|
When I
arrived at the Canary Islands, just married and with twenty-three years
of age, nothing knew of canary dogs, in fact nothing knew of the Canary
Islands, I do not know why I imagined that like tropical islands, full
of vegetation everywhere, and that the bananas that a lot of times had
eaten from very young in my town lleidatá (of Lleida in
Catalan, in Castilian Lérida, from the Arab) produced high
palms similar to which they saw in the North American films in Hawaii,
with the difference that these produced coconuts. Soon, when they took
me to see bananas in his natural atmosphere I had a tremendous
deception. The plataneras (banana trees) were bushes of about three
meters, more or less, with wide and long leaves, the lowest brushing
the earth. In my life I have had many deceptions of this type, by the
way. With too much frequency the reality is not as us they told it, or
as us we imagined it when they tell it to us.
Passed
a time, three years perhaps, more or less, my father-in-law, commander
officer of the Civil Guard retired, spoke to me of the Majorero Dog. He
had been destined in Fuerteventura, -with the lieutenant graduation
seems to me- already finished the second war.
A
day, while we had lunch, my father-in-law brought to collation, in the
conversation, the Majorero Dog, and he told me that a German,
ex-military, nazi, very understood in dogs, said him in certain
occasion that in Fuerteventura were the best police dog, better than
the German Shepherd, because they learns alone, he does not entrust nor
in his mother, and he is not scared of nothing or to anybody. It is of
supposition that in those years in Fuerteventura would be many and very
good dogs of cattle still.
Soon,
already living in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the madness by the dogs
awoke in me. I bought by telephone one podenca Ibicenca (greyhound)
native of Ibiza in Barcelona and a podenco Ibicenco in Palma de
Mallorca, and an English Pointer, and a German Shepherd to doctor
Luís Soldevilla de Benito, of Madrid, and..., someone,
nonmemory who, spoke me of the dogs of presa, and in search of them I
went with the greater illusion of the world. Thus was how I knew
Salvadorito, Francisco Santana Santana, etc. Salvadorito had, very near
which they called the New Commercial Deposits, in the Outer Dock, in
where he worked at night like guardian, a dog of presa of brindle coat
put in a room made specifically to lock up him there during the day;
the room had a door and the door a grid in the top from where was able
to see the dog. Salvadorito in addition had tied a Boxer female on the
foot of a hut of wood, and two or three puppies of that female and the
dog of presa.
The
dog (nonmemory the name) was impressive, I dare to say that he was very
similar to my presa Néstor, in color, size, phenotype,
everything. To see that presa was for me all an event (I had not seen
another one before). Salvadorito said, search you a female to put her
the dog, these dogs are already lost, I have not found a female for
him. And those puppies that you have there?, I asked him. No, those no
longer are the same thing, the mother is that Boxer.
A
sunday we went (my ex-wife, my children, and me) to have lunch in "Mano
de Hierro" (Iron-Hand), a restaurant of German food property of Don
Carlos, in Santa Brígida (Gran Canaria). Don Carlos was
German, a great cook, and maimed, yes, in World War II lost the left
hand, and in the stump that it had left had coupled a metallic device
in hook form with which he was enough skillful in the kitchen, in the
bar, washing dishes, glass, cups, and others. Don Carlos was a German
very amiable, and he seemed to be always in good mood; in his
restaurant the food was very good and not expensive.
That
Sunday we seated at one table near the windows that gave to an orchard
in which Don Carlos cultivated part of the vegetables that used in the
restaurant. And what was my surprise when seeing near the window, tied
to a wood house, a dog presa type, with the "rabo torneado" (turned
tail) as English Bulldogs -in the Canary Islands the "preseros" to that
type of tail we called it and we will following calling it, "rabo
torneado" (turned tail) -. I stood up and went to speak with Don
Carlos. That dog brought me my brother-in-law Francisco, he had all his
life presa dogs, answered me Mano de Hierro, usually comes by here to
see his sister, as he is already retired and he does not have nothing
to do, he comes once in a while and he stay a short while with her, and
sometimes also he works a little in the orchard. I will give you his
telephone number and his address so that you call him and make an
appointment.
Two
or three days later I called by phone to Francisco Santana, he said me
that no longer there were dogs of presa, but that if I wanted we could
see us, in his own house, yes, better than you come to my house, said
me, I am already retired and little ill, come visit me , and we will
speak of presa dogs. On the following day I went to house of Don
Francisco Santana. Receive me his wife, very amiable, ah!, you are the
one of the dogs, my husband is going to be very happy with your visit,
he is mad for the presa dogs, now is retired, but before always he had
presa dogs, come on, come on , he is in the small living-room.
Don
Franciso Santana Santana was seated in a armchair, when seeing me he
stood up and he tended me the hand. I am little ill, he said me,
excuse-me to made you came here, we could seen us in another place, but
as I am thus, sit down, sit down, how is that you are interesting in
the presa dogs? Don Francisco, by his age, amply could have been my
father. Listen, there are no presa dogs, he said me afterwards sit
down, that was before, I do not know why but there are disappear, no
longer are seen, now we lived on another way, everything has changed,
nowadays most of people we gained the life of another way, the likings
are others.
