- Black, wolf grey, fawn or yellow, with or without brindling, always with white markings
- or white with patches of these colours
About the Rafeiro of Alentejo
Origin: PortugalRafeiro of Alentejo
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI group
- Pinscher and Schnauzer - Molossoid and Swiss Mountain and Cattledogs
- Origin
- Portugal
- Also called
- Rafeiro del Alentejo
- Known hereditary risks
- Not researched yet
About
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Guard dog for property and livestock
- Behaviour and temperament
“An excellent farm and estate watch dog, it is also a very useful livestock protector, more vigilant at night, being very serious when guarding territory or any other property entrusted to it. It has a calm and confident expression, neither aggressive nor shy”
Quoted from FCI standard n°96. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Characteristics
- Size
- —
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “Guard dog for property and livestock” That is a working purpose, not a measured exercise requirement — an individual dog’s needs depend on its age, health and household.
- 2 of 5
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- —
- Grooming needs
- 3 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- Not researched yet
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Rafeiro of Alentejo
What you get with the Rafeiro of Alentejo
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Guard dog for property and livestock”
- The standard describes the breed as: “An excellent farm and estate watch dog, it is also a very useful livestock protector, more vigilant at night, being…”
What you are taking on
Nobody has written this side yet. It is a judgement rather than data, so it waits for a person — not for a missing source.
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · Rafeiro of Alentejo
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording.
Coat
Short or of medium length, this being preferred
thick, straight and dense, evenly spread down to between toes
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FCI standard n°96 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What the standard penalises
What a judge marks the Rafeiro of Alentejo down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Severe faults
Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.
- General Appearance: Light build or lymphatic.
- Head: Not proportioned to the size, lack of volume, pronounced stop, flat and narrow skull, parallel longitudinal superior cranium-facial axes.
- Eyes: Light coloured, not elliptical, slanted, lids not very adherent to the eyeball.
- Ears: Big, rounded, not folded, not hanging, partially cropped.
- Neck: Absence of dewlap; too folded or double dewlap.
- Chest: Narrow and flat ribs.
- Tail: Curled when at rest, hook at the tip; short. Docked.
- Mucous membranes: Partial external lack of pigmentation of the mouth, eyelids, lips and nose.
- Height: Males: less than 66 cm or more than 75 cm. Females: less than 64 cm or more than 71 cm
Disqualifying faults
Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.
- Any dog clearly abnormalities.
- Type: Atypical.
- General appearance: Extremely light in build or very showing physical or behavioural lymphatic.
- Head: Very narrow and long.
- Muzzle: Too long; convex profile.
- Jaws: Undershot or overshot.
- Eyes: Too light, of different sizes and colour.
- Ears: Very bad set, excessively big and round.
- Tail: Anurous.
- Mucous membranes: Total lack of pigmentation (albinism) of the mouth, lips and nose.
- Coat: Too short
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Rafeiro of Alentejo in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
What to ask for in a Rafeiro of Alentejo
No breed-specific health panel has been written up for the Rafeiro of Alentejo on this platform yet. That is a gap in our records, not a clean bill of health — ask the breeder which hereditary conditions their lines are tested for, and ask to see the results for both parents, dated and from a named laboratory.
Gallery
No photographs yet
This is where Rafeiro of Alentejo owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.
A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.
Puppies
No puppies listed right now
No Rafeiro of Alentejo breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.