Dogs of the breed may be sold under the original breed name, , 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. 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. 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. Specimens from Portugal have no documented health problems, but dogs bred elsewhere are often bred to be very over-sized for the breed (over 60 cm/23.6 in and 35 kg/77 lb) and may suffer ailments particular to deep-chested, very large dogs, such as bloat. Life expectancy of the breed is approximately 15 years.