The breed is large but not over-sized; up to a maximum of 60 cm at the withers and 35 kg in weight, with females slightly smaller. The general appearance is of a normally proportioned, deep chested, muscular dog with a broad head and medium length neck, straight back, and long legs. The tail is held up and is slightly curved. The breed has drop ears, unless they are cropped. The coat is a brindle of brown or grey, with black; it is short, smooth and harsh to the touch, with a short fringe on the tail and on the backs of the rear legs.
History
The breed is named for São Miguel Island in the Azores, settled by the Portuguese, beginning in 1439. Another of the Azores, Terceira Island, is known for bullfights and cattle raising; large dogs used on cattle there were brought to São Miguel Island and contributed to the development of the breed. According to the original breed standard, the existence of the cão fila de São Miguel has been documented since the early 19th century. A breed standard was developed in the breed's area of origin and first published in 1984. This standard was recognised internationally in 1995 when the standard was published by the FCI, with the English name Saint Miguel Cattle Dog. Although described as a cattle dog, the breed is actually a molosser, and is thus recognised by the FCI in its "Group 2, Section 2, Molossoid breeds" as breed number 340. Today it is primarily used as a companion dog. Traditionally, the tail is docked, and the ears cropped and rounded off on top, although these practices are now illegal in many areas. The reasons for these traditions are uncertain but believed to ensure tails and ears cannot be bitten by cattle when herding. Today, dogs from São Miguel are exported to North America and other areas of the world where they are bred and promoted for the rare breed market. Minor kennel clubs, and registries maintained by individual breeders, write their own versions of the breed standard, which may vary from the breed standard developed on the island of São Miguel and recognised internationally by the FCI. Dogs of the breed may be sold under the original breed name, cão de fila de São Miguel, or any of the many translations and versions of the name in various languages. The term Azores cattle dog has been applied by one breeds-index website, but does not appear to be a common name for the breed.
Temperament
Although the breed is a medium-sized working dog in origin, the actual suitability of an individual dog for a particular kind of work may depend on the quality of early training. This breed is said to be intelligent and to bond strongly with keepers, and to generally be gentle, even docile, when trained well. However, temperaments of individual dogs may vary greatly.
Activities
Saint Miguel Cattle Dogs can compete in dog agility trials, obedience, flyball, tracking, and herding events. Herding instincts and trainability can be measured at non-competitive herding tests. Individuals exhibiting basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in herding trials.
Health
Specimens from Portugal have no documented health problems, but dogs bred elsewhere are often bred to be very over-sized for the breed and may suffer ailments particular to deep-chested, very large dogs, such as bloat. Life expectancy of the breed is approximately 15 years.
