Perdigueiro Galego

The Perdigueiro Galego is a rare Spanish breed of pointer from the autonomous community of Galicia in north-western Spain. It is one of four traditional breeds of the region, the others being the Can de Palleiro, the Guicho or Quisquelo, and the Podengo Galego.^[3] It is recognised by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación – the Spanish ministry of agriculture – and by the Xunta de Galicia, but not by the Real Sociedad Canina de España.^[1][4][5]

The Perdigueiro Galego – like other regional pointer breeds such as the Old Spanish Pointer, the Portuguese Pointer, the Pachón Navarro and the Braque Français – descends from dogs of Bracco Italiano type imported into north-western Iberia and south-western France several centuries ago, all developing into distinct types according to the preferences and requirements of local sportsmen.^[6][3]

The Perdigueiro Galego was formerly commonly found in the municipalities of A Mezquita, Viana do Bolo, Riós, Laza and A Veiga in the Galician Province of Ourense.^[3] From the 1970s onward, foreign breeds of pointer became available to Spanish hunters and numbers of the Perdigueiro Galego went into decline; this was compounded by a decline in partridge numbers throughout the Galician Massif.^[6][3] To prevent the extinction of the breed, the best surviving specimens were identified and recorded, particularly from the provinces of Ourense and Lugo, but also in A Coruña and Pontevedra.^{[6]: 567 [3]} A stud-book for the breed was established in 2001; it is managed by the Club de Raza do Perdigueiro Galego.^[6][3]

The Perdigueiro Galego is a medium-sized breed of pointer: it weighs between 20 and 30 kg and stands between 50 and 60 cm; the breed shows a considerable degree of sexual dimorphism, with recommended heights for dogs 5 cm greater than those for bitches.^[2][4] The breed has a short dense coat, which may be spotted or mottled bicoloured or tricoloured with any of chestnut, orange, cinnamon and black on white; solid brown, yellow or black examples are also found.^[6][4]

The Perdigueiro Galego is a versatile pointing breed, used to hunt and point to game, and then to retrieve it once shot by the hunter.^[3] It is used predominantly to hunt game birds, in particular partridge, quail and woodcock, although it is also used to hunt small ground game such as hare and rabbit.^{[6]: 566 [3]}