Videos Great Pyrenees Breed Information
Alternative names -
Great Pyrenees,
Chien des Pyrenees,
Chien de Montagne des Pyrenees,
Montanes del Pirineo,
Country of origin -
France/Spain
Common nicknames -
Pyr
Classification and breed standards
FCI:|Group
2 Section 2 #137|Stds
AKC:|Working|Stds
ANKC:|Group 6
(Utility)|Stds
CKC:|Group
3 - Working Dogs|Stds
KC
(UK):|Pastoral|Stds
NZKC:|Utility|Stds
UKC:|Guardian
Dogs|Stds
The Pyrenean Mountain Dog, known as the
Great Pyrenees in the United States, is a large breed of dog, used for
protecting livestock (especially
sheep) in pasture.
The Great Pyrenees is readily identifiable by a double dewclaw on each of its hind legs.
1. Details
It is a very old breed, and has been used for millennia by the Basque people, who inhabit parts of the
region in and around the Pyrenees
Mountains of southern France and northern Spain. More recently,
it served as the official dog of the royal French court (whose
prominence began circa the Middle
Ages, and lasted until the middle of the nineteenth century). During World War II the
dogs were used to haul artillery over the Pyrenean Mountain range
to and from Spain and France. They are related to several other
large white European Livestock
guardian dogs (LGD), including the Italian Maremma Sheepdog, Kuvasz (Hungary), Anatolian Shepherd (Turkey) and Polish
Tatra or Polski
Owczarek Podhalanski.
Males weigh in at about 100-160 pounds (45-73 kilograms), while
females are approximately 85-115 pounds (39-52 kilograms). Their
coats are white and can have varying shades
of grey or tan around the face (including a full
face mask), ears and sometimes on the body; as a Great Pyrenees
matures, their coats grow thicker and the longer white hair of the
coat often fades the markings on those dogs that were not born
completely white. Grey or tan markings that remain lend the French
name, "blaireau," meaning "with color" to those
dogs who are marked. Only one in four will have a pure white coat.
They are well known for their back double dewclaws.
2. In Popular Culture
* In the anime/manga Azumanga
Daioh, Chiyo Mihama's pet Tadakichi-san (Mr. Tadakichi) is
a Great Pyrenees.
* In the anime/manga Full
Metal Alchemist, Shou and Nina Tucker's dog Alexander is
most likely a Great Pyrenees.
* In the novel, Belle et
Sebastien, Belle is a Great Pyrenees.
* The 2004 film Finding
Neverland used a Great Pyrenees to represent J.M. Barrie's Landseer Newfoundland.
* The Spanish designer Javier
Mariscal was inspired by this dog breed for the design of the
1992 Summer Olympics
mascot "Cobi".
* In Hanazakarino
Kimitachihe, the male lead had a Great Pyreness for a
pet.
* The Japanese series Ginga
Densetsu Weed features a Great Pyrenees named Hiro.
Copyright (c) 2008 Kitt Killion Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
Taken or modified, in whole or part, from Wikipedia.org
