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Cao de Castro Laboreiro

The breeds · working

UKC Guardian · FCI standard 170

Cao de Castro Laboreiro.

Livestock guardian against wolf, also property guard. FCI 170 utilization: guard dog, watch dog and livestock guarding dog. Temperament: loyal and docile with family; essential in flock protection against wolf attacks, which in the breed's area of origin are still very frequent; ideal sentinel of property, patrolling it frequently. UKC: a loyal and obedient herd guardian, still used to defend against wolves that frequent his homeland; common only in a limited range in northern Portugal; first UKC recognition 2006. FCI home: Castro Laboreiro, Melgaço municipality, extreme north of Portugal, a rustic mountain area up to 1400 m. Wikipedia: descended from very old livestock guardians that worked with herders in the mountains against wolves and other large predators; with wolves largely gone from the range the original use was lost, and today the breed is mostly kept as a companion and guard dog. Grupo Lobo: rare breed, less used in the home region because flocks have shrunk, though it still protects cattle herds; active, always alert, and agile because of its smaller size.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
55–88LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 66.1 to 88.2 lb; breed bitches 55.1 to 77.2 lb.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 21.5 to 25.2 in · bitches 20.5 to 24 in

Breed clubFCI Standard N° 170, 2011

Low and high span FCI and UKC; center blank.

Weight

dogs 66.1 to 88.2 lb · bitches 55.1 to 77.2 lb

Breed clubFCI Standard N° 170, 2011

Weight: FCI 170 prints the range; Wikipedia prints only the breed ceiling of 40 kg, above the female FCI top, so the span stays on FCI; no ideal printed.

Coat

FCI 170: short hair (about 5 cm), no undercoat, slightly dull, smooth, flat and very thick; shorter and denser on head, ears and limbs below elbow and hock; long and thick on the buttocks. Colour: wolf colour most common; the preferred 'mountain colour' is a brindle with a base of different shades of grey. UKC: wolf colours in all shades, preferably mixed greys with brown or reddish hairs; white markings a fault

Breed clubFCI Standard N° 170, 2011

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · FCI 170: short hair on the body (about 5 cm), no undercoat, flat and very thick, thick and somewhat harsh. UKC: short, thick, coarse, weather resistant, no undercoat

DerivedFCI Standard N° 170, 2011

Derived from the coat description in the standard (confidence derived). 4 = short dense coat, no undercoat.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Livestock guardian against wolf, also property guard. FCI 170 utilization: guard dog, watch dog and livestock guarding dog. Temperament: loyal and docile with family; essential in flock protection against wolf attacks, which in the breed's area of origin are still very frequent; ideal sentinel of property, patrolling it frequently. UKC: a loyal and obedient herd guardian, still used to defend against wolves that frequent his homeland; common only in a limited range in northern Portugal; first UKC recognition 2006. FCI home: Castro Laboreiro, Melgaço municipality, extreme north of Portugal, a rustic mountain area up to 1400 m. Wikipedia: descended from very old livestock guardians that worked with herders in the mountains against wolves and other large predators; with wolves largely gone from the range the original use was lost, and today the breed is mostly kept as a companion and guard dog. Grupo Lobo: rare breed, less used in the home region because flocks have shrunk, though it still protects cattle herds; active, always alert, and agile because of its smaller size

Breed clubFCI Standard N° 170, 2011

FCI and UKC state current wolf work as fact; Wikipedia says the original use has largely been lost; Grupo Lobo says it still guards cattle herds. Both stand. No numbers given.

Search pattern

Constant vigilance; patrols the property frequently; very agile and active, can show hostility without being quarrelsome; a characteristic alarm bark that starts with a deep sound, rises to low-pitched and ends in prolonged high-pitched sounds (FCI 170). UKC: sometimes hostile, not aggressive, severe expression

Breed clubFCI Standard N° 170, 2011

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 1 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Castro Laboreiro Dog, Portuguese Cattle Dog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro

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