether they were
used to hunt the wild animals (goats, sheep and pigs already
extinguish) of the aborigines. Nothing is known of those dogs'
phenotype, nor of how they evolved in their crossbreeding, or how they
adapted to the surroundings, climate, etc. Nor do we know anything
about their size or their color. This is the truth of the matter. In
the past two decades, much has been said and written about the
influence of English dogs in the Presas Canarios. I was the first to
put forth that idea (1982). Later, having more knowledge about the
history of the Canaries, I defended the Spanish origin of the various
breeds introduced into the Canaries from the very beginning and
through conquest and colonization. Anyway, the dog continued along
this path until the end of the nineteenth century, with no more
genetic influence than that derived from the periodic imports from the
Spanish Peninsula. José de Viera y Clavijo (1731-1813) wrote in his
Historia Natural de las Islas Canarias (page 348), "In 1764 there was
an outbreak of rabies brought on by dogs from Spain and it affected
some dogs in Tenerife but no new outbreak has been reported since." In
a separate paragraph he wrote, "The most common dogs in our Canary
Islands are mastiffs, sheepdogs, podencos, perdigueros, pachones,
dogos, waterdogs, bloodhounds, etc." In other words, as I say in my
work the Perro de Ganado Majorero published in this same magazine,
typically Spanish dogs. Limiting ourselves to the period from the
beginning of the 1400's until the 1800's the relations between Spain
and England were continuously hostile, due to religious motives and
expansionist policies. For these reasons the Canaries were constant
victims of acts of English piracy. Although commercial relations from
the 1700's on were very important, the number of English residents in
the islands was insignificant. Throughout the XVI, the canarian
society was perfectly consolidated, and already was basically Iberian
and Spanish-speaking. And the dogs, the bovine cattle, the pigs, goats,
sheep, part of the equines, etc., of the time are of Spanish origin.
When referring to English dogs in 1982 I affirmed nothing in
particular. And as I have already mentioned, I was totally ignorant of
a great part of the history of the Canaries and knew nothing at all
about the historical documents of the town councils in Tenerife or
Fuerteventura. Soon others have followed year after good year giving
by good the aforesaid (hypothetical) origin exposed by me, ignoring
deliberately my later works which was much better documented.
Considering all that has been stated above, I believe it pertinent to
state that the English bulldog, the bullmastiff, the mastiff, the
bullterrier, etc., as breeds, do not go back much further than the end
of the last century. This means they have been created since then by
crossbreeding dogs brought in from mainland Spain. Setters, cockers,
pointers, etc., have no other origin. Clearly, anybody could counter
with the fact of the famous pugnaces britanii which were taken to Rome
from England in the times of Caesar and put to fight Epiro's molosus.
True. But do those English dogs of more than 2000 years ago really
bear any relation to the English mastiffs, bulldogs, bullterriers,
bullmastiffs of our day and age? That is the question. Given the
knowledge we now have about the origin of these breeds, I am inclined
to believe that there is no relationship whatsoever between the
present day dogs and those of 2000 years ago. So, as we have been
saying, this hypothesis which assumes the influence of English "presa"
dogs on the old Presa Canario dogs does not seem valid. The
possibility exists, sure. Though we don't have any details or
references on English dogs to support such an approach, it is possible
that some British dogs (note: British, not English) were brought in by
their owners who lived in the Canaries. Moreover, it is quite likely
that Stafford-type dogs were brought over. This is the oldest English
presa-type dog, but we hardly know anything about its roots either. If
this were so, in what way could those dogs have influenced the
Canarian presas, the waterdogs, the perros de ganado, the podencos,
the pachones, the perdigueros, etc.? In fact a question comes to me
which has not been posed before. The English could have taken the
presa dogs from the Canaries back to Britain, the same as they took
other dogs from the Spanish Peninsula (I shall leave out the remaining
Canary canine breeds as they have nothing to do with my objective here).
And who knows how many times these presas went on to increase the
canine population of that nation, and what influence they had on their
presa-type dogs.
-
- THE
PRESA CANARIO IN THE XX CENTURY
-
-
- Viera y Clavijo wrote, "the most common dogs
on our islands are mastiffs, shepherds, podencos, perdigueros,
pachones, dogos, water dogs, hounds, etc." How many of these canine
breeds existed in the Canaries at the beginning of the XX in Canarias?
