Character of Presa Canario
„Its appearance is extraordinarily
powerful. Harsh gaze. Especially gifted for guarding and defending and
for steering cattle. Firm temperament. An able fighter, a characteristic
given to atavism or throwback. Deep low bark. Noble and tame in the
family and untrusting with strangers.”
This text comes from the standard
of the breed. But what does it mean in the reality?
To know and understand character
of the real Perro de Presa Canario we must go very deep in the past. We
have to imagine journey to the Canary Islands many centuries ago. We
have to go back in time to see the culture and the people that made this
extraordinary breed and it’s character.
First references to the dogs on
Canaries dates back to times of big conquests. And Canary Islands were
also concurred at these times. The Portuguese occupation last for many
years but they couldn’t defeat proud Guanches people that were living
there since many centuries. When the conquest failed Portuguese left
these Islands for Spaniards. And these are the times when we hear about
big dogs for the first time. Natives called them demons making much
devastation. Many thought that these are only some kind of myths
correlated witch religion because these dogs were showed as monsters.
But we have to remember that in every myth there is always some truth.
Going a little bit further in time
and living Canary Islands we find Christopher Columbus and his conquest
of New Word. We all know that he was the one that discovered Americas
(even if he never knew it thinking he came to Indies). Yes most of us
know about this fact. But not many know that this conquest couldn’t be
such a big success if Spaniards wouldn’t have help – their war dogs.
This is also the reason why they did what Portuguese couldn’t do for
many, many years – conquer the Canary Islands. What were these dogs? We
don’t know how they looked but we can make some conclusions from
descriptions from these times:
“...The
Spanish military had recently learned to appreciate the effectiveness of
dogs against men with little or no armor. When Spain took the Canary
Islands away from Portugal, they were resisted by intelligent, brave and
proud natives called Guanches, whom the Portuguese had never been able
to subdue. The governor effectively used large war dogs to wreak havoc,
resulting in the loss of many native lives. When the military saw how
useful the dogs had been in that campaign, they decided to employ dogs
in their struggle with the Moors of Granada. The lightly armored Muslim
fighters were no mach for the mastiffs of that era, which could weigh
250 pounds and stand nearly three feet at the shoulder. Their massive
jaws could crush bones even through leather armor. The greyhounds of
that period, meanwhile, could be over one hundred pounds in weight and
could stand thirty inches at the shoulder. These lighter dogs could
outrun any man, and their slashing attack could easily disembowel a
person in a matter of seconds. Several of the men who had served as
dog masters at Grenada and helped to disperse the Moors would be among
the crew of Columbus’s second voyage...”
“...He gathered the dogs on the
far right flank and waited until the battle had reached a high level of
fury. He then released all twenty mastiffs, shouting “Tómalos!” (meaning
“take them” or “sic ’em”). The angry dogs swept down on the native
fighters in a raging phalanx, hurling themselves at the Indian naked
bodies. They grabbed their opponents by their bellies and throats. As
the stunned Indians fell to the ground, the dogs disemboweled them and
ripped to pieces. Spinning from one bloody victim to another, the dogs
tore through the native ranks. One observer of the battle, Bartolome de
las Casas, reported that in less then one hour each dog had torn apart
at least one hundred Indians. Recognizing that his readers might find
this difficult to believe, de las Casas explained that these animals had
originally been trained to hunt for wild game. In comparison, they found
that the skin of their naked human opponents was far easier to tear
apart than the hides of deer or boars...”
“...While these dogs were
considered to be mere weapons and sometimes instruments of torture, some
of them became famous as individuals, and their names have been
preserved in
the histories of the time. There
was Amigo, the dog of Nuño Beltran de Guzman, who played a pivotal role
in the conquest of Mexico. Bruto, the dog of Hernando De Soto, was a
vital factor in the takeover of Florida. In fact, when Bruto died, his
death was kept secret because the simple motion of his name was capable
of striking terror into the natives and causing them to submit
immediately. There was also Becerillo, the dog of Juan Ponce de León,
and the dog’s son, Leoncico (the name means “little lion”), who belonged
to Vasco Nunez de Balboa. Leoncico would evaluate each situation and
respond accordingly. When he was sent to apprehend a native, he would
race out and grab the man’s arm in his mouth. If the Indian did not
struggle, but came along, he would be lead safely back to Balboa. If the
Indian resisted, he would be killed and torn apart immediately. Leoncico
was considered to be so valuable that he was awarded the rank of a
caporal, including pay and entitlement to share any goods or gold
obtained as booty...”
