PSEUDOPRESAS I

Today I was going to write about the guard instinct in the Presa Canario, but I must be guided instead by the amount of e-mail that I receive on a daily basis which shows me that there is an almost unconscious obsession going on out there with SIZE. People who wish to acquire Presas Canarios want to get the biggest available. By the weights that I am quoted, I would say that people want gigantic Presas-- ones that go above and beyond the maximum sizes accepted by the official breed standard. So let's talk, again, about the size, weight, etc. that are considered today to be the ideal for this dog, originally from the Canary Islands, Spain.

Right off the bat, I think it's a good idea to restate that the Presa Canario dog is a mollosser (not a mastiff) that is mid-sized or large. The Spanish Mastiff, the Spanish Pyrenees Mastiff, the Neapolitan Mastiff, the English Mastiff, the Newfoundland dog, the Saint Bernard, the Caucasus Shepherd, and other dogs of similar size have nothing to do with the Presa Canario. The Bull Mastiff is the one that comes closest to the Presa Canario, except for its marked morpho-phenotypical and behavioral differences. And the Bull Mastiff that was around at the beginning of this century was even closer still. Americans tend to be more interested in the Presa Canario's size than Europeans do. And this tendency has been around since the early 1900's, for European mid- to large-sized canine breeds. And I wonder why. What could be the possible reasons that explain this desire for having a larger (a sometimes too large) dog from abroad? I have gone over this in my mind time and time again, interrupted here and there by the most urgent of daily duties. I have arrived at the conclusion that there are two possibilities. Either it's because of disregard for the dog itself or for the desire to have the largest possible specimen available, bigger that one's neighbor's, bigger and more impressive for the judges to see in the shows, for all the public to see. (Before the judges, so that one can win a prize, and before the public, so that others will want to buy the offspring of such a "colossal" specimen.) That's the way I see it, anyway. As a rule, this type of aficionado never asks a breeder for a typical Presa Canario, morphologically correct, healthy, the product of good breeding and selection, a functional specimen with strong guard instinct (without need for any special guard training). No. Instead, this type of aficionado says to a breeder, says to us, says to ME,
"I want offspring of this dog or that dog, in this color, the largest of them all, you know? And the more it has of this and that, the better. And, how much is it? How far ahead do I have to make a reservation? Send me pictures, a video of the litter with its parents, the pedigree, blah, blah, blah." Human vanity is that stupid and bold. And as a humble dog breeder (like others in this profession) I know that I do all I can to improve the breed. I try not to swindle anybody. Knowing that there is no such thing as a perfect human-made object, knowing that the perfect dog just plain doesn't exist, that dogs are not order-made, I silently ponder,"What am I to do?" Do I rush to attend to these fashion-conscious demands? Or do I keep forcing myself day by day to breed and select the Presa Canario that is described in the official standard--or at least the most standard possible, the most functional possible, the most morphologically correct possible, with real mental balance, with real guard instinct, with real temperament, etc.?
Years ago, when the Presa Canario dog just started becoming popular beyond the Canarian boundaries, thanks to canine magazines, ads, etc., Presas of all types were exported. Taking advantage of the demand, and inspite of being reported to the authorities time and time again, Presas were crossed with English Mastiffs, Neapolitan Mastiffs, Great Danes, BullMastiffs, Bordeaux Danes, etc. Getting carried away by the fevor of the moment, not a few Americans and Europeans purchased such cross-breeds. I still remember a Mr. Rudolf Severin from Germany who went crazy buying up crosses like this in Gran Canaria. He spent a fortune buying big dogs, offspring of the first, second or third generation of those breeds listed above that were imported and crossbred the moment they arrived from the Canaries. This was in the 1970's. Fortunately, the air cooled down a little bit. The drawing up of an official standard and official recognition by the Spanish Royal Canine Society did a lot to bring about this moderation. But, of course, in the countries where these dogs were exported to, these specimens were presented as authentic specimens of Presas Canarios ("That's where the Canary Islands get their name from: Can-, Canine, Canarias" A theory which is highly unlikely.) And those breeders keep on breeding from that specimen base, strongly convinced that their kennels hold the milk and honey of the Presa Canario breed. But this is really very far from the truth.
Yes. Many did see the Presa Canario as a real goldmine that could be exploited in their respective countries. Perhaps these breeders even stopped raising other breeds entirely because they weren't so much in demand anymore, to the point where they either bred less or stopped breeding or were forced to eat (figurative) the new pups. Others believed that they had discovered the dog of their lives, the ONE that would somehow fill in all the holes in their lives, in addition to resolving that little economic problem they were going through that seemed to be getting worse and worse with every passing day. Being pioneers in something, in one's own country, is no small deal. So he who arrives first gathers the profit. Right?

