Presa Canario
The Presa Canario Breed
(We are no longer breeding Presa Canario)
At Red Star Kennel, our mission is to breed sound, functional Presa Canarios with the character and physique necessary to be truly useful in today’s world. For a Presa to excel in protection work or other performance-driven environments, it must possess key traits such as stable nerves, physical capability, and moderate levels of both prey and defense drive. While many breeders focus on these attributes, compliance, a critical element of dog training, is often overlooked.
There is a growing trend among Presa Canario breeders to favor the so-called “hard dog”—a dominant animal with little tolerance for challenge, whether from other animals or even its owner. These dogs often lack sufficient food and prey drive, making them difficult to motivate. Motivation, particularly through positive reinforcement, is essential in modern dog training. Without it, trainers are often left to rely on correction-based or deprivation methods, which are far less effective and can lead to conflict.
We believe that a dog without a willingness to comply is of limited value in a training environment. If a handler cannot gain reliable control or establish a working relationship with the dog, the result is not a powerful protector—it’s a liability. Dogs learn through consistency and repetition, and compliance is the foundation that allows those repetitions to occur. Any experienced trainer will tell you: without it, there is no progress.
At Red Star Kennel, training is not only our profession, it’s our passion. When evaluating our Presa Canarios for breeding, we consider more than structure and appearance. We assess their drives, their ability to be guided by a handler, and their overall temperament. A Red Star breeding candidate must demonstrate stable, sound character, moderate prey and defense drive, social indifference toward strangers, and enough handler sensitivity to allow for clear communication and control.
We evaluate our puppies at five, six, and seven weeks of age through a series of exercises designed to measure food drive, prey drive, pack drive, environmental confidence, vigilance, compliance, and overall determination. This early testing allows us to better match our puppies with homes where they will thrive, whether as well-balanced companions or as recreational sport dogs trained in obedience, protection, or agility.
Our Dogs