“...Despite
the cruelty of the time, there was one incident in with a dog caused the
invaders to question the morality of their actions, at least for a short
time. This involved Becerrillo, the dog of Juan Ponce de León. He was a
large dog (his name means “little bull calf”), who also looked quite
fearsome due to his scars from many battles (...)In battle, this dog was
devastating. For example, when the natives decided to band together to
kill all of the Christians, they sent a chief, Guarionex, to lead a
surprise attack against the village where Salzar and his troops were
staying. In the middle of the night, the raiders began setting the
straw-thatched huts on fire.
Becerrillo began to bark frantically, waking the troops. Salzar leaped
out of bed with a shout, and naked except for his sword and shield, he
rushed into battle with Becerrillo at his side. The clubs and darts of
the Indians were no match for Becerrillo’s teeth. Although the battle
only raged for about a half hour, at the end even the Spaniards were
surprised to find that the casualties included thirty-three natives
killed by Becerrillo’s savage fangs. Over the next several months,
Salzar and Becerrillo went in pursuit of Guarionex and the other
surviving raiders. The Indians came to fear this beast to the extent
that they would more readily stand and fight a hundred Christians
without him than ten with him (...)Salzar decided to relieve the tedium
with a bit brutal entertainment. Calling over an old Indian woman, he
gave her a piece of folded paper and told her to carry the message down
the road to the governor. She was told that if she did not do this, she
would be cast to the dogs. The old woman was frightened, but also
hopeful that perhaps this errand might somehow lead to some freedom and
respite for her people. She had not gone far toward the road when Salzar
laughed and unleashed Becerrillo with the attack command, “Tómala!”
(take her). The great dog dashed toward her as expected, and the amused
soldiers waited for Becerrillo to tear her to pieces and then gorge
himself on her flesh, as he had done with so many other Indians before
(...)Who knows what went through the mind of Becerrillo. Those who saw
the event claimed that the dog displayed almost human intelligence and
compassion. Perhaps it is the fact that the woman had assumed such a
humble and non-threatening posture, or perhaps it was the soft tones of
her quiet qords that soothed the dog and demonstrated that she was not
hostile. He stared at the woman’s face as she gingerly held the sheet of
paper with both hands in front of her chest – to show him that what she
said was true, or maybe to hide behind it as if it were a shield.
Becerrillo sniffed at her, nudging her with nose, and then sniffed at
her hands and the paper. This fearless killer then turned away from
terrified woman, lifted a leg, and sprayed urine at her. He then walked
to the side and watched as she shakily rose to return to the soldiers
who had planned to have her killed...”
Looking on this descriptions and
few more that we can find we can imagine a powerful and very intelligent
animal. And if we consider appearance of this animal we can only imagine
how did it looked and every single one of us will have different dog at
his mind. But when it comes to character... well, now we can say for
sure that this animal had enormous psychic strength and balance. He
could act adequately to situation. For sure witch this animal nobody
could flirt. This animal knew no fear and was dedicated to his master’s
commands ready at any time to stand by his side and fight. And this kind
of dogs also helped Spaniard in conquer of Canary Islands.
This quotes show us much cruel but
we must remember that this was not nature of dogs to kill people but
they were made to be like his. They were trained and learned to be war
machines, not men’s best friend. And history of big conquest is one of
the bloodiest histories in history of dogs.
Looking further we’re coming back
to Canary Islands. Some of this dogs that were used in conquest stayed
on Canaries, like some more other dogs that came there witch people.
Then these dogs crossed witch other dogs. We don’t know what dogs and
what breeds made Presa Canario. We only know that on Islands there lived
few kinds of Presa Dogs that are now extinct. These dogs were types, not
breeds. They had strict functions to make. And for sure we can say that
they crossed between themselves. The most important of original canary
Island breeds in creating Presa Canario was Perro de Ganado Majorero
witch is still used to reconstruction of original Presa. What is this
Majorero? This is a short description of this dog:
“Traditionally
on the Islands it was used as a cattle dog and also for guarding
properties. This is quite active animal (but balanced), and always
anxious what is happening around. He is very serious and has only few
friends. Because of his character in the past he was used in dog
fights. Quite often he was crossed witch Perros de Presa. He is very
loyal to hi master, he likes companion of children witch he defends and
accepts their brutal treating. He doesn’t accept brutal treatment and
punishment in rising. For strangers he can be dangerous. This dog is
absolutely confident of his power. He doesn’t have anything useless.”