Man creates canine breeds day by day, generation after generation, using only truly high-quality specimens. What are the Presa Canario's true qualities? People who ask this question are those that really wish to get to know the breed in order to breed it. "Seek information, information and more information," I would tell this person. And listen to those that can really tell you something worth knowing...and learn from your mistakes.
We must realize that the Presa Canario is a dog just in its infancy, in the sense that it is actually being created right now. The difference, the big difference between breeding Presas and breeding Pekinese, German Shepherds, or Paraguayan greyhounds or any other really genetically-speaking "consolidated" dog is this. The Presa Canario is being made now, as we breed it--for better or for worse, with a good, mediocre or bad benetic base. That is why it is so important to select the finest specimens, the most apt, the healthiest, with the best morphology, the best temperament, with real guard instinct and with a capacity to learn, of the proper height and weight. To those bold, or rather reckless ones who breed carelessly, without striving to reach the official breed standards, whose arguments of defense revolve around how much their dogs are worth, even though these same dogs are often not standard, over-sized or under the recognized minimum, dysplastic, or poorly set, with lack of mental balance, of timid temperament or in other cases unreasonably aggressive, or even hyperaggressive, etc., to those people I would recommend that they take up some other profession, such as growing mushrooms or deep sea diving or raising Salmor lizards (a variety of lizard which only exists in the Canarian island of El Hierro).

And having said all that, I beg of those of you in Canarias, in Europe, in the States, or on any other part of the Earth who own Presas as described above (not standard, either by excess or defect) which eat, urinate, defecate, guard (or not) your homes, gardens, farms, etc., please don't worry about it too much. But I would recommend to you ("And who is this guy to recommend anything to me?" some could ask, perhaps with reason.) that from now on you please focus your attention on the breeding and selection of the Presa Canario as it is described in the official standard, straying from it as little as possible. But one might say, "What am I to think? The very dogs that are bred by the official club (or a good number of them, anyway) are complete garbage, out of standard, useless or of little use?" And to this I reply, "Yes, you are absolutely right." And I would go an inch further. I would go so far as to say that those breeders are driven by the desire to earn money, not by the desire to improve the breed, and they are in the Club, they are on the board of the Club, because that way they can sell more dogs at higher prices. And if they didn't belong to the board of the club they would never otherwise be able to sell those trashy products.They would have to start growing mushrooms or diving or breeding Salmor lizards, or something like that. But this very poor example is no excuse for others to do the same, or worse.
It is very easy to find defects in other people's breeding and very difficult to find any at all in your own. And now that I am onto the topic of the Official Club, I think it would be a good idea to say (once again) that posts shouldn't be held for life, that the managers of the club should be changed every once in a while, that entrenching oneself in one way or another in the management of the Club in order to not let go of the milk cow is a policy that is terrible for the Presa Canario breed. A democratic strategy should be developed which would at least theoretically allow or a reorganization of the positions, a changing the board of directors, the expulsion of opportunists who make use and abuse of their personal contacts, etc. As it is, the Club is inoperant. It puts the Presa Canario and its future in danger. It demoralizes honorable and constructive breeders and even the interest in the Presa Canario itself.

Anyway, in closing I would just say that the shoulder height of male Presas should be 61-66 cm, and 57-62 for females. Males should weigh in at 45-57 kilos, females at 40-50 kilos. For English speakers I suggest you convert these figures into inches and pounds. If these heights and weights seem too small to you, well, if I were you I might just decide to go out and buy me an English Mastiff or a Neapolitan Mastiff. They're REAL big.

