Cane Corso vs Presa Canario: how to tell them apart
The Cane Corso is Italian and the Presa Canario comes from Tenerife and Gran Canaria in Spain’s Canary Islands. Both are molossers of overlapping size, so the tells are in the shape: the Presa has a longer body and a longer muzzle.
Six dogs: Cane Corso, Presa Canario, or another breed?
Dog 1.
Photo: Canarian, CC BY-SA 4.0 Dog 2.
Photo: Topmoretta, CC BY-SA 4.0 Dog 3.
Photo: Fausto Moreno, CC BY-SA 3.0 Dog 4.
Photo: Canarian, CC BY 4.0 Dog 5.
Photo: Pets Adviser, CC BY 2.0 Dog 6.
Photo: Canarian, CC BY-SA 4.0
The two side by side
| Cane Corso | Presa Canario | |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Italy; lately mainly Apulia, in the south | Spain: Tenerife and Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands |
| Bred as | A farm guardian; in the past also for herding cattle and hunting big game | A guard dog for protecting cattle |
| Height, males | 64 to 68 cm (2 cm either way tolerated) | 61 to 66 cm |
| Height, females | 60 to 64 cm | 57 to 62 cm |
| Weight, males | 45 to 50 kg | 45 to 57 kg |
| Weight, females | 40 to 45 kg | 40 to 50 kg |
| Body | Slightly longer than tall: about 11% longer | Clearly longer than tall: 18 to 20% longer, more so in females |
| Muzzle | About half the length of the skull; as broad as it is long | About 40% of the head’s length |
| Colour | Black, greys, fawns, stag red, dark wheaten, black or grey brindle | Brindles, fawns up to sand, or black |
| Mask | On fawn and brindle dogs, black or grey, not beyond the line of the eyes | Always black on fawn and brindle dogs, not above eye level |
How do you tell a Cane Corso from a Presa Canario?
Not by size. A Cane Corso male stands 64 to 68 cm and a Presa Canario male 61 to 66 cm, and the two weigh about the same, 45 kg and up. That overlap is why people mix them up.
Look at the outline. The Corso is rectangular but only just: its standard puts its length about 11% over its height. The Presa’s body is 18 to 20% longer than its height, more so in females, so it looks longer and lower.
Then the head. The Corso’s muzzle is short and square, about half the length of its skull and as broad as it is long, and its upper lips form an upside-down U. The Presa’s muzzle is about 40% of the head, narrowing slightly towards the nose, and its lips meet in an upside-down V.
Colour overlaps. Both come in black, fawn and brindle. Grey shades and stag red belong to the Corso’s standard, not the Presa’s; the Presa’s fawn and brindle dogs always wear a black mask.
Where does each come from?
The Cane Corso: Italy. Its standard says its direct ancestor is the old Roman Molossian. Once found all over Italy, in the recent past it was common only in the province of Apulia and the neighbouring regions of southern Italy. Its name comes from the Latin “cohors”, which the standard translates as “protector, guardian of the farmyard”. It is one of the Italian dog breeds.
The Presa Canario: the Canary Islands. Its standard says it comes from Tenerife and Gran Canaria, and is believed to descend from matings between the “majorero”, a prehispanic dog native to the islands, and molossers brought there later. The dogs grew in number in the 16th and 17th centuries, when local records describe them as guard dogs and protectors of cattle.
Other big molossers that look alike
Neapolitan MastiffItaly
Dogue de BordeauxFrance
BullmastiffUnited Kingdom
English MastiffUnited Kingdom
Another pair people mix up: German Shepherd vs Belgian Malinois.
Facts from the Cane Corso standard (No. 343, 25 September 2023) and the Presa Canario standard (No. 346, 23 September 2023).