not excessively. Seen from the front, the upper and lower lips come together to form an inverted V. The flews are slightly divergent. The inside of the lips is a dark colour. The breed is also characterized by a sloping topline (with the rear being slightly higher than the shoulders). Another characteristic of the breed is the shape of the paws (cat foot) and the catlike movement of the animal. The body is mesomorphic, that is, slightly longer than the dog is tall, contributing to the feline movement. Use The Presa Canario was traditionally used as a guard dog, as a herding dog for both sheep and cattle, and for dog-fighting, which was legal in Spain until 1936 and may have continued clandestinely thereafter. Until the 1950s it remained a common practice in all of the islands. Footnotes Catch dogs Dog breeds originating in the Canary Islands Dog fighting breeds FCI breeds Mastiffs Rare dog breeds