They say that man’s best friend is his dog, and this is a pretty universal law that’s obeyed pretty much worldwide, unless you happen to be in certain areas of the Far East where they’re basically the best friend of man eat.
There also seems to be an almost ever increasing number of dog breeds to be found. As you might expect, many of these native breeds reflect the conditions and environments from which they originated.
Here in Galicia they have four fairly rare breeds. These are the Galician Barn Dog (Palleiros), also known as Pastor Celta – the Celtic Sheepdog, the Galician Pointing Dog (Perdiqueiro Galego), the Galician Hunting Dog (Podengo Galego) and the Galician Quisquelo, also known as Guicho.
The interests of man’s best friend in Galicia are served by the Sociedade Canina Galega, or Galician Kennel Club, who take the whole business of caring for their rare breeds very seriously.
However, let’s take a quick look at the actual individual races themselves.
First, let’s look at the Galician Barn Dog. Palleiros are heavily built dogs and have been compared by many to wolves, which they definitely are not. They are basically available in four colours: wheat, cinnamon, chestnut and black. Basically, the Celtic Shepherd Dog would have been bred by the Galicians to be an all-purpose farm dog. They were used for herding, watching livestock, and hunting. As for temperament, they are intelligent dogs, calm but reserved with strangers. They can be gentle and loyal, getting along well with children and sometimes other animals.
The Galician Pointer shares a common lineage with Portuguese, Spanish, and English pointers. In fact, the modern Galician Pointer breed as we know it was bred and developed in the late 1970’s by crossing German and English Pointers. They have a short, harsh coat that can be white, brindle, orange, or black, or frankly any combination of the above. Temperamentally they are friendly, playful and intelligent, quick learners. This is, as they say, an active breed that requires a lot of exercise.
The Galician Hound was saved from extinction in 1999 following a government plan to promote Galicia’s native dog breeds. The usual coat color ranges from reddish to sandy with white patches on the chest, forehead, tail and paws.
Finally we reach the Galician Quisquelo. This is probably the oldest of all coffee snuff greetings and actually believes it shares a common ancestry with Welsh coffee in Vallhund, Sweden. These talcs were originally bred for hunting smaller animals such as rabbits, foxes, and some wild boar. Despite their short paws, they are active and extremely athletic dogs. The usual coat color ranges from brown to cinnamon.
So that is a rough guide to some of the rare dog breeds from Galicia. So the next time you’re over there and see a dog on the street, you might have more than a fleeting idea of what it actually is.