Today, at the end of the century, we still know practically nothing
about this. We don't know exactly when, but water dogs, beagles,
mastiffs, hounds and perdigueros became extinct here. On the other
hand, there are many podencos to be found on our islands nowadays. And
surely this is partly--and only partly--due to crossbreeding basically
with Ibizan podencos which were brought generation after generation to
refresh the castes of "indigenous" podencos which actually were
derived from those podencos of the eighteenth century. With reference
to sheepdogs, it is reasonable to deduce that from them descend the
Perro de Ganado Majorero (Fuerteventura Island), the so-called perro
de ganado ("cattle dog") which is cited in the official ordinances and
agreements of the Cabildo of Tenerife and Fuerteventura. On the rest
of the islands the Perro de Ganado disappears as well. And with
respect to the dogos that Viera mentions, well, this could be a
reference to the presas that are repeatedly named in those same
official documents I just mentioned. But in the first three decades of
this century, if not sooner, the few remaining specimens of this breed
disappeared as well. So? The aficionado who is concerned with
retaining the indigenous fauna of the Canaries could rightly be rather
upset and worried that it seems to be happening before everybody's
eyes and nobody has done or is doing anything about it. That's right.
As we shall see, that is precisely the case. In the early 1970's there
was absolute ignorance of the concept of the modern breed. But
generally one spoke of presa dogs (in the Canaries), perros de la
tierra (in Gran Canaria), perros de ganado (in Fuerteventura), perros
bastos (in the north of Tenerife), bordones (a derivative of bulldog),
bardinos (berdinos, degenerated from bardino, in the north of
Tenerife), verdugos (in Fuerteventura) and the word "lagarteado" was
used to refer to any dog of bardina (brindle) coat, and occasionally
the word "mastiff" took the floor, that someone related (in the 1980's
and early 1990's in the north of Tenerife) with the dogs of presa. The
truth is that when one went around asking about these dogs and the
racial differences that might exist amongst them, the aficionado of
the times would respond in a less than convincing manner. Dogs of
presa were or could be those specimens that in earlier days were used
for pechadas (fights). The perro de la tierra was similar to the Perro
de Ganado Majorero and was similarly used for conduct the cattle or
for guarding (in Gran Canaria). The perro basto (coarse dog) (north of
Tenerife) referred to all dogs of a certain size (compared to the
smaller hunting dogs, principally podencos) that were good for
guarding. Bordón referred to all those presa crossbreeds in which the
English bulldog blood was predominant. And depending on the island and
on the canine knowledge of whom you spoke to, bardino could refer to
all specimens from Fuerteventura with a bardino (brindle) coat, or all
presa dogs, whatever their descendence be (in Tenerife it was spelled
berdino). And verdugo, (Fuerteventura), was a dog with a bardino (brindle)
coat or similar. In Extremadura, among cattlemen, this term still
remains, and in some hispano-american countries, as well--which means
that it has its original roots in Spain.
-
-
-
 |
Perra de ganado de
Gran Canaria, o perra de la tierra (breed extinct), with her
owner doña Teodora Suárez, in Galdar (Gran Canaria). Years 70. |
-
- In the late 1980's, given the poor results
up till then of my research on Canarian presa and cattle dogs, I had
the idea of coming up with a questionnaire of 16 questions for three
old dog fighters from Gran Canaria. These men were Francisco Saavedra
Bolaños, Salvador Hernández Rodriguez, and Demetrio Trujillo
Rodriguez. The first question was: Do you recall the first dog fight
that you ever attended in your life?
- Francisco Saavedra Bolaños replied,
- "Yes, I do. It was a fight with "El
Muchacho," a dog with a bardino (brindle) coat, against a black dog
named "Negro". I was fourteen years old. The black dog was a real
dog."
- The second question: In what year was this?
- "In 1928."
- The third question: What were those dogs
like?
- "They weren't old Presa Canario dogs."
- The tenth question: Do you remember the
last typical Presa Canario dog? Please describe it for me.
- "The Presa of the land was big, large-lipped,
with a lot of head and chest. Its lips were so large that it was said
they had to be cut in order to be able to fight. I was four or five
years old when I saw two. They said that they were real Presas "de la
tierra" (literally "of the land"). They were male and female; they
were brother and sister. Their owners were Marcos Mendoza and Antonio
Enríquez."
