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History
The
dog was the first animal to be domesticated.
The man gave to the dog shelter and food,
and the dog protected the man - a productive
relation for both.
From this
point, the man started a selection of dogs
for the diverse functions, ones for the
hunting, others for protection, others for
the guard of flocks, that is the case of the
Estrela Mountain Dog.
The
Estrela Mountain Dog such as the other
mastiffs of the Iberian Peninsula is
descending of the mastiffs of Central Asia.
Note the similarity between all the
mountain dogs, especially in the case of the
Estrela Mountain Dog, the Caucasian
Sheepdog and the Sparlinac.
The
Estrela Mountain is highest point of
Portugal with 1981metros, and was, and
still is an excellent habitat for the
Iberian wolf ( in that age was very
frequent, nowadays unhappily much less),
brown bears (nowadays extinct) and foxes.
The Estrela mountain shepherds , poor
people, who every day had to go with the
flocks to higher pastures, frequently were
attacked by packs of wolves. These shepherds
needed a great dog of protection that
protected the flock and the shepherd against
such predators. This dog would have to have
an imponent body who allowed it to fight and
to win but being agile, allowing him to run
freely , a great intelligence, a great
physical endurance that allowed it to face
the hard time of that Estrela Mountain and
big health (there were no available
medicines in that time). This dog was
subject to two types of selection, the
human : the shepherds crossed the
dogs that it seemed better, and
natural : only the strongest dogs
could survive.
Two types
of coat had been developed: the long and the
short one. The long one was more common in
the region of Manteigas, north side, while
of for the short one it was more common of
the north side in Seia and Gouveia.
The
shepherds used to place in the dogs collars
with form peaks to protect the neck of the
attacks, and , also the ears were crooped to
prevent future wounds, and for better
income, they worked in groups of 2 up to 6
units. This dog could and was left in the
morning by the shepherd in the pastures
taking care of the flock alone. During this
times, the dog was always watching and
patrolling the surrounding territory, and
lying down in a high place where we could
observe the flock
If the
flock came home at the end of the day, the
dog would always follow the flock
protecting it from any danger. In house he
could sleep with the flock or close to it
watching it, and at the same time watching
the house of his owner ( the shepherd) , and
if necessary acting like a pure family dog .
For times it also served to pull small cars
with merchandises (milk, cheese...)
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