PSEUDOPRESAS II

 

WHAT ARE PSEUDOPRESAS CANARIOS?

I have been several years saying that in the world there are more pseudopresas canarios than presas canarios, not only in USA, in where it seems that it has pierced deep my message on the matter, but in all the countries in which "presas canarios" grows up (thus, between quotes). Are not few those that a day discovered the lode Presa Canario and immediately they began to exploited it. And due that of which the perro de Presa Canario is a product of crossings..., true?, then why to import dogs of the Canary Islands, being similar here, in the next street - I do not know in what they were similar, or they are similar, but... -.
Certainly some fans imported dogs of presa, or type presa, from the Canary Islands few years ago, but, with what knowledge of the breed in phase of gestation?, and what dogs imported? At the end of the decade of the 80 of the last century (XX) Antonio Cabezas Albamonte (more important hadler than has given Spanish cinofilia) made famous a dog named Rocote (Del Jardín Canario), and his owner -Julian Celis- swelled himself to sell children of Rocote -some finish in USA-, and of the sister of Rocote, and a son of Rocote, and..., in short, he sold all what he wanted, because this cinofilia of the exhibitions and shows causes this type of business.
Rocote, just like his sister Princesa, was not a Perro de Presa Canario, I denounced it repeatedly in those days, was a badly racially mixed of a female Bullmastiff called CHUNGA DE TIMANFAYA, LOE 235858, and a dog descending of Bullterrier and namely with what more, named Roco.
Dogs product of crossings in first or second generation certain canaries breeders exported many by those dates, and then displayed them in society, their new owners, like authentic native presa canario, of pure breed, of course, and to breed and to sell, that for something had made the investment. The products born of the mating of those dogs little gave: absolute absence racial, behavioral, homogeneity, etc.
Now, many are those that asked, in what is different a pseudopresa from a Perro de Presa Canario?, to these many I would answer them that first that must do is to locate themselves in the time, and in the Canary Islands, that is in where the perro de presa canario is being developed. The actual presa canario dogs -we leave of side the presudopresas canarios that grow up in the Canary Islands, that are more numerous of which much people imagine- are more near the racial pattern that those that grew up in the decade of the 80. However the descendants of the presas that were exported in that same decade are worse than their imported ancestros - to say that only in part they descend from those imported dogs of the Canary Islands -.

And now we go for the key question, "in what the pseudopresas are different from the Presas canarios?". Answer: Perros de Presas Canarios are all those units (good, mediocre, or bad) that descend (100 percents) of perros de presa canarios; pseudopresas are those units that do not descend from Presas Canarios, or only in part. But if they are all product of crossings!, will be able to object the clever, or thoughtless, on duty. No, all are not product of crossings carried out in the Canary Islands, with the idiosyncrasy of the fan of the Canary Islands; and believe me that the idiosyncrasy (of the canary fan relative to the Perro de Presa Canario) is peculiar and unique, does not fit you the smaller doubt.
Outside the Canary Islands, taking advantage of the fashion of our breed (Presa Canario) has crossed the presas imported from the Canary Islands with Pit Bull, with Bandog (Pit Bull + Neopolitan Mastiff female, etc., etc.) and the product has sold it, are selling it, like authentic native Perros de Presa Canarios. No, men, a little respect, do not use the name of our moloso to sell the product of your crossings. Ours, only ours, and those that descend from ours in one hundred percent, are the Perros de Presa Canarios. You, no matter from the country that you are, to your dogs presa type called it as if a native breed it was: Italian Presa, Czechoslovakian Presa, American Presa, Dutch Presa, German Presa, Russian Presa, Ukrainian Presa,etc. Do not continue using the name of our dog of presa to fill the pockets. Fill the pockets by your own merits.

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PSEUDOPRESAS  CANARIOS 

I don´t know  what  they know some people that dare to opine in the forums about the  breed Perro de Presa Canario.  By their messages I deduce that they talk about  some kind of dogs  type  presa  that  grow up in  USA, that little or nothing they have to do with the Perro de Presa Canario. And not only in USA, in all the European countries they breed this type of dogs in which the APBT predominates and that nothing, or almost nothing has to do with the Perro de Presa Canario.  And why they call them Perro de Presa Canario?  -asked  me with  astonish and incredulous  face when hearing my words an Italian owner of one of those pseudopresas canarios -. Well –I replied-, because with the denomination Presa Canario, they sell in very  hight  price a dog type presa  that under another denomination would not manage to sell.  Oh! –exclaimed the  Italian boy -, I don´t feel now very happy knowing that they have deceived me, although I love a lot  my dog  Altimo. 

