Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755), "La Chasse au Loup", circa 1746.
The Pyrenean Mountain Dog, or Great Pyrenees, is truly an ancient breed dating back to at least the Middle Ages.
According to some reports, the early ancestors of the breed have been used for thousands of years as protectors of
livestock and the human shepherd. Shepherds needed a dog that was calm and gentle but that would not hesitate to
defend against bears, wolves and other predators.
Bones have been found that date back to the Bronze Age (1800 – 1000 BC).
French writings dating back to 1407 detail a “Great dog of the Mountains.” An early Pyrenean Mastiff was believed
to come into Europe from Asia Minor through land and sea migration. Due to relative isolation of many regions,
the old Pyrenean Mastiff went though many changes and became various breeds such as the Anatolian, Kuvas, Komondor,
Maremma.
In 1675, the Dauphin Louis XIV named the le Chien de Montagne des Pyrénées the official dog of France.
Antique Postcard - “Man and Two Great Pyrenees”.
In the mid 1600’s, the Great Pyrenees made its way across the Atlantic to Newfoundland. Basque used the dogs as
settlement guardians and companions. The dogs were crossed with various dogs including retrievers and helped developed
the Landseer Newfoundland (the black and white pattern).
General Lafayette first brought the Great Pyrenees to the
United States in 1824 for a friend, J. S. Skinner, who was also the author of The Dog and the Sportsman.
Britain’s Queen Victoria is said to have owned a Pyrenean Mountain Dog around 1850, and the Kennel Club (Great Britain)
recognized the breed in 1885-1886. In the 1870’s, the breed was used to help resuscitate the Saint Bernard after
this breed was depleted due to accident and illness. Thought it was not until the late 1910’s that the Pyrenean
Mountain Dogs was brought to England for breeding purposes.
In WWI they were used in liaison work.
Great Pyrenees were used until quite recently as draft dogs for delivering milk.
At left; Antique Great Pyr Postcard.
At right; Great Pyrenees in the 1940's.
In the 1920’s, the breed began to decline in quality and numbers. The Reunion des Amateurs de Chiens Pyreneens,
a group still in existence today, was headed by Monsieur Senac Lagrange to restore the breed.
This group was responsible for the breed standard being published in 1927 which has become the basis for all
standards of the breed since.
Great Pyrenees in the 1940's.
Though an ancient breed that had been brought to the new World centuries earlier, it was relatively unknown in
the United States until 1931 when Mr. and Mrs. Francis V. Crane of Needham, Massachusetts, imported several
Pyrenean Mountain dogs and created the Basquaerie Kennels.
Today, the Pyrenean Mountain Dog (or Great Pyrenees)
functions as both companion and livestock guardian.