-
-
 |
"Nerón" with his
owner, the famous fancier Panchito Saavedra (March 1958). |
-
-
- Salvador Hernández Rodriguez replied to the
first question;
- "Yes, in the Casino de Armas. The fight was
between "El Asesino" and "El Tigre", two crosses of English bulldog.
The owners were Ramón el de Bañaderos and Juan Barriguilla, and the
referee was Juan Martín."
- To the second question he answered:
- "I must have been about 26 years old. I'm
sixty-seven now. So that was in 1949."
- To the third he answered: "'El Tigre" was
very wide and had an enormous head. 'El Asesino' weighed 45 kilos (99
pounds) and he was the best dog I've ever seen in my life."
- To the tenth question he replied:
- "Yes. It was 'El Molone', the son of a bitch
owned by the Count of Vega Grande. It was dark brindle. It must have
weighed 45 kilos (99 pounds). With that dog I won three cups in
exhibitions organized by the Cabildo (island council). There were
exhibitions of goats, dogs and cows. That dog had a lot of head and a
lot of chest."
-
-
-
-
-
 |
Salvadorito
Hernández, fighter of dogs in his youth with his grandson in his
farm of Valsequillo (Gran Canaria) en 1989
-
-
|
-
Demetrio Trujillo Rodriguez answered thus to
the first question:
"I was eight years old."
To the second: " In 1936."
To the third: "They were short, wide and big-headed
dogs."
To the tenth: "I don't recall the Presa
Canario dog. At those times all dogs were crossbreeds."
 |
|
This "presa"
named "Tinto" born in Vecindario (Gran Canaria) and in the
hands of Demetrio Trujillo became famous as a fighter at the
beginning of the 1980s. |
|
From oral tradition we know that sure enough
the Presas Canarios were rather short, wide and big-headed dogs.
Francisco Saavedra says they were large-lipped. One very important
piece of information is the weight--45 kilos (99 pounds). This means
that it was a large dog, but not excessively so. Most likely it was
just large for the times. But is it certain that those dogs were
Presas descending from the Presas of centuries ago? Since we can't
answer that question for lack of information, it must be left in the
air. Probably it will never be answered.
To the eighth question (What crosses with
foreign breeds were done in those years?) all three men replied the
same: "With bulldogs, bullterriers and Great Danes."
Now, since when were these three breeds (two
English and one German) crossed to obtain Presa dogs for fighting? And
another really important question: When did dog fighting begin in the
Canaries?
It is very probable that Great Danes arrived
in the Canaries once the Second World War was over (not before) at the
hand of fugitive German nazis who came to the islands in search of
refuge. There is nothing, no historical references or oral traditions,
which could lead us to believe that in past centuries there were dog
fights in the Canaries. So one may think that this practice which did
enjoy certain popularity among the lowest classes in the 1920's until
its prohibition in the 1940's in Gran Canaria and Tenerife (in the
rest of the islands, hardly at all) was indeed imported from England.
Of course, nothing can actually be
ascertained, since nothing is known about it. But we do know that in
the Canaries there were never any organized dog fights and dog fights
were much less frequent than it may seem. "There were no dog fighters
in those years," Francisco Saavedra told us on our interview. "There
were people that had a dog and would put it to fight with the dog of
another man." And, "money was not bet. We just went to see which dog
was better. That was all." And to the question, "What did the dog
fighters live off of?" he said, "From their labor in the fields."
"From the fields," answered Salvador Hernández. "We were people of
very little money, poor people. Important people almost never got
involved in these things. They had other pastimes." And Demetrio
Trujillo said, "We were field workers." In those years ram fights were
also held. Like these, the dog fights just arose naturally amongst the
indigenous countryside population. They didn't necessarily have to be
imported. Canarian dog fights had nothing to do with the English dog
fights.
-
CROSSBREEDS
-
- Once the indigenous Presas Canarios of
spanish origin had practically disappeared, and given the increase of
the popularity of dog fights (or pechadas as they were called in the
Canaries), the dog fighters resort to the English bulldog, the
bullterrier and the Great Dane the Perro de Ganado Majorero, the
Spanish Mastiff, and they cross them in order to obtain adequate
products for their dog fights. In reality, the Perro de Ganado
Majorero of the times was the base of many of those crosses due to its
rusticity, its endurance and bravery. And this is why many specimens
had dark brindle coats. It is clear that in those times not all the
perros majoreros were brindles. There were black ones, sandy ones,
ones with white patches, etc. There were also ones crossed with perros
de la tierra (literally, "dogs of the land" of Gran Canaria), which
"were similar to the Perro de Ganado Majorero, but maybe a little
larger," Salvador Saavedra Bolaños tells us in the interview. We know
very little of the different coats that the old Presas Canarios had.
