Spanish Guarding Dogs

"Livestock-guarding dogs - raised, in the Spanish tradition, nearly from birth with the animals they tended - continued to fascinate every naturalist who encountered them. In 1826, French explorer 'Aliced Dessalines d'Origny' described in his 'voyage dans l'Amerique Meridionale,' encounters in Uruguay with 'perro ovejero,' the sheep-guarding dog. Suckled on ewe's milk, this dog tended his flock, leaving it only to get food at night or to hunt jaguar and partridge with his human master.Voyaging on the 'Beagle' in 1831, collecting material for what would become his theory of evolution, Darwin watched the cross-bred sheepdogs of Argentina perform like those d'Orbigny, whose work he knew, had observed in Uruguay. A dog lover, Darwin considered the behavior of 'perro ovejero' in protecting their charges from predators, and even other dogs, additional confirmation of their intelligence and consciousness. Following northern European and English customs, most farmers in the United States had more active herding and hunting dogs, but people who observed Spanish style guarding dogs guarding sheep in the American Southwest generally shared Darwin's view."
A DOG'S HISTORY IN AMERICA, Mark Derr

We explain that dogs used to guard lg herds of cattle, and other livestock tend to produce two types in a litter, known as header and heeler. The header leads the herd, the heeler drives the herd. After a founding member of SEFCA of Spain read this, he said, "Choose the pup for guarding and one will have the best for working cattle."SEFCA breeds Alanos of Spain still working cattle, including gathering wild cattle from the countryside in catch work. After catching, the Alano must walk calmly along side of the cattle without biting. This is known as the off-switch which must be to work livestock, but as well, it keeps the dog from attacking not only livestock but people until a real threat arises. If one can understand, this is the complete difference in selection of type (of OSWs and other AB types) of which the Carr family as well as others in the South have always selected for.