EARLY HISTORY
WHERE HE CAME
FROM
Los canarios, the people
of the Canary Islands have been heavily involved in the breeding and
fighting of the Presa Canario since the 1800's. The islands, in fact,
received their name from the great variety of dogs which inhabited them
prior to their conquest in the early 1600's.
One author separates these dogs into two distinct breeds. The first type, called by Fray Alonso de Espinosa the "Zatos" or "Gozques," was that of the smaller dogs, those which appear repeatedly in the historical literature of the Cabildo de Tenerife. The second type, those which interest us, were dogs which "looked like wolves but were much smaller." Jaime Sáenz Peñate notes that, "it was a dog which was capable of confronting a wild boar in difficult conditions, a great shepherd dog, with many generations of experience to back him up, an excellent guardian, of well-balanced nerves, with an agility and resistance that was very real and that we understand was a product of his ancestry, having been forced into a type of work in which those qualities were essential." This
second dog is today referred to as the Perro de la Tierra or dog of the land,
and remains throughout the islands, although in a slightly different form from
island to island. Zeuner of the Museum of Gran Canaria makes mention of how the
Spaniards, upon arrival in the islands were impressed with the ferocity of the
dogs that inhabited them, "it is possible that this ferocious breed is one
that still exists in present time, a dog of medium size, with fallen ears, and a
certain similarity to the boxer. They are dirty brownish-gray in color, spotted
with brindling, not homogeneous." These dogs are referred to in the old
literature as perro de presa, dog of grip, or bardino, brindled.
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ON TO LEARN ABOUT HIS...
FIGHTING
HISTORY - What made him what he is.
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