About The Breed
Portuguese Sheepdog
Lost in the haze of old memories, shared in the charms of prowess countless times told, the story of the Portuguese sheepdog is like its region of origin, a statement of character and exclusivity. It goes back to times so immemorial that memory too, becomes memory..
Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Suebi, Goths, Arabs, many were the people who, in search of their wealth, demanded the Iberian Peninsula. Staying here, they brought, from far away, animals, goods and possessions, practices and cultures, techniques and knowledge. They shared everything, evolved with everyone.
And so it certainly happened with the Portuguese sheepdog. In the genetic homogeneity it shares with its counterparts in the Mediterranean basin, it is distinguished by its unique intelligence, unparalleled in the Iberian context.
With extreme dedication to the owner, without any need, he coordinates his action, since from the acquired learning he takes away the autonomy that makes him one of the most gifted dogs for the function of driving herds.
Under the inclemency of an intense sun, in a captivating suspended trot, he travels long distances, covering wounded soil, torn by sharp stones that pierce him, and which, thin in thickness, only slightly compensates those who, in need, play with him.
Woody and sparse vegetation, parched by the lack of water, he stretches out his bare arms which, in the contact of the quick turn, in vain attempt tries to hurt the skin, but, thick and long mantle, of dry and chubby hair, prevents such an attempt. As it is unnecessary, it exempts itself from undercoat, adapting itself to an Alentejo that, subjugated to the Mediterranean climate, imperative, argues, with certain reason, that it was its creation.
Isolated by the immensity of a caustic, dotted plain, from where to where, by undulating flock, with impulses moved, sometimes by taking more tufted grass, sometimes by order imposed by the willful dog, which, in close and attentive vigilance, prevents any reverie unconscious trampling, thus keeping the mass together in the same displacement.
In the calm of the shade of the rest, side by side, dog and shepherd share the meager meal, transported in the pot that preserved it in a condition to be slowly taken, as if in this way, spacing time, the lack of food became abundant.
With robustness acquired in adversity, selection enhanced by the sharpness of the experienced eye that seeks perfection in the exclusivity of the function, in the isolation that the vastness of an immense plain imposed, successive generations of humble existences resisted and affirmed the self-consciousness of an exceptional breed, which decked out in the sparse moments of splendor already achieved, seeks to consolidate an achievable but still elusive statement.
It is ours!
Text by: João Ribeiro.
