Portuguese Sheepdog

History

A fairly new breed, the Portuguese Sheepdog is only an estimated 100 years old. It is unknown which exact bloodlines created the original Portuguese Sheepdog, though there are many different beliefs and most revolve around the local herding and sheepdogs. This breed isn't commonly found in the United States, however they are wonderful farm, herding and working dogs.

Appearance

The Portuguese Sheepdog is a medium to large sized breed with males and females measuring 16-22 inches in height and weighing 25-40 pounds in weight. This breed has a rectangular shaped head that is covered in long hair. Their muzzle appears to be long and rectangular in shape as well. Their two eyes are hidden under their hair, however they're almond in shape, and generally a light hazel to black in color. This breed has a medium sized tail that is held very close to their body. Their single layer coat is wavy and long in appearance; available in black, gray, shades of fawn to yellow, chestnut and wolf gray.

Temperament

This breed is like most working breeds who have an excellent work drive, they're active, loyal, high spirited and quick to learn. This breed has a natural instinct to herd and guard the flocks at the farm. Indenpendant as most flock guards are, this breed still enjoys feeling part of the family and wants reassurance that they are doing a good job. This breed requires a confident owner who is able to provide their new dog with enough daily and physical exercise and remain pack leader. This breed does great with children of all ages and other pets. Early socialization and obedience classes are recommended.

Grooming

Daily brushing and bathing when needed. Regular professional grooming is recommended.

Special Notes

Please fully educate yourself about this breed prior to adding one to your household to ensure you are able to provide life long physical and financial care to your new family member. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.