Portugal - Dog breeds list

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country located in Southwestern Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. The country is named after the second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus Cale.

There are two officially recognized dog breeds that originate in Portugal. The first breed is the Portuguese water dog. It is thought to be a descendent of the Barbet breed and was used by fisherman along the coast of Portugal, as working dogs and as guard dogs. Today they are beloved companions, such a dog being owned by the President of the USA, Barack Obama. If the first breed was a dog of the sea, this one is a mountain dog, Cao da Serra de Aires, or the Serra de Aires Shepherd. In the beginning this dog had the characteristics of the Pyrenean Shepherd, but the owner of the Serra de Aires Mountain, count de Castro Guimaraes, crossbred this local dog with the Briard breed, therefore obtaining one of today’s Portuguese dogs, the Cao da Serra de Aires.