When you browse our forums, especially the Spanish forum, it is possible to read several interesting articles dedicated to the history of the Presa Canario, these are a great help to those who wish to know about the evolution of our breed.
In this case I've chosen to translate a quite an old article, from 1988, written by Clemente Reyes Santana, a true expert of the breed and often judge of various exhibitions dedicated to the breed. The article, in its integral version, is titled "The Perro de Presa Canario" and was published in the magazine "Aguayro" (the magazine of the bank Caja de Canarias) in September-October 1988. In the the article there are many references to the gladiator past of the Presa Canario. We take distance from the cruel and illegal present day dog fighting (much different in form and substance from the "pechadas" of the past decades), but at the same time I think it is not right to hide this historic aspect as it pertains to the past of the breed.
The author provides much interesting information about the origins and the characteristics of the breed, shedding light on the situation of the breed in the Canaries during the second half of the Eighties (a very complicated period, a period that witnessed scarce diffusion of the breed and the many crossings).
It is an old article, but still of great value and factual. Clemente Reyes Santana describes ,in detail, the selection guidelines that were followed, during those years, in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, stressing that while on Gran Canaria the selection was based on functionality and on Tenerife the club breeders looked essentially for a show dog. This selection aspect of the article points to the analogy of the Tenerife developed lines and the Dogo Canario of today. The Tenerife lines, as Clemente Reyes Santana points out, seldom allowed white pigmentation or black coats, and the dog often had an undershot bite. These elements are all present in the FCI standard of the Dogo Canario, in which the white markings are discriminated, the black coat is eliminated and the undershot bite is admitted.
To this we add that the Club of Tenerife was the one that became the official breed club and that, through the past years, followed the path of the international recognition at any cost. Today we can see a clear seperation. The traditional Canarian observes the results and sees a dog with a strange name 'Dogo Canario" (price payed for obtaining the recognition) that has been deeply influenced in its standard by beauty and exhibition as the selection criteria of the old Tenerife bloodlines. While selecion process in Gran Canaria has always been centered on temperament, function and performance .These are the criteria for a working breed.
In order to understand better all these aspects, I invite you to read the article .