Comparison: Rafeiro of Alentejo and Spanish Mastiff

Rafeiro of Alentejo and Spanish Mastiff are marked as similar in our database. The table compares only the data we have on the breeds.

	Rafeiro of Alentejo	Spanish Mastiff
FCI group	2. Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossoid breeds, Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs	2. Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossoid breeds, Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs
Country of origin	Portugal	Spain
Category	Large	–
Height at withers	64–74 cm	–
Weight	35–60 kg	–
Recognition features	Large, powerful, rustic and calm dog, slightly longer than high Thick short to medium-length coat in black, wolf-grey, fawn or yellow, with or without brindle Always with white markings, or white with patches	Giant, powerful, muscular dog with a massive head and heavy bone Semi-long, dense coat in many colours, solid colours most appreciated Deep, sonorous bark audible from far away
Coat	Short or medium-length (preferred), thick, straight, dense coat evenly spread down to between the toes; black, wolf grey, fawn or yellow, with or without brindle, always with white markings, or white with patches.	Dense, medium-length, smooth coat over the whole body; colour is not decisive, with self-coloured yellow, fawn, red, black, wolf and deer most appreciated.
Purpose	A Portuguese guard dog for property and livestock, believed to descend from Middle Eastern molossers.	A giant Spanish flock guardian that accompanied merino flocks on their migrations and defended them from wolves.

Breed page: Rafeiro of Alentejo · Breed page: Spanish Mastiff

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The information is indicative. Texts are based on available sources and may contain inaccuracies; for binding details (e.g. for breeding or shows) use the official breed standard.