KENAI
Ca de Bestiar (Majorca Shepherd Dog)

The breeds · herding

UKC Herding · FCI standard 321

Ca de Bestiar (Majorca Shepherd Dog).

FCI 321 utilization: herding, guard and defence dog (sheepdog, guard and defence). UKC: a medium-sized short-coated black flock guardian; intelligent, thoughtful and protective. FCI temperament: a one-master dog that accepts strangers' advances with difficulty; intelligent, docile, affectionate; very shy and reserved when young; courageous and quarrelsome Govern de les Illes Balears: a shepherd, guard and defence dog (ca de pastor, guarda i defensa), of great nobility and faithful to its master; its activity on Mallorca is tied to guarding animals and, above all, sheep. Wikipedia: a traditional working pastoral dog used principally in the management of sheep, also cattle and goats..

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.

28INHeightdogs 28, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
77–90LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 90.4 lb (77 to 90.4); breed bitches 77 to 88.2 lb.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

dogs 28 in (22 to 28.7) · bitches 22 to 26.8 in

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

UKC 22 to 24 in is below FCI 24.4 to 26.8 in; both stand. No female ideal printed. Disqualifying sizes (FCI) are over 70 cm or under 60 cm for females.

Weight

dogs 90.4 lb (77 to 90.4) · bitches 77 to 88.2 lb

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

FCI's 40 kg average is one breed-wide figure counted in both sex rows.

Coat

FCI 321: two coat varieties, short (the more common) and long; black in shades of jet, ordinary and pitch black, white only on the chest, a fine cravat under the neck and the feet. UKC: coat short, colour black, natural ears and tail Govern de les Illes Balears: hair short and close to the skin, 1.5 to 3 cm at the loin; the only colour admitted is black (jet, pitch and matt varieties); totally black or black with a white chest patch. Wikipedia: usually short-haired, smooth outer coat 1.5-3 cm with a thin fine undercoat; a longer coat of about 7 cm is rare or possibly extinct; other colours and brindle may occur in working dogs.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · Short, close-lying black coat, 1.5 to 3 cm over the loin, with a very fine thin undercoat; the long-coated variety (Ca cabrer) reaches 7 cm or more, longest in winter Govern de les Illes Balears and Wikipedia agree on the short 1.5 to 3 cm black coat (the variety this tier is derived from).

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale

Derived from the short-coat variety (short dense = 4); the long variety would sit lower. Colour is black only.

The work

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

Role

FCI 321 utilization: herding, guard and defence dog (sheepdog, guard and defence). UKC: a medium-sized short-coated black flock guardian; intelligent, thoughtful and protective. FCI temperament: a one-master dog that accepts strangers' advances with difficulty; intelligent, docile, affectionate; very shy and reserved when young; courageous and quarrelsome Govern de les Illes Balears: a shepherd, guard and defence dog (ca de pastor, guarda i defensa), of great nobility and faithful to its master; its activity on Mallorca is tied to guarding animals and, above all, sheep. Wikipedia: a traditional working pastoral dog used principally in the management of sheep, also cattle and goats.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

FCI says herding and guarding; UKC says flock guardian. Both stand.

Primary game

Stock worked, not game. Wikipedia: used principally in the management of sheep, but also with cattle and goats. Govern de les Illes Balears: its activity on Mallorca has been tied to guarding animals and, above all, sheep.

EditorialWikipedia (English)

Stock, not game.

Also used on

FCI 321: guarding and defence are part of the registered use Govern de les Illes Balears: guarding the houses of the rural estates against unwelcome visitors. Wikipedia: fierce guardians of estancias or rural dwellings; male dogs highly territorial and often combative among themselves.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Field trial standard

FCI 321 classification: Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs, Section 1 Sheepdogs, 'Sans epreuve de travail' (without working trial). UKC: Herding Group, recognized 2006

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

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. 2 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Ca de Bestiar, Perro de Pastor Mallorquin, Chien de Berger de Majorque

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

Your ca de bestiar (majorca shepherd dog), on the record.

Log the days, the miles and the birds, and the KENAI app keeps the dog’s story beside the breed’s. Free to start.

Get the app