MOLE'S STORY

Why Did We Get Into Presas In The First Place?

After owning an english bulldog and bullmastiff that were unhealthy and had huge character issues, we (Juan & Sonya) soured on the bull and mastiff breeds.  For awhile, I (Juan) was really down on the bull and mastiff breeds, and for years I thought I would never own another dog from these types of breeds.  However, just like there are dog and cat people in the world, there are also "certain types of dogs" people...as I call them.  I have always fancied the mastiff and bull breeds, but when I was introduced to working Germen Shepherds and Belgium Malinois that did protection work....I was thoroughly intrigued by them and for a short time considered changing my mind about my "types of dogs" and focus on the herders that excel at protection work.  But, I thought to myself, why not do plenty of research and see if I'm jumping the gun too soon?  So, I began my quest to see if anyone was working and producing a bull or mastiff type of dog that: 1) was producing healthy and sound dogs...2) had a good to great track record in terms of producing various generations of dogs....3) had visual or concrete proof that they were training their dogs and were successful at it (in particular, competing in protection trials, or actually training their dogs for protection)...and 4) that I was able to visit the parents and see them in not only a training setting, but also a social setting as well.  In my opinion, in today's day and age, a dog must be social before anything else, and after that health, working ability, temperament, function, form, etc. are all desirable traits.  Now, I'm color blind when it comes to to dogs.  What I mean be that is that I'm not awe-struck by dogs that have big heads or wide chests or have a great mask etc. etc.   It means nothing to me if a dog looks great, but is dysplastic, is not athletic, is fearful or skittish, can't work or do what it was supposedly bred for, or is unhealthy in general.

Anyhow, after doing much research I found a breeder of a bullbreed that I felt met all of my needs.  So, I contacted Red Star Kennel, with pretty much all the info that I have up above and they in turn suggested that I get in touch with a woman that had  two of their dogs here in California and that happened to be about a 3 hour drive from where I lived back then.  There are more details after this, which I won't bore you with, regarding how I finally ended up meeting Cathy and her two wonderful presa canarios at the time, but let's just say that I ended up obtaining my first presa canario from her and have been thoroughly satisfied and happy that I did. 

Mole (which is said like one would say "Pele" the famous futbol player, not the small burrowing animal), is everything I wanted in a dog.  She's an athletic, well-built, social, confident, easily trained, HEALTHY, 6 year old female Presa Canario.  At about 95 pounds, she moves like a 60 pound dog, can jump and run with the best of them, and is built very soundly and not full of excessive physical features that hurt this breed.  Seeing her run and turn on a dime is a thing of beauty.  I've only taken her to the vets a few times in her life, and that was to get her vaccinations, get blood drawn for her titers, and most recently to get her hips and elbows checked (which came out to be "good" btw).  She's always been extremely healthy and has never had fleas (but that's due to her diet and that's another story altogether). I never cropped Mole's ears because I didn't want her to look too intimidating, since dark brindle dogs like her already look intimidating, and since her mom wasn't cropped either...so I decided to keep her all natural.

Mole is fully obedience trained and protection trained, as she relishes taking on threats that may come to me or my family (but releases on command).  I've entered her in protection/obedience trials to test these skills along with my handling skills.  Being my first working dog, I've learned a lot form her as a dog handler and would do some things a bit differently if I could, but because of her my next presa will reap all the benefits of my past experiences.  Mole has a great on and off switch, as one minute she could be doing bite work, but once the threat is over, she is able to get petted by children or any friendly strangers. I love that about her.  Her mom and dad are like that well and Tianna is the reason why I fell in love with the breed.  Being that Mole is my  first trial and true protection dog, and after learning of such terms, I can now say that she has great pack drive, great food drive, solid prey drive, and intense fight drive.  Also, she is very confident, is very athletic, has never been skittish, has great nerves, is great with environmental distractions on and off the protection field (a key thing having both), and is very stable overall. However, she has something else that stands out and that not all protection dogs have, and that is her heart.  She does things for me because she wants to, out of her heart which oozes loyalty, bravery, and intense desire to please.  I know that "heart" isn't a drive, but it truly describes Mole, her mom, and her siblings. 

I had Mole before my two children were born (who are now 3 and 1...both girls) and she is wonderful around them  and other children as well (again, just like her parents and her siblings).  Mole is primarily an indoor dog, being inside about 90% of the day, and she gets along wonderfully with my daughters, as she is gentle, does not mind them screaming or jumping around her, and is simply great with them.  I couldn't be happier with Mole and I'm extremely grateful that she is our family companion and protector.