Rafeiro do Alentejo vs Doberman Pinscher - Breed Comparison

Known also as the Portuguese Mastiff, the Rafeiro do Alentejo comes from Portugal and has always been used as guardian for livestock. Their numbers declined quite a bit when there was no longer a need for this kind of job.Today it is essentially a companion dog.

The official standard of the Rafeiro do Alentejo was established in 1953. The dog is is recognized as a breed by the Portuguese Caniculture Club as well as the Federation Cynologique Interationale.

The origin of Doberman is Apolda, in Germany in 1890. It was officially recognized as a breed in 1900. The name originally called as Thuringer pinscher or Plizeilichi and the peer was renamed as DOBERMAN PINSCHER in 1899.American Kennel Club recognized DOBERMAN PINSCHER in 1908. The German tax collector called Karl friedrich developed Doberman.

He developed a breed that would be able to protect him from his surroundings and from his neighborhoods. This Dober also ran as a local animal shelter and approch many dogs for his breeding program. But karl did not kept any proper records or document for this breeds origin. Dobeis are also found through United States, Russia and South Africa.

The Alentejo is a large dog standing at between 64 and 75cm in height and weighing 45 to 60kg. He is a powerful dog with a deep chest, dark eyes, floppy ears. His coat is short to medium length, thick and straight. The color of the coat is a mix of fawn, a wolf grey, white, cream and black.

Temperament:

This is a serious dog with a calm demeanour about him. It doesn’t matter how calm he is though, as every dog will require training ad socialization if you want to enjoy having an obedient, well mannered dog around you. This is particularly important with a large, independent, self-confident, territorial dog like this.

He isn’t an aggressive dog but he is protective, wanting to guard and look out for his human family. They are dogs that get on well with children and other pets in the home, being wary of strangers.

They’re not recommended for life in small properties in the city as he requires a large garden at least.

Dobermans are certainly shorthaired mixed –breed shepherd dogs, this kind of dogs are chosen only for their intelligent, sound and endure. This breed is best in attitude and appearance, and now it is found in world wide. Dobermans are highly intelligent and fast runners. So mostly dobers are only suited for Police, Army and Guard works. Dobies are also used as guide dogs for the blind.

Appearance

They are very elegant in appearance. Dobies are watchful, determined, energetic, fearless, obedient, alert and loyal. Dobies are short coat so it is easy for care. Brushing regularly can avoid shedding at home. They have almond shaped eyes, they have long narrow heads. The Doberman ears are often cropped but many of the owners like dobers by their nature. Dobers looking was always like a graceful giant.

The Rafeiro do Alentejo is a quiet dog, but intelligent and strong-willed. Training and socialization will make him easy to get on with.

He will become an excellent companion, and can come indoors because he is well mannered and considerate. He was bred to be a guard dog, and the responsibilities he had taking care of livestock has been transferred to looking out for- and protecting his human family.

He makes a wonderful pet and companion, even with children and other pets, more so when brought up correctly by loving, firm, consistent dog owners.

Personality

Dobermans are individual in personalities. Some dogs are friendly and outgoing; some Dobies are reserved and shy. Some will be more dominant with other dogs it used to chase small dogs and cats. Most of the dobers are soft in character and love companionship with people.

Activity

Dobers have high energy level and it requires a lot of exercise in order to avoid harmful behavior to others. We should keep them interested because intelligent dogs are easily got bored. They mostly enjoys only in outing because they will be happy with the people who walks, runs and in bike riding.

Learning Ability

When learning new things they are the best. Dobermans are not able to be a lazy. For many years dobers are the only dogs being excellent as police dogs. Because they are highly active in nature so they are interested in new this for learning.

Adaptability

Dobers are apartment adaptable dogs. They used to bark but are close and friendly to people. At the same time we have to train dobers to welcome the guest also.

The Rafeiro do Alentejo is a generally healthy dog breed, and with good care can get to 11, 12 or 13 years of age.

Of course with a large dog like this, it is always a good idea to be aware of canine hip dysplasia, particularly because this is a large dog with a deep chest.

This makes him also vulnerable to bloat, a condition where the stomach swells with gas and which can be life threatening. Other things to watch for are ear infections and parasites.

This breed have chances of getting Cancer, Chronic disease of heart muscle, Thyroidism , Entropion which is called as an eye disease.

Grooming:

Make your grooming time with this serious, calm canine friend of yours a special bonding time. His coat simply requires a brush twice a week to keep it healthy and shiny.

While bushing him, run your hands over him to make sure there aren’t any unusual lumps. Check inside the floppy ears to make sure they’re not red which could be the start of a painful ear infection.

Look a his nails and trim them if they’ve become too long. Check inside his mouth and make sure there aren’t any black, rotten teeth as this can seriously impact the health of your pet.

Exercise:

Options for exercise will include long walks and a chance to run off his leash. In the back yard it will be to his benefit to throw balls for him to fetch. You can even bring him indoors and play some calm games with him. He should have exercise every single day.

Diet:

Good food is needed for good health. It is always convenient to make use of the commercially manufactured dog foods there are on the market.

You don’t want to feed this to your dog day after day so provide your pet with some tasty home-made food too. Dogs want simplicity and consistency with their diets so they don’t battle with upset stomachs and an unnecessary trip to the vet.

Some home-cooked food twice a week and added to the dry kibble can keep him healthy and happy. Boiled chicken, sweet potatoes, brown rice or pasta, carrots and spinach will be perfect for him. Chop the food up finely and add it into the dry kibble once or twice a week.

Some people even cook it in bulk, refrigerate it and warm up small portions to add to the kibble. Raw meat added in occasionally can also be a good treat. Make sure your pet is never without a constant supply of fresh, cool water.

Grooming

Dobers are mostly come in black, blue, red or fawn. Dobers are low maintenance for grooming. They were clean dogs because they never make a strong dog odor. Using brush in dobers hair for once per week reduces hair fall control. Dobers are not requiring frequent bathing most of the owners are getting bath for 3 or 4 times per year in grooming.

Feeding the puppy

You can feed your puppy 2-3 small meals per day until it was 4 months old. And then have to decrease one meal and two for a day. And often you should not keep food and leave food sitting out all the time. Then after six months needs to stop feeding much vitamins and minerals because it leads a several health problems in his muscle and joints.

Adoption

This type of dogs should not be tied up alone outside, because it should be manifest itself by barking chewing. The people who are working for a long time should not be adopting this type of dogs. Naturally dobers are well protective to our home and people. At the same time small children must be supervised. At the same time if we are not strict, dobers would be get out of our hand.