Next we have more present dogs –
from the beginning of XX century. This is when pechadas began. Pechadas
were dog fights witch use of Presa dogs. And to obtain the best fighter,
the undefeatable dog Perros de Presa was crossed witch foreign breeds,
mostly witch Bullteriers, Great Danes and Bulldogs. And so Presa became
dog fighter. Dog fights didn’t last long and after thy were forbidden
Presa Canario nearly extinct (it did but it was recreated from dogs that
lest)
And this is the short history of
dogs that plaid role in creating this fabulous breed.
And now the culture of Canary
people comes to the scenes. In the past Canary people were mostly
working in the field. They needed dog to help them in this work. The dog
that they needed had to be intelligent and had to know how to help witch
the cattle and how to guard. This dog had to be fearless. It also needed
to know how to fight because many used their Perros de Presa in “pechadas”.
If their dog wouldn’t be good it wouldn’t have chance to live. It was
also used as hunting dog. He had to hunt wild goats and... wild dogs.
Wild dogs became a big problem on Canaries and in many historical
documents from the past we can read about this. Probably this function –
killing wild dogs that made damage in the cattle – made easy way for dog
fights to came to the Islands. At the same time we have to remember that
this kind of dog fights wasn’t the same that were made in Great Britain
for example. Old-timers describe them like this “You had a dog, I had
a dog and we wanted to know witch one was better. So we put them into
the fight. It wasn’t made for money.”
So now having historical
background we can imagine more. And we can understand some parts of
behavior of this dog. His intelligence, his interest in cattle, his
desire to fight – especially dogs of his own sex.
In FCI Presa Canario (or rather
Dogo Canario) isn’t considered as “working dog”. But for sure it is a
working breed. This dog is very balanced and calm. He always watches his
environment carefully to see what is happening around. He is laying
mostly witch his head between his legs. If he thinks that something is
wrong he is immediately on his legs ready to attack. We can be sure that
being witch a Presa when somebody attacks you makes you safe because
this dog will defend instinctively. For this reason more and more people
start to search for a Presa as a great guardian and defender. Presa is
also used in dog sports (from obedience to french ring, PSA and others
going for the biggest awards and titles. Words most known working Presa
Canario is Volcan coming from Atlas Asio line – witch IPO III title).
Presa Canario is not for
everybody. If you consider this dog as a companion you must know that
you will have to work witch him. Otherwise it can become a problem.
Training these dogs gives much satisfaction because as an intelligent
animal it learns very fast. Presa doesn’t like punishments and this is
not the way to work this dog. The fastest way to learn this dog is to
learn by playing. If you will try you won’t have to wait long for
results.
In the everyday life Presa is a
loving pet to its family. He is always ready to please and protect the
ones that it loves. He is not enforcing attention of his master like
some breeds do. He is calm and knows when the time for play comes. Witch
children Presas are very affectionate and delicate. When we watch this
dogs playing witch “their” children for many times we can observe that
this serious dogs change and become very good companions for their
little masters. At the same time we must remember that Presa is rather
large breed and we can not let this dogs alone witch children (we
shouldn’t let alone witch children any dog to be honest). It has power
and strength, only waving his tail it can overturn a kid. I don’t want
to scare people here but as responsible owners we have to predict some
situations and make contacts dogs and children’s contacts happy and
friendly.
We also must remember that some
species aren’t products of proper selection and don’t have good
character. Some can be unbalanced, some scared, some aggressive. Some
dogs lost instinct to protect and to guard. And looking for a Presa we
are looking especially for its character, not for appearance. This is
why we should look for dogs that are functional. Please don’t buy this
dog if it will only have to be show dog. It can be much more. Specific
appearance should go witch specific character and temperament. And yes,
there are still people that care for Presa and that are trying to
preserve original character and temperament, only remember that there
are still many that don’t care about this and care only for good sell of
their puppies.
author:
Ewa Ziemska
"Rey Gladiador"
Presa Canario is a vigorious dog full of
temperament...
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