The Presa Canario is a large canary mastiff from the Canary Islands in Spain. This large breed is quickly adapted to a loving family life and strives to please the owners. We have been lucky to own several in our life, and can easily say they are the best dog we’ve ever owned by far. Our two Presa Canario females do excellent in the house along with our cat and our children. It’s very easy to leave the kids alone in the home knowing that there is an extra layer of protection regarding them at all times.
This is a large breed and needs to be treated and respected as such. You need to incorporate your Presa Canario into your family’s life if you want them to be a positive element in it. This includes, walking, feeding, discipline, attention and of course love. This is not a first time dog owners dog, I must stress that if you decide to go against the grain and get one as your own for the first time dog, you must have professional training from a reputable large breed trainer and be able to harness the elements you learn and adapt that to your life.
Living in the house, is pretty easy once they understand the basic commands. There is short with no undercoating and slightly course to the touch but shedding is very minimal and they generally should be combed once every week or two just to keep up on maintenance and making sure that your dog does not have anything odd that would need to be looked at. That being said, with a proper diet, lifestyle, and home life, these dogs are very low-maintenance and rarely need to go to the vet. Your breeder should generally give you an outline of what the dog will continue to need in order to thrive, this includes the previous shots, and letting you identify which shots are needed for future reference.
We get a lot of questions on the temperament of the Perro de Presa Canario, and we always answer the same, “it depends on the training”. Simply meaning the training is everything on the outcome of the dog. We can’t go into training aspects as a whole because it is a liability for us, but for our puppy buyers we specifically give them a general layout of what to expect, and what they should do. This breed is extremely smart and stubborn but also loving and overprotective of the family.
When Nina, our first imported Presa Canario was a puppy around the age of eight months was home with my wife, when we got a random oddball come to the house in the morning and was “greeted” by Nina when he came to the door. He quickly turned around and mumbled a few things himself and walked off. Mind you should just have to weight and size that she is now at the time.
With the ears cropped they look even more formidable and intimidating. If you have ever seen one in person which is just a little upset at you, then you will understand that you would have to be very insane to want to continue in your house or over your gate when you have a Presa Canario. For this reason alone you should have yours trained for obedience and protection. This way your dog knows when to bite, and most importantly know when to not bite. As you don’t want a dog judging for themselves if it is or is not a good reason. Let me be clear that I’m not promoting any type of aggressive dogs.
Overall the Presa Canario is easily one of the best dogs out there. If you are willing to put in the time and energy into one, I can almost guarantee a 10 time return on investment with a canine that is not only extremely intelligent but also willing to please, give you undivided attention and love you and the entire family all the same. I hope some of this info possibly hope to into figuring out whether this is the right type of dog for you or not. If it is then good luck to you be up to the challenge with a loving heart and enjoy your new companion!
Sounds like a great dog….if trained properly!