Terra Presa

Recently, the United Kennel Club brought back their Super Dog program.
In the past, Super Dog was an unofficial title given to dogs who had earned titles in conformation, obedience, rally obedience, agility and weight pull. The majority of those dogs were American Pit Bull Terriers and various other breeds made up the rest.
To my knowledge there had not been a Presa Canario to achieve the distinction, until today!

Ronin is officially UKC’s first Super Dog Presa!
A combination of titles in six different sports and many weekends travelled, he’s earned something I had hoped would be brought back to UKC.
Additionally he is the first Presa to earn the United Rally Obedience Championship(UROC)! Mostly perfect scores this weekend with only a few deductions for his sass and a High Combined award for highest score in Rally 2 and 3

My boy, my star. You always manage to shine bright and bring joy wherever you go. I couldn’t be more proud of you

Super Dog / Triple Champion
NN AC USJ UCD UROC AP3 VPE UWPS UWPCHX SD MBIOS MRBIS BIS RGCH Guardian Del Sol de Terra Presa CM2 DSA DJ AJ HDN BN RN BCAT CA CGCU IDWPN SPOT-ON Total Dog x16

United Kennel Club Total Dog Invitational Qualifiers

My “Total Dogs”

Ronin, the dog I will aspire to see in every new generation and Rubicon, the daughter who will help me with that goal

Versatile, competitive, excellence

NN AC USJ UCD URO3 AP3 VPE UWPS UWPCHX MBIOS MRBIS BIS RGCH Guardian Del Sol de Terra Presa CM2 DSA DJ AJ HDN BN RN BCAT CA CGCU IDWPN SPOT-ON Total Dog x16

AP VPN UWP BIS GRCH La Canari Guardiana of Proper K9 SPOT-ON Total Dog

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Health testing and the Presa Canario Part 1

Let’s start with what health testing is:

Having your dog examined by veterinarians who specialize in different fields of medicine, depending on the test. Passing or failing is subjective based on breed and the individual breeder’s guidelines for preferences. Certain grades are obvious pass/fail but there can be a grey area in between.
The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals has a grading system for different conditions. I will link those below in the comments

For the Presa Canario, they have four core tests that should be evaluated for each breeding parent

Hips
This is designed to evaluate the fit of the femoral head into the hip socket and the laxity(looseness/tightness) of the whole joint. OFA has radiological specialists who grade the fit of the femoral head, arthritic changes and other conditions and PennHIP has a quantitative measurement that calculates the laxity and any presence of arthritis

Elbows
Dogs naturally carry up to 60% of their body mass on their front end. Having a healthy, correctly formed elbow joint is a necessity. OFA radiologists examine a dog’s elbow to determine if they are normal, have any development of arthritis or other conditions that can affect the dog’s soundness as it ages. OFA requires dogs to be a minimum of 24 months for dogs to receive official grades

Eyes
Presa Canarios have a few genetic eye conditions that can lead to different levels of vision loss. Progressive Retinal Atrophy(PRA) and Canine Multifocal Retinopathy 1(CMR1) are the two major diseases the breed can develop. Each parent would have to pass on a copy of the gene for a puppy to be affected.
Some dogs are “carriers” of the disease, meaning they have the ability to pass on the same single copy of a certain condition but neither they or their offspring will be affected if the other parent does not have an additional copy.
CMR1 is a disease that if a dog isn’t affected with two copies and only has one, it can still have some symptoms but to a lesser degree. Both a genetic panel and OFA CAER exam should be performed

Heart
Being a large breed dog, correct cardiac function is non negotiable. In order for a dog to have an official certificate with OFA, the heart can be evaluated via auscultation with a regular practitioner vet and advanced testing, like an echocardiogram, by a board certified cardiologist

Lastly, a basic genetic panel should be performed to identify carrier statues of PRA, CMR1 and Degenerative Myelopathy at a minimum.