Archive for the ‘Great Pyrenees’ Category
A Great Pyrenees adult male dog
The Pyrenean Mountain Dog, known as the Great Pyrenees in North America, is a large breed of dog used as a livestock guardian dog. The Great Pyrenees is a very old breed, and has been used for hundreds of years by shepherds, including those of the Basque people, who inhabit parts of the region in and around the Pyrenees Mountains of southern France and northern Spain. One of the first descriptions of the breed dates from 1407, and from 1675 the breed was a favourite of The Grand Dauphin and other members of the French aristocracy.
Little white laying puppy - Great-Pyrenees
By the early nineteenth century there was a thriving market for the dogs in mountain towns, from where they would be taken to other parts of France. However as late as 1874 the breed was not completely standardised in appearance, with two major sub-types recorded, the Western and the Eastern. They are related to several other large white European livestock guardian dogs (LGD), including the Italian Maremma Sheepdog, Kuvasz (Hungary), Akbash Dog (Turkey) and Polish Tatra or Polski Owczarek Podhala?ski.
A male and a female Great-Pyrenees dogs
Males grow to 110–120 pounds (50–54 kg) and 27–32 inches (69–81 cm), while females reach 80–90 pounds (36–41 kg) and 25–29 inches (63–74 cm). On average, their lifespan is 10 to 12 years. Their coats are white and can have varying shades of gray, red (rust), or tan around the face (including a full face mask), ears and sometimes on the body and tail. As Great Pyrenees mature, their coats grow thicker and the longer colored hair of the coat often fades on those dogs that were not born completely white.
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