Presa Puppy Impressin' Me

Some people like muscle cars. I like muscle dogs. When I was at the grocery store today there was a guy standing outside with this heart stopping, stunning Presa Canario puppy (yes, it is only eight months old and will be significantly bigger full grown). At first I wasn't sure if it was a Presa or a Cane Corso, but I immediately knew it was a South American guard dog and so pulled over to say hi as they are pretty rare and I've seen less than half a dozen in my entire life. Lots of other people also came over to admire this pup's good looks. (Interestingly, the woman I dated this summer, who I called NY on this blog, called the grocery store I frequent a "ghetto" grocery store, and I must admit a lot of people I know would have been put off by the owner, the dog and the crowd they eventually attracted but not I!)

I probably wouldn't choose to own a Presa because of the liability involved-- a few years back there was a horrible case in San Francisco where two dogs of this breed mauled to death a woman (which made the news in part because the dogs' owners seemed so vile and in part because the deceased woman's partner took the owners' of the dogs to court in a wrongful death lawsuit which had no legal precedent since she was not legally married to her partner).

These dogs are super strong, I always think of them like pit bulls on steroids and pitties are plenty strong to start with. The other thing I've noticed that I'm not crazy about with these breeds is that the Cane Corso I worked closely with in a vet clinic (and from the little bit I saw of this dog too) is that they are exquisitely perceptive about sensing fear in people. I was afraid of the Cane Corso we boarded at one of the clinics I did an internship at and as a result I had to stop working with that dog because he knew I was afraid and took advantage of it to the point I was worried he might attack me. This puppy was a bit nervous, but basically very sweet and I think I look pretty relaxed in the picture, though initially the owner was reluctant to let me close because he was afraid the dog might be aggressive towards me but he eventually agreed to take the photo above. (I'm the only person on the project who does their shopping in field clothes, oh well, they can make fun of me in the photos.) I guess I've finally learned to trust my instincts around dogs after several years in vet med, and this time round I wasn't scared so I went for the photo op. It's nice to finally have some confidence (though I know I can always get better) and I think it shows!