Ca de Bou (Mallorquin Bulldog, Perro de presa Mallorquin)

Ca de bou
(Mallorquin Bulldog, Dogo Mallorquin, Presa Mallorquin, Perro de Presa Mallorquin)

The Mallorquin Bulldog, or Ca de Bou, is an extremely courageous, independent dog with a combative personality. Like with many other rare dog breeds the origin of the present-day Ca de Bou is subject to controversy. Some say this breed is a recreation or a reconstruction of a Spanish breed now extinct. Others say the breed was developed using the last remaining Mallorquin Bulldog in Spain and breeding it to other breeds. Some say there were a few left and the modern stock was produced using these last remaining dogs.

Historically the Ca de Bou originates from the island of Mallorca. The name Ca De Bou, literally means "Bull - Dog" in the native Catalan language. Perro de Presa Mallorquin is the Spanish variation of the name.

Ca de bou, 1907
Photo: Salvador Gómez-Toldrà

Mallorquin Bulldog 1907

The Ca de Bou or Presa Mallorquin should not to be confused with the Perro de Toro, nor

A "fighting" dog breed accompanied King Jacob 1 on his conquests and arrived in the Balearics about the year 1230. Ancient documents dating from 1622 to 1800 indeed indicate that a dog resembling to the present-day Mallorquin Bulldog took part in bull-baiting fairs, organized on behalf of the butchers' guilds. This original Mallorquin bulldog was the result of crossing different dogs like Alano español, the Fila de San Miguel and other fighting dogs with the local dogs blended historically from the different breeds of dogs brought by the invaders and herding dogs like de Ca de Bestiar. read more

As the Roman Empire declined, westward-moving tribes of central Asia, Vandals and Alans swept across the Iberic Peninsula and the Balearics in 425 AD. It is thought that the term "alano" stems from the Alans tribe's name. They once ruled a vast territory stretching from the Caucasus to the Danube, but were gradually driven westwards by the invading Huns. They settled in the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe, playing a vital role in the subsequent European affairs; nonetheless, as points out Dr. Basirov, one finds it very odd that they are not given the full credit they truly deserve for being an important force in medieval Europe. Rostovtzeff, the great Russian expert in Iranians of the steppes, once complained that "In most of the work on the period of migrations, the part played by the Sarmatians and especially by the Alans in conquest of Europe is almost ignored; but we must never forget that the Alans long resided in Gaul, that they invaded Italy, and that they came with the Vandals to Spain and conquered North Africa". A famous breed of medieval hunting dogs was called Alan (med. Latin Alanus) which, according to a 19th century authority on the history and origin of canine breeds, G. R. Jesse, "derived originally from the Caucasus, whence it accompanied the fierce, fairhaired, and warlike Alani"; the town of Alano in Spain to this day bears two Alan dogs on its coat of arms. Apart from their steppe tactics of warfare, Alans are also credited with teaching western Europeans the still popular sport of hunting on horseback with hunting dogs.

Argos Juhasz
(Junior World Winner, JChPl, ChPl)
Mea Praetoria Kennel

It is important to note here that Perro de presa does NOT mean "fighting dog" or "combat dog" as is sometimes written but literally means "dog of prey" (compare: ave de presa = "bird of prey"), meaning a dog with a strong prey instinct and a dinstinct ability to "handle" a prey with his specific bite.

Article written by Catherine Marien-de Luca
Photos courtesy of Jarosław Gorzała, Animus Fortis Kennel, Malgorzata Imosa-Nogiec, Mea Praetoria Kennel, Renata Jasinska, Osanna Kennel

For the next five hundred years the Balearics were part of the Roman Empire. The armies of the Caesars also used Mastiffs as war-dogs, and they were also known to be used by the islanders for piracy. According to another theory however the Roman dogs that mixed with local dog populations where by no means huge and did not immediately affect size within local populations.

In the third century BC, the expansion of the Carthagian empire across the Mediterranean and up into the Iberian Peninsula triggered two Punic Wars with Rome. On Mallorca and Menorca, the islanders took advantage of the prolonged military chaos to profit from piracy, until finally in 123 BC, the Romans restored maritime order by occupying both islands.

From around 800 BC the Phoenecians were displaced by the Greeks who also used the island as a staging post.

Among these goods were surely the dogs of Egypt, among which the Mastiff. Through the Phoenicians those dogs were probably also brought to the balearics were they interbred with local dogs evolved from neolithic dogs.

Egyptians. Thanks to mariners and ports-of-trade, Egyptian goods and ideas spread far and wide, at least as far-west as the British Isles and eastward to the far border of India.

The Spanish word for "fighting dog" is perro de pelea, NOT perro de presa.

Extra-national mercantile activity was usually handled by middle-men, either logistically by Phoenicians and other mariners, or through ports-of-trade cities specifically set up by the

In the first millenium BC the balearics became a staging post for the Phoenicians, maritime traders from the eastern Mediterranean whose long voyages reached as far as Cornwall in southwest England. What most people fail to realise about the ancient world is the tremendous amount of trade carried on between Egypt and the other cultures around the Mediterranean.