Can de Chira

The Can de Chira or Perro pastor altoaragonés is a Spanish breed of herding dog from the mountainous Alto Aragon region in the northern part of the autonomous community of Aragon, in north-eastern Spain.

Accounts of similar dogs used by Spanish graziers to herd sheep and cattle date back several centuries; the earliest photographs date from the early twentieth century. The Can de Chira was formerly widely distributed in the Province of Huesca and in neighbouring areas; it was used by the shepherds of Aragon, and by those of Navarre, Occitanie and Catalonia. In the twenty-first century the small number of remaining animals are concentrated principally in the comarcas of Ribagorza and Sobrarbe.