It seems that the brindle coat was the most common. We do know
something about the coats of those Presas that were crossbred in the
1920's and we know even more about those crossed from the 1930's
onwards. The Perros Majoreros and the perros de la tierra transmitted
a very high percentage of the brindle coats, then the black coats and
the sandy coat sometimes with white patches. The white coat could have
come from the bullterriers and the bulldogs, the fawn and black
colors, from the Great Danes. In those years and up to the 1960's, the
majority of brindle, black, sandy and fawn dogs were acollarados (had
white areas around their necks), calzados (on their feet), corbatos
(on their chests), and berrendos (on their lower bellies). White dogs
with spots were also frequent. In the early 1970's there hardly
remained any Presas produced from this crossbreeding in Tenerife and
Gran Canaria. In the remaining islands they have completely
disappeared. Like the Presa dogs, support for them is also a thing of
the past. Some elderly men, old fighters, remember out loud longingly
to anyone who will listen to them of their Presas' heroic deeds. I my
book The Presa Canario Dog: It's True Origin the most important
moments are mentioned as well as some of the most talked about Presas.
 |
| "Chio de Irema
Curtó" is no ordinary or common "presa", his physical strength,
his incomparable bone, his pshychological equilibrium and
unequal security in attack converts him in the best "presa
canario" of the moment. His descendants will give much to talk
about. 1991. |
| |
|
-
- THE
MODERN PRESAS CANARIOS
-
-
- After the 1970's, support increased for the
Presa Canario dog and as a consequence dog fights came back as well.
Some of the old fighters participated with their dogs (which, as we
have said before, had nothing to do with the old Presas). To obtain
Presa dogs, the enthusiast would crossbreed different foreign breeds
such as the English bulldog, the bull terrier, the English mastiff,
the Neapolitan Mastiff (Mastino Napolitano), the Staffordshire bull
terrier, the American Pit Bull Terrier, the Dobermann, the
Bullmastiff, the Great Dane, the Dogue de Bordeaux, the Fila
Brasileiro, the Spanish Mastiff, the American Bulldog, and the
Rhodesian Ridgeback. In Gran Canaria the Perro de Ganado Majorero was
frequently used, though not so in Tenerife. The breeds used most often
in Gran Canaria were (since the beginning and in order of importance):
the Neapolitan mastiff, the Great Dane, the English Mastiff, and the
Perro de Ganado Majorero. After the 1980's the American Staffordshire
Terrier and the American Pit Bull Terrier were also used. In Tenerife
the most used were the bulldog, the bullmastiff, the Great Dane and
sometimes the Dogo de Burdeaux and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. In
the 1990's the American Staffordshire Terrier have occasionally been
used. The Rhodesian Ridgebacks and the Fila Brasileiro haven't been
used very much and only in Gran Canaria, as far as we know. The
consequence of this crossbreeding is the morpho-phenotypical diversity
of the modern Presa Canario. And so it isn't easy at all to raise and
select for a prototype as described in the standard. In order to
attain the approximate phenotype that we have set as a goal (not the
ideal, of course, which is impossible to attain in any breed), there
must be some genetic constant in a good part of the existing Presa
population with which to work from. And this is impossible given the
circumstances I've described above. So someone who attend to a
Monograph or a Specialty, although little he or she may know about
canine matters, quickly realizes the lack of homogeneity that there is
among the dogs. The solution to this serious problem (which has been
the case in many of the breeds we know of today that are perfectly
established, genetically speaking) will slowly be solved over time as
long as only the most robust, similar, healthy (in the broadest sense
of the word), functional, etc. specimens are used. To use those Presas
with character flaws, psychic imbalance, poor structure, undershot
bite, missing premolars, dysplastic, atypical, is a terrible mistake
which is committed all too often.
Published in
Magazine "Todo perros"
Nº 40 y 41 - Febrary - March, 1998.
Tirio de Irema Curto, exported to Norway |
Caton de Irema Curto, exported to USA
|
Perro de Presa Canario
of 1950
-
|
