I was talking to a man today who is from Spain, but now lives here. He was telling me about the dogs he had in Spain & I was interested to know the breed. He told me the breed in Spanish - but he didn't know if there was an english translation. This is what he said about them; they are very large dogs. very docile but will protect their family. Bred origionally to protect sheep in fields by fighting off any wolves that bothered the sheep. Any ideas? I thought some mastiff type maybe?

I'm guessing he might have been talking about the Pyrenean Mountain Dog. Have a look here http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/greatpyrenees.htm

May also be....

Spanish Mastiff

Could be Pyrenean Mastiffs (Mastin Del Pirinio) which are almost identical to Pyrenean Mountain Dogs. The mastiffs are from Spain, the Mountain Dogs are French.
Or Spanish Mastiffs (Mastin Espanol) which are similar to our Mastiffs but with a rough coat and not so gross a head. They are VERY large dogs and go by all sorts of names (Mastin de Espanol, Mastin de Extremadura, Mastin de Leon, Mastin de La Mancha).

Most of the other spanish breeds I can think of are not huge or are bull breed type dogs from the outlying islands (Ca De Bou, Ca De Bestiar, Presa Canaria).

Hope that helps.

Ooh Maclkeback & Phoebe I think it could well be a Spanish Mastiff. Definately not a presa - I know that breed & that wasn't the one - but from the way he was talking I had a picture of some kind of Mastiff type of dog.

Thankyou both.

can you remember what the breed was called in spanish?
someone else might know the translation or be able to help if u can :)

could be a spainsh water dog which i got two of them.
i what you call large a swd are a medium dog with a cord  coat.they too were for portect the sheep and went out with the fisher man to pull in thier nets,they do protect their family as well a good guard dog for the home,
i not thing this breed would fight of wolves,

funny loving breed

Hi Briedog - he said it was a very large dog , I'm sure it was not a SWD.
When I saw him I was at Tescos doing a Guide Dog awareness day - so I couldn't really write down what he said - and although I asked him a couple of times - I would not know what breed he said - it was a very long name.

Could it be a Maremma Sheepdog? European flock herder and guard dog?

I would think that it would be the Spanish Mastiff.  They are lovely dogs.  My friend with the SWD has them to guard his house although sometimes I think that it's the look of them that puts people off and not their character.  His have all been quite big softies :d

The SWD did do a similar job but they are only a medium sized breed so I doubt that it's them.  The SWD's Spanish name is Perro de Agua Espanol!

I think it could well be the spanish mastiff, guess I'll never now unless I bump into him again.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

You Spanish Water Dog people who answered - do any of you know somebody with SWD's and a Tibetan Mastiff? My friend looked into getting a SWD and went to one of the fun/training days. She took some photos of one of the people's TM that was also there for me. I'm just curious as he looked lovely and I wondered what breeding he was.

Hi Phoebe

Yeah, that's Faye who was one of the people who brought the SWD in with me :d 

E-mail me on spanishwaterdogs@supanet.com  and I'll give you Faye's e-mail address.

Yoda is a lovely lad, a wonderful character, and has changed so much in the last year or so, he's really turning into a nice lad!  He's brilliant with the Spanish and loves diving on top of me when I go to see him :d

From Diane (one of those Spanish Water Dog People :d )

Thanks Diane! Will mail you now.