Rafeiro do Alentejo History

Rafeiro do Alentejo are often claimed to be descended from huge dogs on the vast Tibetan highlands, thousands of years ago. The Rafeiro looks and function is between the Anatolian Shepherd Dog and the Spanish Mastiff. In Portugal, with the geographic and climatic differences between North and South, the need arose of moving the cattle annually in search of better pastures. Consequently, for centuries, huge herds, accompanied by powerful mastiffs, were driven between the northern region of Douro and the Alentejo hinterland. As the population settled down, the dogs eventually remained in the southern prairies, where they adapted and began to be used to guard, not only the herds, but especially, in time, the big rural estates.

The official standard of the Rafeiro of Alentejo was first established in 1953 in Portugal.