While
Don Francisco spoke to me I thought that there must be presas in some
place, by the field, in the recondite town. In all ways if you want
that we make a tour by there, since you insists, but I do not believe
that we find nothing. Around one hour later we were in Low Tafira
knocking the door of a house, whose proprietors were related of Don
Francisco. The door opened and appeared a woman. Hello, Francisco, how
many time without see you - the woman saluted to Don Francisco-. No, no
longer we have presa dogs, for years no longer we have been having
them. I did not say it to you?, already nobody have presa dogs, said
Francisco Santana to me. Don Francisco said goodbye to the woman,
mounted again in the car and drive towards Tafira Alta, then to Santa
Brígida. We are going to see my sister, that for two days I
have not been seeing her, yes, the dog that has my brother-in-law I
gave it to him, but is not a presa like those of before, was of a
friend who mated a female of Great Dane with a Bulldog. Like I told
you, no longer are presas, before yes they were, I remember to have had
up to seven or eight, males all, for the fight, and to train them I
took them to the field all together, "ensalamados"(with muzzle) - so
that they not fought, I rides in my horse and they all behind, then
roads were not asphalted neither were cars like now, and when it seemed
to me that they had made the sufficient exercise brought them from
return home, then I lived in an house in the field, now no, now we live
in an apartment, as you has seen, in short, everything is different,
and to eat I threw them heads of goat, complete yes, I went to the
municipal slaughter house and by a pair of pesetas they gave me a bag
of goat heads, sometimes were so many that not even made me pay them,
then there were many goats, you know, yes, everything was different, I
remember that once came a gentleman from the Peninsula, from Bilbao, to
buy dogs of presa for the hunting of the wild boar, he was a man of
much money, for what he said me, already in other occasions had taken
presas for the hunting of the wild boar, and he bought me a impressive
dog of presa, had an enormous head, listen, when I threw him a head of
goat he catches it in the air , chas!!, and while he put it on the
floor already had it broken, imagine you the power that it would have
in the jaws, was tremendous, the best presa than I never had, and the
man of Bilbao also took a puppy, son of that dog.
With
stories that told me the old "preseros" were growing in me the liking
(obsessive) by the Presa Canario dogs. A day Javier Cabrera Perera
(friend mine and very aficionado to the dogs) and I went to see a dog
of presa in an old villa little abandoned that was in the right side in
the entrance of Tafira (Gran Canaria). Nonmemory how we know about it.
Javier
lived
with his girl friend in Tafira. Perhaps he was who found out that this
presa existed. It was a presa rather short, wide, with a great head,
when noticing our presence came from the bottom of the garden barking
towards us, his barks were deep and cavernous, his eyes dark, his
glance very serious, distrusted, nothing amiable, his color of a dark
brown. In that villa there was nobody. The vision of that presa
impacted me. It must be more presas like this, I said to Javier Cabrera
Perera. Another day we went by Arucas, to see Manolito
Alemán the Butcher, who had a presa dog, and went to meet
him, in his house. Manolito Alemán lived in a house to the
outskirts of Arucas. It was at dusk. A woman opened the door, in the
entrance was a species of long patio of cement floor with a beautiful
grape arbor plenty of green pompano. Yes, Manolito is there, Manolito,
look, these boys ask for you. Manolito was speaking in a very friendly
way with Santiaguito Ojeda, the fighter (of canary fight). Manolito
said us that no longer he had presa dogs, a long time ago I bred a
litter and one of the puppies I gave it to a man of... Manolito
Alemán said us where lived the man to whom he had given the
puppy of presa, several years ago. I do not know if that dog will still
live, said while said goodbye to us. The puppy that Manolito
Alemán gave to which he put the name Boby was alive, and I
bought him a short while after speaking with Manolito Alemán
in six thousand pesetas, of that time.
In
those days we found out Javier Cabrera Perera and me, that a such Juan
Santana Álamo had some presa dog, in Bañaderos,
yes, the husband of the teacher, and to Bañaderos we went to
ask for Juan Santana Álamo, the husband of the teacher. He
lives in that house, said us a man of Bañaderos, go there he
must be in the house, I saw him enter just a moment. We arrived at the
house that the man had indicated and we knocked the door, Juan Santana
opened it, I said him that someone had said that he had presa dogs, he
reply that yes, well, presa, presa not, are not like those of before,
those were another thing, but come on , or better we go to the farm so
that you see them, is near here. To the few minutes we were in the farm
of hens that had Juan Santana, at little distance of the sea.
