Some of our Cao de Castro Laboreiro dogs:
The Cao de Castro Laboreiro has its origins in the region that gave it its name: the parish of Castro Laboreiro, in the Municipality of Melgaço. It is a rugged and beautiful, mountainous region, stretching from the Minho River to the Serras da Peneda and Soajo, between the Trancoso, Laboreiro and Mouro rivers, up to around 1,400 m in altitude.
The origins of the breed are shrouded in history. Theories range far and wide, but almost all agree that it is most certainly a truly ancient dog. It is believed to have been in existence for thousands of years and is likely a Lupomolossoid, a classification of dog that later developed into breeds like the Great Pyrenees and stood as an extremely early descendent of the very first herding and guarding dogs in history. Regardless of its deep and mysterious past, it has been used as a guarding dog in Portugal for hundreds of years.
The Cao de Castro Laboreiro is a mountain dog. Kept originally to work within a cattle herd and to protect livestock from attacks from wolves and other predators, today the Cao de Castro Laboreiro makes a fantastic companion. Loyal to its owners; placid in temperament and tolerant of other animals and people (including small children).
The Cao de Castro Laboreiro is a large dog with a height at the withers that can vary between 58 and 64 cm in males and females between 55 and 61 cm; Weight in males varies between 30 and 40 kg and in females between 25 and 35 kg. The ears are triangular, rounded at the tip, hanging and set slightly above average. When the dog is attentive, the ear turns forward, leaving the outer surface in an anterior position. The tail is wide and thick, going down to the crook, when the animal is calm and in movement it takes the shape of a cutlass, extending beyond the line of the back. The eyes of the Castro Laboreiro are oblique in the shape of an almond, medium in size and with a simple expression. Colour can vary from light brown to a vivid orange.
The predominant coat colour is wolf, which can appear in light, common and dark tones, the latter being the most common. It is a compound (polychromatic) coat, often streaked. Sometimes the three varieties (light, common and dark) can appear on the same individual in different regions. Another, rarer coloration is mountain colour. It is also a compound coat, lobed, brown, with more or less heavy changes, in black, with a mixture, in whole or in part, of brown, pine nut-coloured, or reddish, mahogany-coloured hair. The name reflects the colours of the vegetation of mountain pastures in autumn.
It is a generally healthy breed, being among those that give its owners the least worries. The average life expectancy is 12 years of age, and there are known cases of dogs that far exceeded this age, even reaching 18 years of age. However, as with any other breed, it is important to know the parents and family history and carry out regular veterinary monitoring.
The Cao de Castro Laboreiro is a mountain dog. Kept originally to work within a cattle herd and to protect livestock from attacks from wolves and other predators, today the Cao de Castro Laboreiro makes a fantastic companion. Loyal to its owners; placid in temperament and tolerant of other animals and people (including small children).
Originally with a distribution restricted to the extreme Northeast of the province of Minho the breed was, until recently, practically unknown outside its territory, with rare specimens existing in the Center and South of Portugal. The breed is almost unknown outside of Portugal with a small group of enthusiasts in Spain, Germany and the UK establishing breeding programmes.
According to the criteria of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Cão de Castro Laboreiro currently has the conservation status Endangered due to the number of registered females of reproductive age, despite being greater than 100, never exceeding the 1,000. In fact, an estimate of the number of potentially breeding females, calculated based on records up to 2003, of females aged between 2-8 years is 435.
Some of our Cao de Castro Laboreiro dogs: