The Saint Miguel Cattle Dog ( pt, cão fila de São Miguel , literally '

catch dog A catch dog is a specially trained dog that is used to catch large animals in hunting, working livestock, and baiting. As hunters, catch dogs are contrasted with bay dogs who corner prey animals and alert their handler by howling, or baying. ...

of São Miguel') is a

dog breed A dog breed is a particular strain of dog that was purposefully bred by humans to perform specific tasks, such as herding, hunting, and guarding. Dogs are the most variable mammal on Earth, with artificial selection producing around 450 globall ...

mastiff A mastiff is a large and powerful type of dog. Mastiffs are among the largest dogs, and typically have a short coat, a long low-set tail and large feet; the skull is large and bulky, the muzzle broad and short ( brachycephalic) and the ears dr ...

type originating on

São Miguel Island São Miguel Island (; Portuguese for "Saint Michael"), nicknamed "The Green Island" (''Ilha Verde''), is the largest and most populous island in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers and has around 140,000 inhabitants, wi ...

in the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, an island chain which is one of the

autonomous regions of Portugal The two Autonomous Regions of Portugal from 1999 ( pt, Regiões Autónomas de Portugal) are the Azores (''Região Autónoma dos Açores'') and Madeira (''Região Autónoma da Madeira''). Together with Continental Portugal (''Portugal Continenta ...

. The breed was originally used as a

herding dog A herding dog, also known as a stock dog, shepherd dog, sheep dog or working dog, is a type of dog that either has been trained in herding or belongs to breeds that are developed for herding. Herding behavior All herding behavior is mo ...

for working with

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

Appearance

The breed is large but not over-sized; up to a maximum of 60 cm (23.6 ins) at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle a ...

and 35 kg (77 lbs) in weight, with females slightly smaller. The general appearance is of a normally proportioned, deep chested, muscular dog with a broad head and medium length neck, straight back, and long legs. The tail is held up and is slightly curved. The breed has drop ears, unless they are

cropped Cropping is the removal of unwanted outer areas from a photographic or illustrated image. The process usually consists of the removal of some of the peripheral areas of an image to remove extraneous trash from the picture, to improve its framin ...

. The coat is a

brindle Brindle is a coat coloring pattern in animals, particularly dogs, cattle, guinea pigs, cats, and, rarely, horses. It is sometimes described as "tiger-striped", although the brindle pattern is more subtle than that of a tiger's coat. Brindle ty ...

of brown (pale brown is described as fawn) or grey, with black; it is short, smooth and harsh to the touch, with a short fringe on the tail (if undocked) and on the backs of the rear legs.

History

The breed originated from

in the

, and has links to the extinct Terceira Mastiff from neighbouring

Terceira Island Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the larger islands of the archipelago, with a population of 53,311 inhabitants in an area of approximately . It is the location ...

. Its existence has been documented since the early 19th century. A breed standard was developed and first published in 1984. This standard was recognised internationally in 1995 when the standard was published by the FCI, with the English name Saint Miguel Cattle Dog. Although described (and formerly used) as a cattle dog, the breed is actually a mastiff, and is thus recognised by the FCI in its "Group 2, Section 2, Molossoid breeds" as breed number 340. Traditionally, the tail is docked, and the ears cropped and rounded off on top, although these practices are now illegal in many areas. Today, dogs from São Miguel are exported to North America and other areas of the world where they are bred and promoted for the

rare breed In modern agriculture, a rare breed is a breed of poultry or livestock that has a very small breeding population, usually from a few hundred to a few thousand. Because of their small numbers, rare breeds may have a threatened conservation statu ...

market. Minor kennel clubs, and registries maintained by individual breeders, write their own versions of the breed standard, which may vary from the breed standard developed on the island of São Miguel and recognised internationally by the FCI. Dogs of the breed may be sold under the original breed name, , or any of the many translations and versions of the name in various languages. The breed is known as the Azores Cattle Dog in the U.S. and England.

Temperament

Although the breed is a medium-sized

working dog A working dog is a dog used to perform practical tasks, as opposed to pet or companion dogs. Definitions vary on what a working dog is, they are sometimes described as any dog trained for and employed in meaningful work; other times as any dog ...

in origin, the actual suitability of an individual dog for a particular kind of work may depend on the quality of early training. This breed is said to be intelligent and to bond strongly with its keepers and to generally be gentle, even docile, when trained well. However, temperaments of individual dogs may vary greatly.

Activities

Saint Miguel Cattle Dogs can compete in

dog agility Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles. The handler ...

trials, obedience,

flyball Flyball is a dog sport in which teams of dogs race against each other from the start to the finish line, over a line of hurdles, to a box that releases a tennis ball to be caught when the dog presses the spring-loaded pad, then back to their ha ...

tracking Tracking may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Tracking, in computer graphics, in match moving (insertion of graphics into footage) * Tracking, composing music with music tracker software * Eye tracking, measuring the position of t ...

, and

herding Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in ...

events.

Herding Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in ...

instincts and trainability can be measured at non-competitive herding tests. Individuals exhibiting basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in herding trials.

Health

Specimens from Portugal have no documented health problems, but dogs bred elsewhere are often bred to be very oversized for the breed (over 60 cm/23.6 in and 35 kg/77 lb) and may suffer ailments particular to deep-chested, very large dogs, such as bloat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Miguel Cattle Dog FCI breeds Herding dogs Catch dogs Dog breeds originating in Portugal