They say that man’s best friend is his dog and this is a pretty universal law that is observed practically everywhere in the world unless of course you are in certain Far Eastern territories where they basically eat man’s best friend.

There also seems to be an increasing number of varieties of dog breeds that can be found. Unsurprisingly, many of these indigenous breeds reflect the conditions and environments from which they came.

Here in Galicia they have four quite rare breeds. It is the Galician Barn Dog (Palleiros) also known as Celtic Shepherd – The Celtic Shepherd, the Galician Pointer (the Perdiqueiro Galego), the Galician Hound (Podengo Galego) and the Galician Quisquelo also known as the Guicho.

The interests of man’s best friend in Galicia are cared for by the Galician Canine Society or the Galician Kennel Club and they take the whole matter of caring for their rare breeds very seriously.

However: let’s take a brief look at the really individual breeds.

First, let’s take a look at the Galician Barn Dog. Palleiros are strong built dogs and many have compared them to wolves, but they are definitely not. They basically come in four colors: wheat, tan, brown, and black. Basically, Celtic Shepherd’s would have been bred by the Galicians as an all-purpose farm dog. They were used to herd, watch livestock, and hunt. In terms of temperament, they are intelligent dogs, calm but reserved for strangers. They can be kind and loyal and can get along with children and sometimes other animals.

The Galician Pointer shares a common lineage with the Portuguese, Spanish and English pointers. In fact, the modern breed of Galician pointer as we know it was bred and developed in the late 1970s by crossing with German and English pointers. They have a short, rough coat that can be white, brindle, orange, or black or, frankly, any combination of the above. In terms of temperament, they are friendly, playful and intelligent, quick to learn. This is as they say, it is an active breed that requires a lot of exercise.

The Galician hound was saved from extinction in 1999 after a government plan to promote the indigenous breeds of dogs from Galicia. The usual coat color ranges from reddish to sandy with white markings on the chest, forehead, tail, and legs.

Finally we arrive at the Galician Quisquelo. This is probably the oldest of all the coffee elimination greetings and in fact believed to share a common lineage with Welsh coffee in the Swedish Vallhund. These talks were originally bred for hunting smaller animals like rabbits, foxes, and some wild boars. They are active and extremely athletic dogs despite their short legs. The usual coat color ranges from brown to tan.

There you have a rough guide to some of Galicia’s rare dog breeds, so the next time you’re there and you see a dog on the street, you may have more of a passing notion of what it really is.