Perro de Pastor Garafiano

The Perro de Pastor Garafiano is the herding dog of La Palma in the Canary Islands, named for the northern municipality of Garafía.

History

It has moved goats and sheep across La Palma's steep volcanic terrain for centuries, descended from dogs brought to the islands by settlers and shaped by ground that punishes a clumsy dog. It was near disappearance in the 1980s when Canarian breeders traced the remaining working dogs and rebuilt the population; regional recognition followed.

Temperament

The breed is known for being intelligent, docile with its own people and reserved with strangers, calm for a herding dog and closely attached to its handler.

Care and training

It needs substantial exercise and work, and it responds well to reward-based training. The medium coat sheds seasonally.

Health

Generally robust; nothing is widely documented as breed-specific. These are patterns for the breed rather than a forecast for one dog; the measured facts are in the panel.