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Bardino |
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He is not recognized by the F.C.I. |
Origin |
Canary Islands | |
Translation |
Francis Vandersteen | |
This breed is also known as |
Bardino auténtico
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Usage |
| Nowadays, the Bouvier Majorero is much appreciated as a guard dog for villas, industrial estates and farms. |
Brief historical summary |
| The Bardino dog has been used for centuries to work livestock, guard farms and houses, and as a companion dog. It is a trotter, medium-sized, good-planted, hardy and primitive-looking dog. Bouvier dogs, prey dogs, Retrievers, Podencos and other breeds were introduced to the Canary Islands when they were conquered and colonized by Spain. The first sheepdogs, known today as Bardino, were brought to Fuerteventura by the Spanish conquerors, along with cattle, sheep and horses in 1404. For almost six hundred years, Majorero sheepdogs have been the essential auxiliaries of farmers and peasants, indispensable to the daily work of rounding up and caring for livestock. Their strong temperament certainly makes them dangerous to strangers who approach their domain. In the past, because of their bellicose nature, they were highly prized as fighting dogs, and were often crossed with prey dogs. |
Head |
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Cranial region |
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Skull |
Broad, truncated cone-shaped skull. | |
Stop |
The degree of nasofrontal depression is not very pronounced. | |
Facial region |
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Nose |
Broad, black, inclined inward. | |
Muzzle |
Slightly smaller than the skull. | |
Lips |
Tight, fine and tight, pigmented on the outside. | |
Jaws and teeth |
Mandible with triangular base, powerful; complete dentition, broad-based, well-aligned teeth, scissor bite, no prognathism. | |
Cheeks |
Without protrusions, smooth and close to the bone. | |
Eyes |
Medium-sized, rather small, oval. Hazel or pigmented on the eyelids, generally black and also slate gray. Set on the front, at the craniofacial angle. | |
Ears |
Set back and high above eye level. Their line is irregularly triangular from base to tip, with the characteristic feature of being foldable, revealing the ears. They have a marked double fold, the first at the base of the skull and the second at the tip, so that they can never be held firmly in an upright position. | |
Neck |
| The upper profile is straight, almost forming an oblique line with the chest. The length is around 22 centimeters in females and 25 centimeters in males. Broad at the junction with the trunk, narrower at the head. Conical or triangular, with strong muscles and tight skin, no dewlap. |
Body |
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Body |
Strong, with dorsal line rising slightly toward the croup. | |
Topline |
Straight topline. | |
Withers |
Slightly lower than the croup and set slightly into the neck. | |
Loin |
Strongly muscled. | |
Chest |
Approximately 13 centimeters wide in females and 14 centimeters in males. | |
Ribs |
Deep, rounded ribs, reaching or slightly exceeding elbow level. | |
Underline and belly |
The lower line is slightly rounded and folded. | |
Tail |
| Set high. Thick and rounded with a slight taper at the tip. Strong, short, even coat. In its full carriage at rest, it reaches the slight curve forming the hock and, when docked, the tip normally does not extend beyond the hock. When in motion, the tail moves sideways and curls slightly. The minimum size of the tail docking should not exceed one third of the total tail size between the root of the tail and the hock. |
Limbs |
Forequarters |
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Generality |
Slightly shorter than the body, so that the body appears rectangular. | |
Forefeet |
Cat feet, turned up and straight. Toes close together and turned up. | |
Hindquarters |
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Generality |
Straight, level, with open angles. | |
Femoral joint |
Hock angle approx. 140°. | |
Hind feet |
The main feature is the presence of the dewclaw, known in the Canary Islands as the "Uña de aire": atrophied toe of the foot which, sometimes because of its size or location, is dragged along and used as a fifth toe. It is shaped like a single, double, open or closed ring. | |
Skin |
| The skin is thick, unwrinkled and pigmented. |
Coat |
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Hair |
Hair neither long nor too short, strong, soft and easy to gloss to the touch. Strips of slightly longer, fur-like hair are present on the underside of the tail and on the back of the thighs. Evenly distributed over the rest of the body, with no beard, mane or longer neck. | |
Colour |
The coat is always brindle, with shades varying between greenish, yellowish, beige, gray and black. Brindle stripes can be more or less obvious, depending on the base color. They generally have a dark mask and may have white patches or areas on the neck, chest, head or tip of tail. | |
Size and weight |
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Height at withers |
Males 56 centimeters, females 54 centimeters. | |
Weight |
Males 30 to 40 kilos, females 25 to 45 kilos. | |
Faults |
| • Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and its ability to perform its traditional work. • Faults listed should be in degree of seriousness. |
NB : |
| • Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified. • The above mentioned faults when occurring to a highly marked degree or frequently are disqualifying. • Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. • Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical conformation should be used for breeding. |
English (United Kingdom)