The Great Pyrenees is a Live Stock Guarding Dog. He is a native of the Pyrenees Mountains in the Basque country, which lies between Spain and France. His exact origins are not known, but theory is that they came to the western Mediterranean coast with nomadic tribesman many centuries ago.

There are two theories about the ancestors of the Great Pyrenees. One says that the Pyr is a descendant of the Tibetan Mastiff, the other says that he developed from the dogs of the ancient Sumerians.

D. H. Mut and von Stephanitz, both German authorities, and M. B. Senac-Lagrange, The French Pyrenean Specialist, all sustain the theory that the Tibetan Dog is not only the ancestor of the Great Pyrenees, but also of the other large, mostly white, pastoral guard dogs of Europe and the Near East.

When these tribesmen of distant Asia migrated centuries ago, they were accompanied by their flocks and their dogs and in each region where these tribes settled down, a new breed of flock-guarding dogs developed. All descendants from the original dogs from Asia.

The explanation that the dogs got their white color, given by C. Duconte and M. Sabouraud in Les Chiens Pyrénéens (1970) by environmental and climatic changes causing the color paling over the years is put to doubt by Columnella the Roman agricultural historian in his work De Re Rustica published in the second century A.D.

"Sheepherders insist on white guard dogs for their flocks, for otherwise a dog could be struck during an attack through being mistaken for a wolf." So white sheep guarding dogs have been known for nearly two thousand years.

We find the following white herd protectors: in Africa: The Atlas Mountain Dog,; in Spain: the Pyrenean Mastiff; in France: the Great Pyrenees; in Italy: the Maremma; in Germany: the Old Pomeranian Sheepdog; in Hungary: the Kuvasz; in Czechoslovakia: the Chuvatch; in Poland: the Tatra Mountain Dog; in Turkey: the Anatolian Sheepdog.

Amazingly in many of these countries we find in the company of the big white dog, a little, shaggy very lively shepherd that leads and drives the herd. Among them we can name the Pyrenean Shepherd in France; the Bergamese Shepherd in Italy; the Puli in Hungary; and the Nizinny Shepherd in Poland.

The Great Pyrenees in their native country France were used for centuries by the shepherds to guard them and their flocks from attacks by wolves, bears and also against two legged predators. They mostly ran in pairs and wore heavy iron collars made with long spikes to the outside to protect their neck.

The first actual written reference appears to be in 1407 when the historian of the Chateau of Lourdes tells of its being regularly used to guard the Chateau. Later the Great Pyrenees was also used as protector of the estates of the great lords and landowners and came to the attention of the members of the French royalty.

From the early years in 1800 the popularity of the Great Pyrenees was growing and in the early 1890's they came to the attention of the canine authority Count Henry de Bylandt who devoted several pages in his encyclopedia entitled Les Races des Chiens (Brussels, 1897) and also drew up a standard for the breed.

All this publicity got the attention of breeders and they headed for the Pyrenees to get hold of stock of these marvelous dogs. The effect was soon felt in the Pyrenees Mountains, in a few short years most of the best breeding stock had been purchased by foreigners.

In 1907 two men went to the Pyrenees to study the breed: M. Th. Dretzen and Count de Bylandt. With the help of M. W. Byasson they were looking for specimens that could be regarded as presenting the characteristics of the true race. Dretzen purchased 6 of them, which he considered to be the best representing the race.

This focussed the attention of the mountain people on the breed and they banded together in an effort to reconstitute the breed and produce an official standard of their own. Count Bylandt's standard was written in French, but he himself was a Hollander.

Out of rivalry different clubs were formed. One group, the Pastour Club was formed in 1907 at Lourdes. A second club, formed in the same year at Argeles, called itself the Argeles Club. Two different standards were drawn up, but neither differed much from the other, and both only slightly from the first by de Bylandt.

Through the efforts of these two groups, the purity of the breed was restored and the Pyrenees appeared to be well on the way to future successes.

But World War I brought an almost total collapse of the efforts of French breeders to revitalize the breed.

After the war, during ten years only twenty Pyreneans were registered, all "without origins", that will say of unknown ancestry and without pedigree.

Bernard Senac-Lagrange was the one who gave us the Great Pyrenees as we know it today. In 1923 under his leadership a new club was formed: La Réunion des Amateurs des Chiens Pyrénéens, R.A.C.P. the club which also was devoted to the Berger des Pyrénées, the Pyrenean Shepherd. Over a hundred fanciers joined Senac-Lagrange in his task and in 1927 the first official standard was published. From this time on the breed prospered and interested breeders from other countries purchased breeding stock.

Now the Great Pyrenees is a well-known breed in many countries all over the world.