Dog breed · Portugal
The Rafeiro do Alentejo or Rafeiro Alentejano is a Portuguese breed of flock guardian dog. It is named for its area of origin, the Alentejo region of southern Portugal. It is recognised by the Clube Português de Canicultura, and was definitively accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1954.
Characteristics: The Rafeiro is a large dog, slightly longer than it is tall, with a broad chest. The head is massive; the eyes are small and dark, the ears small, triangular and hanging. The coat is dense and straight, of short or medium length. It may be black, fawn, wolf grey or yellow, either brindled or not, but always with white markings; or may be white marked with these colours. It is not as thick as the coat of other pastoral dogs such as the Polish Tatra.
Characteristics: The Rafeiro is a large dog, slightly longer than it is tall, with a broad chest. The head is massive; the eyes are small and dark, the ears small, triangular and hanging. The coat is dense and straight, of short or medium length. It may be black, fawn, wolf grey or yellow, either brindled or not, but always with white markings; or may be white marked with these colours. It is not as thick as the coat of other pastoral dogs such as the Polish Tatra.
History: The Rafeiro is a traditional flock guardian dog of the Alentejo region of southern Portugal. Dogs of this type were used to protect flocks during the biannual transhumance to high summer pastures in the mountains, and then back to the lowlands for the winter. In the late nineteenth century they began to be known as Rafeiro do Alentejo. The earliest breed standard dates from 1953; the breed was definitively accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in the following year.
Among the marked economic and social changes in Portugal in the 1970s was the large-scale movement of people from rural areas to towns and cities, one consequence of which was an abrupt and significant decrease in pastoral farming. Flock guardian dogs were no longer needed, and numbers of the Rafeiro fell sharply, to the point that by the early 1980s it was close to extinction, with only a few dogs remaining in the hands of a small group of breeders.
A breed club, the Associação dos Criadores do Rafeiro do Alentejo, was established in 1994 in Monforte, in the District of Portalegre; it was a successor to an earlier club, the Clube Português do Rafeiro do Alentejo.. The society and the câmara municipal of Monforte jointly established a breeding centre for the dogs, the Centro de Reprodução do Rafeiro do Alentejo, in the town.