Several times  I said and wrote, that the big problem that affects to our molosser (canary) is that it is that, a molosser, and in addition of not very old origin.  For that reason, not  few cunnings have crossed dogs type presa with the purpose of produce dogs that  in some way  resemble to the Perro de Presa  Canario, and under this  denomination they sell them in  high prices. The Perro de Presa Canario begins to be develope, like breed, towards the middle decades of the 70´s, not before, -most of those that become fond of this canary canine breed  in the middle decades of the 70´s had not been born still, is not truth? -.  All those that are put in this subject of the dogs, we know that the canine breeds, they  exist, by work and grace of the whims or necessities of the man, and therefore, have a beginning, and this one has to do, always, with the mestization (crossings), because, as  said me in one occasion an  outstanding Spanish Cynophiler (dog-man), the canine breeds all has been created by the man, and did not leave like such of  Noah´s Ark.

 Clear that there are crossings and crossings, just like there are knowledgeable or experts in dogs and amateurs, who likes a lot to be protagonist  in the forums, because, say me if is not  easy to post in  the forums... -whichever who has a computer and connection  to the network can do it, is not thus?- to digress about  something, in this case the Perro de Presa Canario, and to make affirmations on a subject that is not known.  With too much frequency, fanciers  of the APBT, the BANDOG, or the PERRO DE PRESA CANARIO,  speaks saying so untrue  things like that the Presa Canario is a bandog, and that the APBT is their genetic base. I want to demand  more respect for the BANDOG, and is a pity  that do not post with more frequency in its defense those that they make the Bandog, due it does not seem me acceptable that any improvised cynophiler  post  in the forums to say that such-and-such breed of dogs is nothing  more than a   bandog.  With this comparison  the only thing  that obtains  these improvised  cynophiler,  is  to soil the word bandog and the work of those people who breed this  canine variety, or  breed.

As many know, I was the one who from the beginning denounced, or informed, that the Presa Canario dog  was not an old but a new breed, product of crossings between several breeds imported  to the Canary Islands from different countries and the Perro de Ganado Majorero.  In those dates, was someone who wanted to deprive me of authority saying that whatever I claimed  was a lie, that the Perro de Presa Canario  was  a recovery product -carried out by means of breed and selection by the Spanish Club of the  Presa Canario Dog-, of  units that they existed here and there, of old ancestry, in the Canary Islands.  Clear that since then, has rained a lot, and of presas canarios has grow up many litters, and in consequence, the sufficient generations to being able to speak of  breed, and like so was  recognized by the Royal Spanish Canine Society, and recently by the Federation Cynologique International (FCI) – the really sad thing, is that it was not recognized with its true name (Perro de Presa Canario), but like  Dogo Canario- . 

Also I said, and wrote in multitude of occasions, that the Perro Presa Canario  is still not done, like breed, that he lack of  racial uniformity, in the wide sense of the term, and that the things have not being well done, they are not being well doing, that the club of the breed, with the president at the top, does not think more than in make money (easy) with the Presa Canario, that  concerns in nothing  the future of the breed –I  release myself to the facts-, at the present moment (May 11-2002) the Spanish Club of the Perro de Presa Canario, FCI  Dogo Canario  is sunken, the board members are every one by his way, after disputes, questions of money, of  champions (CH), in short, it is truly sad that this club has been always directed by a gang of  insolvents.

But the Perro de Presa Canario will follow ahead, in spite of the officiality that represents it, of the bold ignorant that now and again shown in the forums to opine on the breed without having the most remote idea of which they are speaking. 

 There is a proverb that says: of dogs, politics and religion everybody knows.  I say that nowadays, many know (also), much, about the Perro de Presa Canario.

 Manuel Curtó Gracia