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Published in the Boletin Oficial del Estado (Official Gazzette of Spain) n° 142, 14 Junio 2001: link
English translation: Paolo Consolandi, Joe Farquhar

SPANISH MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
ROYAL DECREE  558 /01, May 25 th- 2001

Presa Canario
Synonimy: “perro basto” and “verdino” for those specimens with brindle coat

 I.       Functionality
His hard temperament was inherited by his ancestor, the Bardino or Majorero, a prehispanic herding dog, common since ancient times through the entire archipelago, rustic, tough and of fiery character.
These crosses originated an ethnic grouping of intermediate and predominant “presa” type dogs, of brindle coat (“abardinado”) or fawn and both of them with white markings.
Many decades were needed to start the uninterrupted resurrection of the Presa Canario thanks to the work of few and far between breeders who had come to know his tradition and existency.
From that moment on, the never-ending breeding work managed to spread the Presa Canario throughout all the archipelago, creating a  numerous population  bred and selected with the concept of the breed we now own, while maintaining the function for which he was created.

II. General appearance and character
a) Overall description (general characteristics ): medium sized, eumetric dog, with a straight profile. Of rustic appearance and well-proportioned. It is a mesomorph whose trunk is longer than its height at its withers, the bitches are of slightly longer lines.
Massive head, of square shape and wide cranium. The upper lips cover the lower ones with some flaccidity. Black mouth lining. Strong teeth, of wide implantation and generally well inserted. Brown eyes, of medium size. Highly set ears. Cylindrical neck, very muscular and covered with a thick loose, elastic skin. Slight dewlap. Short and straight shoulders. Highly set tail. Wide and very ample chest. Moderately tucked belly. Perfectly composed front limbs with wide and strong bones. Cat-like feet. Powerful, muscular back limbs, with medium angulations and correctly composed, with cat-like feet slightly longer than the front ones. Thick elastic skin. Short hair, with no undercoat, slightly rough. Coats in the brindle, fawn and black range, with black mask.

b) Character and aptitude: his aspect is powerful. Harsh gaze. Especially gifted for the guard and defense tasks and traditionally for bovine cattle herding.  Strong temperament. Able fighter, behaviour that shows for atavism.  Deep and serious bark. Is tame and noble in the family and distrustful of strangers. In the past he was especially used as fighting dog.

c) Height to the withers:
Males: from 61 to 66 cm. ( from 24 to 26 inches)
Females: from 57 to 62 cm. (from 22.4 to 24.4 inches)

III. Head
Brachiocephalic head. Of cuboid tendency. Solid appearance. The proportion cranium-face is of 6 to 4. The frontal-nasal depression is not abrupt.
a) Cranium: convex from front to back and crosswise. Very pronounced zygomatic arch, with a great development of the temporal and mastoid muscles. The middle furrow between the frontal sinuses is marked. The occipital crest is slightly marked.
b) Muzzle: shorter than the cranium. Normally, 40% of the whole head. It is very wide, in prolongation of the cranium. The craniofacial lines are parallel or slightly convergent.
c) Lips: of medium thickness and fleshy. The upper slightly hanging and in their conjunction, seen in front, they form an inverted V. The mucous membranes are of dark colour, but can be in shades of pink, darker being more desirable.
d) Jaws: teeth with a very strong implantation and generally well inserted. Considering his origin,  a slight prognatism is allowed. Typical bite of a catch dog. The absence of any premolar is not a fault, considering that the catching task is realized with the incisives and the canines, that must be well set and allineated. The canines show wide transverse distance.
e) Palate: with clearly visible rows of pinky shade.
f) Eyes: slightly oval. Well separated. Eyelids pigmented black. The colour ranges between the medium and dark brown according to the coat colour.
g) Ears: hanging when complete. Of abrupt start and medium sized, highly inserted. They are generally folded in rose shape. When they are cropped, according to tradition, they stand erect or semi-erect and of triangular shape. The specimen with complete ears will compete equally with those having cropped ears.

IV. Neck
Cylindrical, straight, massive and very muscular. Is somewhat short and his inferior part shows loose skin which contributes to the formation of a slighly dewlap. Average length: between 18 to 20 cm. (from 7.1 to 7.9 inches).

V. Trunk
Its length normally exceeds the height to the withers by about 18% to 20%.
Wide chest and of great amplitude with well marked pectoral muscles. Seen in profile it must reach at least to the elbow. The thoracic perimiter will be normally equal to the height at the withers more a 30%, even if it is desirable to exceed this proportion. Very arched ribs, almost of cylindrical structure.
a) Top-line: straight, slighly ascending towards the croup. Apparent saddle on the back, just behind the withers.
b) Croup: straight, medium and wide. The height at the croup is generally 1,5 cm. (0.6 inches) higher than that at the withers.
c) Flanks: sligthly marked, barely perceptible

VI. Tail
Of high insertion, flexible, thick at start, it goes narrowing till the hock. In rest, it can be observed a slight lateral deviation. In action, it rises in shape of a saber, with its end towards the front, but without coiling.

VII. Front limbs
Perfectly composed, with wide bones and covered by powerful and visible muscles. The elbows should not be nor too much affixed to the rib cage nor pointing outwards. Cat-like, tight feet. Solid nails, black or white, depending on the coat colour.

 VIII. Back limbs
Strong, perfectly composed frontally and in profile. Long and very muscular thighs. Moderate angulations. Cat-like feet. Normally he does not show any spurs. Low hooks and without deviations. The presence of the spur may take away score, but it is not an eliminatory fault.

IX. Coat
Short in all its length, generally thicker at the withers, throat and crest of the buttocks. Without undercoat. Compact in correspondence of the tail. Of rustic aspect, it shows some harshness to the touch.

 X. Colour
All range of brindle, from the very warm dark to the very light grey or blond. All range of fawn, till the sandy. Black.
Occasionally it may show markings around the neck (“acollarados”), the extremities (“calzados”), even if it is desirable that the presence of the white is as reduced as possible.
Generally shows white markings, little or big ones. The mask is always of dark colour and may arrive till the height of the eyes.

XI. Weight
Average of the males: from 45 to 57 Kg. ( from 99 to 125 lbs. )
Average of the females: from 40 to 50 kg. ( from 88 to 110 lbs. )

XII. Faults
a) Slight faults:
Excessive wrinkles in the craniofacial region
Presence of spurs

b) Serious faults:
Scarce pigmentation of the nose
Excessively hanging lips
Excessive prognathism
Specimen with a slight sighthound aspect.
Scarce mask
Front and rear feet turning inward or outward
Unbalanced character
Weak appearance and poor build
Head with incorrect proportions cranium – muzzle
Coiling tail, of the same thickness in its length, cut out or deformed.

c) Eliminatory faults:
Monorchid, chryptorchid or castrated specimen
White markings exceeding 20 %
Total depigmentation of the nose or labial mucosa
 
XIII. Most important aspects
a) Head expression (typicality):
Massive. Well filled muzzle. Dark eyes, well separated. Defined but not abrupt “Stop”. Straight nasal line, not irregular. Not too short upper lip. Enough wrinkles. Well lined up teeth, scissor or inverted scissor bite. Reject the level bite.

b) Corporal expression:
Rectangular, long body, medium sized, rejecting the excessive heights which are not functional nor typical. Well angulated shoulders. Very arched rib cage. Deep and wide chest, the more cross distance the better. Strong pectoral development. Detached elbows, but not pointing outward. Bones of good substance. The croup is higher than the withers and well developed. The angulations are moderate but not scarce.