In 1974, a mutiny of military officers in the Portuguese army put an end to the country’s forty year dictatorship dating back to the era of Mussolini and Hitler. The revolt came to be known as the Carnation Revolution when a citizen walking in the streets of Lisbon with a bouquet of carnations in her arms spotted a soldier and put one of the flowers in the pipe of his rifle. Soon, ecstatic citizens were all handing carnations out to the troops. The carnation came to be a symbol of what is now an important holiday for the Portuguese, a fitting emblem because with almost no casualties, it was a peaceful revolution.
With the dictatorship immediately swept away, democracy involving millions of people flowered. Working people became engaged with how their government was run, and also realized that they could participate in aspects of their society which had previously been closed off to them.
To wit: The revolution led to changes in dog shows in Portugal, and in how the Portuguese saw their own dog breeds. Before 1974, owning a show dog and participating at a dog show had been the purview of the wealthy, and having enough money to import a non-Portuguese breed became a status symbol. The revolution changed that. Working people started to exhibit indigenous breeds that their families had kept for generations. The Estrela Mountain Dog was one of them.
It came just in time. Interest in one of the oldest breeds from the Iberian Peninsula had been steeply declining, and with no record of the Estrela Mountain Dog outside of Portugal before 1972, extinction was a serious probability. In truth, it’s hard to image that no Estrela ever left the country, but they were probably interbred which certainly didn’t help maintain the purity of the breed. We came across a source indicating that in 1972 and 1973, “pairs” were imported to the U.S., but it wasn’t until 1998 that the first Estrela with documented papers was imported into the United States. It was actually the United Kingdom that became the first country to establish the breed outside Portugal with Sturtmoor Kennels becoming the first known Estrela Mountain Dog breeding program in the world outside of Portugal.
Meanwhile in Portugal, a period of social unrest led to a major crime wave, and the breed’s value as a guard dog increased its cache. The dog’s size, plus its habit of barking at intruders (it is, after all, a Livestock Guardian Dog) deterred would-be bad actors. Eventually, the Estrela Mountain Dog became more popular than Portugal’s other two native guard dogs, the Cao de Castro Laboreiro and the Rafeiro de Alentejo, largely because it was softer tempered, an asset to a family. It is now the most popular native Portuguese breed after the Portuguese Podengo.
Increased popularity has a win/win for the breed and the country, and it all started with a revolution.
Image: Estrela Mountain Dog by © Slowmotiongli | Dreamstime
I imported my first two beautiful Estrelas from Sturtmoor Kennels in England (mentioned above). The next two I imported my next two from Portugal. We love the Estrela Mountain Dogs. Going to Portugal to pick up one of my Estrelas is when I saw and fell in love with the Portuguese Podengo Pequeno. I now have both breeds.
Lucky you, Margaret! We’d be pretty excited to meet one in person!!
I got my first Estrela in 1977,they have been a fixture in my life since then.At one time I had as many as 25 of them living at my kennels.I very successfully exhibited them over the years.Many of my own breeding have won high honours.I have traveled to the Estrela breed shows in Portugal,the Monografica,many,many times,falling in love with the country along the way.I also imported a number of dogs into the UK to help in my breeding programme.
In the beginning of 2020 my husband & I,along with 13 Estrelas moved from the UK & went to an area close to the Estrela Mountain range to start our new adventure.
What a marvelous adventure, Trisha! If you’re of a mind to share photos along the way, we’d love to see them.
My Grandmother Marcia was the person who established the Sturtmoor Kennels in the UK, and is very proud to still be working to help the Estrela’s thrive in the UK and abroad! My Mother, Aunt and myself are extremely grateful to be a part of it. My Aunt played a huge role in getting the breed properly established in the US when she and her husband moved their with her Estrela in 1998. Its lovely to see the mention that they deserve! In the UK, we have just held a dog show where there were plenty of beautiful Estrela’s to see and cuddle!
Lovely to hear from you, Keira, and we’re very honored. We can only dream of seeing so many Estrelas in one place, but perhaps one day!
Can I ask who wrote this piece? It’s lovely to see and we are proud to be mentioned (Camille Lambert – Daughter of Marcia Dovey who was founder of the Sturtmoor Kennels). The photo I have attached is of Maya (Cassandra of Sturtmoor) one of the two dogs kept at Sturtmoor after being born in Quarantine in 1974 (the first litter to be born in the UK).
Guilty as charged, Camille, we wrote the piece on this marvelous breed, and it’s an honor to hear from you! Thank you for sharing the photo of Maya!
I very much enjoyed reading this article on such a wonderful, noble breed. I first spotted an Estrela Mountain Dog in London, in 2014. I don’t know exactly where the dog was from but the owner mentioned ‘Wales’. I happened to be with two Portuguese friends with me that day and they told me all about the breed, how they grew up with it and I started my own research which led me to find out about a picnic organised by the Estrela Mountain Dog Club, founded by Sturtmoor Kennels. At the picnic I was able to meet other dogs of all different ages, met such a lovely community of owners who gave me so much guidance on what to look for in an Estrela. I heard about many reputable breeders in Portugal and found my girl that same year, Theia da Quinta da Líria is now 7 years old. She’s a strong, healthy and loyal companion. A very alert girl who takes her guarding duties seriously but is also adorable, gentle and extremely caring.
The kind words are much appreciated, Michelle, and a lovely account of how you got interested in this marvelous breed.
Thankyou so much everyone, I actually went to Portugal in November 1974 as I wanted to see the dogs and the mountains before I started to breed. I saw such wonderful dogs and the majestic but friendly mountains. I fell in love with the breed and the Portuguese people on that trip.
I have always tried to breed based on the super dogs I saw then and keeping as true to breed type as possible.
We don’t think anyone ever regrets having integrity, Marcia, and it is its own reward when others see it too. Well done