These
are my dogs, said to us, that one that is tied on the foot of the hen
house is Canario, and the female must be there, Brava, Brava!! shouted
Juan Santana, and at the moment it appeared a dog of little body and
brindle coat that little she had to do with a presa dog, or with the
idea that I had in my head of a presa dog, Canario was fawn with some
white spot, short, wide, with great head, product of crossing of
English Bulldog with, Great Dane? surely. Brava and Canario were the
only dogs of presa of Juan Santana Álamo, he did not have
any more. Then I asked him if it had thought to breed with them. Brava
gave birth recently, said, form Canario, yes, and the puppies I gave
them, a female took a goatherd of Las Tres Palmas, you know where is
las Tres Palmas?, no, then listen, going towards Santa Maria de
Guía, a little before arriving at the Monastery of
Valerón in one of the curves you will see in the left side
three great palms, and one path that go up from the highway towards the
house above sees, that one is, there lives the goatherd to whom I gave
the puppy, perhaps he sold it, or he gave it, because took it by
commitment, seems to me that he did not want it, but took it, say him
that you come in my name. We say goodbye to Juan Santana
Álamo and we depart in search of the Three Palms,
contentment, with illusion, we are going to see if the goatherd does
not want the puppy and he sells or gives it to me, I said to Javier
Cabrera Perera. I can make a thing, said Javier, according to which he
say I offer him a puppy of Dobermann of the next litter that Iam going
to breed with Yuma - (Yuma was a Dobermann female ). When we arrived at
the Three Palms we parked the vehicle (a Seat 600, the spanish version
of the Fiat 600) in a reduced space that was in the right side of the
highway in direction of Santa Maria de Guía, we go out of
the car and we ascended by the path that indicated us Juan Santana.
When approaching us the house of the goatherd three mixed dogs of
German Shepherd who were tied with chains stood up and began to bark
towards us. At the moment a woman went out the house, and from behind
the trees next to the house the goatherd came towards us, we said hello
and told him that we were in name of Juan Santana, of
Bañaderos.
The
goatherd did not know who was Juan Santana, then I said him that Juan
Santana was the one that had given him the puppy of presa. Ah, yes,
man, Juan!, I know him like Juan the husband of the teacher, the puppy,
yes, clear... - the goatherd seemed something disturbed -, Look, she is
there behind those bushes, concretely of the medlar, is under an empty
"sereta" of tomatos -(sereta is box of small dimensions made with
laminae of wood and metallic staples )-, Listen - shouted to his wife-
show the puppy to the boys, and if they want her that they take it.
Come this way, said the woman, come on, she is there, under the sereta,
as we do not want it, because we do not need more dogs, and she does
not do more than to bother and to break everything, we have put her
under a sereta with a stone on so that..., take out the stone, take it
out...The poor puppy was famished, dehydrated, decalcified, how long
she could live thus? When the puppy of presa was free of sereta and
stone exit running like a exhalation, deseperate, in search of
something, arrived until a metallic earthenware bowl with several
liters of serum of the cheese elaborated with the milk of the goats and
she jump inside and did not stop to drink until swelled like a balloon.
The small dog was pure nerve, light fawn with white feet, was precious,
she seemed to me precious, I cant believed that, a presa puppy, mine, I
already had a male and a female. Take it, said the woman, I do not want
more dogs here, for the goats with three we have enough, consider that
three dogs eat to much...When we were going to say goodbye (I with the
puppy in arms), the goatherd approached to wish us luck with the small
dog, then Javier Cabrera said him that he had a male and a female of
Dobermann, that if he wanted would give him a puppy when he had a
litter. The goatherd said yes that, it would do him much illusion,
because those dogs were very little seen. To the puppy I put her the
name Piba. Piba always ate like a desperate one and great amount of
food, grew without problems, was very smart, very vivacious, very
affectionate, and very fighter. Boby and Piba, the decision was made, I
was going to breed presa dogs - in that time nobody spoke of Presa
Canario, but of dogs of presa -. the virus of the disease or had lodged
in my neurons, and the name of the disease was "Presitis".
Soon,
with time I was realizing of which, as were said to me, no longer they
were presa dogs, of truth presa, all than it had remain was some that
another unit without caste here and there product of very recent
crossings. But one did not finish accepting that reality, for that
reason I began to breed with Boby and Piba, with many illusion and
enthusiasm, of course,and with the absolute conviction that I was going
to produce presas of true quality. Soon I began to consider the urgent
necessity to cross with some foreign breed of presa, English Bulldog,
and with Great Dane, and with which be necessary, so getting to breed
similar dogs to those of the past, to the one of Salvadorito, to the
one of Tafira.
Despite
the exposed thing, during several years I continued looking for by the
different islands (except in La Palma) presas that could serve me in my
project of breed, but nothing, everything was time, and money, lost. By
abandonment, the old dog of presa of canarias had been extinguished
already. Had no other choice than to initiate his Reconstruction.
|
Find out why here on ElPresa.com we
believe that
the Presa Canario and the Dogo Canario are two
different dogs. The differences are clear between the two Breed
Standards, but there
is a different concept of the dog at the base of the split.
