More than twenty years hace passed since the foundation of the Club del Mastín del Pirineo de España (Pyrenean Mastiff Spanish Club) and many things have happen to our breed.
In the beginning (more or less from 1973 to 1979) the main work was to control and to save the few good specimen that still was alive and working at the spanish Pyrenean Mountain. Then, it was important to start with a rational plan of breeding and to make a reasonable diffusion inside Spain. From that times, the Pyrenean Mastiff started to consolidate in Aragon (the spanish region where our breed comes from) and, little by little, in the rest of Spain.

Some years later, the first foreign people began to be interested in the Pyrenean Mastiff. First, was Sweden and few months later, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Now, I can say that our breed is a well known breed in most of the european countries and our breed has started to be introduced in the USA (where there already has been founded the Pyrenean Mastiff Club of America) a couple of years ago. So, at the present day, we have an excellent enthusiastic people taking care of the Pyrenean Mastiff all over the world.

We must think,anyway, that our breed is, no doubt, a Molosser breed. That means that size and substance is something very important. But, anyway, even more important than all this is that our breed must be healthy in body and mind because if this would not be so, the Pyrenean Mastiff would become an unuseful breed and all the breeding work will be just a big mistake.
After to have admited all that, we must think that the Pyrenean Mastiff is a rectangular dog, with a moderated, thick and not silky, long coat. The head must be important, wide and big but not too heavy, with a proportion between skull and muzzle of 5/4 as it is clearly written at the breed standard. The stop must be clear but not exagerated and the dark eyes giving a sweet and not hard expression. In withe and blond dogs, we tolerate a more clear iris pigmentation but we prefer dark eyes, bigger, no doubt than Pyrenean Mountain Dog and with an expresion totally different. The Pyrenean Mountain Dog would have a “dreamer” expression and the Pyrenean Mastiff a “sweet” expression.
The muzzle must be deep with a nice design of the upper lip. “Thin noses” are strongly penalished. Sometimes there’s excellent specimen that have the upper muzzle profil with a slight “roman” nose. That is not a big mistake and even many breeders like that characteristic that, in any case, never must be exagerated.
The neck must be strong and not too short, with good quantity of skin in the throat, being this one of the important characteristic of our breed. The chest must be wide and the ribs reasonably rounded, not flat. The shoulders must be well placed and we shall look for a good angulation of the arm. The top line must be strong and stright, we would say a “healthy molosoid topline”: The cyfosis is particullary undesirable.
The croup it must be strong, wide and rather long, without an excesive inclination of the pelvis and the tail, of medium inserction must reach the hocks, being slightly combed, but never combed over the croup.
And, of course the way to move must be powerful, wide and sound, without any signs of weekness or sick construction. We never must forget also that the temperament of a Pyrenean Mastiff must be sure of himself, equilibrated and noble. Without such a character, our breed never could developed properly its job during so many centuries at the spanish Pyrenean Mountains.
And, then, the colour. The Pyrenean Mastiff can be white and grey, white and black, white and brown, white and blond, white and brindle. It is desirelable that 2/3 of the body of the dog are white, and it is obligatory that both eyes and both ears are coloured. The paws, the feet and the tip of the tail are obligatory white. The colour is, of course, important, but it is not the most important thing.

The Pyrenean Mastiff is impresive, full of power end really beautiful. But its best quality is its excellent temperament, the true reason for this breed to have become more and more appreciated every day all trough the world.


Rafael Malo Alcrudo
Specialist International Molosser FCI Judge