The Presa Canario comes from the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. The breed descends from Alano, Mastiff and shepherd type dogs taken to the islands by early Spanish and Portuguese settlers. These dogs were crossed with local dogs to create early Presa types, which were mainly used as farm dogs to control and protect cattle and pigs from the many wild dogs that ran loose on the islands. In the 1800’s when large numbers of English Mastiffs, Bulldogs and Bull & Terrier breeds were brought to the islands by English merchants, they were crossed with the Presas of the time which created a larger more mastiff type dog. These larger Presa’s were regularly used in combat sports up until the 1950’s. The breed was originally smaller, lighter and looked a lot more like todays Spanish Alano. The breed is considered by many as a registered Bandog as there is little uniformity due to the amount of breeds used in its genetic make up. – MORE INFO COMING SOON!!!
