Great Pyrenees dog gear

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The Pyrenean Mountain Dog, known as the Great Pyrenees in North America, is a large breed of dog
used as a livestock guardian dog. It should not be confused with the Pyrenean Mastiff.
The Great Pyrenees is a very old breed that 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. 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. It was developed
to guard sheep on steep mountainous slopes with agility.
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 Podhalański, and somewhat less closely to the
Newfoundland and St. Bernard. According to the Great Pyrenees Club of America, the Great Pyrenees
is naturally nocturnal and aggressive with any predators that may harm its flock. However, the
breed can typically be trusted with small, young, and helpless animals of any kind due to its
natural guardian instinct.
The Great Pyrenees breed has experienced a dramatic fall off in the number of U.S. AKC breed
registrations from 2000 to 2010. The breed was ranked at #45 in 2000 and by 2010 Great Pyrenees
had dropped to #71. Other large breeds in the same working group classification, Newfoundland and
St. Bernard, have fared far better in maintaining their breed rankings. In 2010 Newfoundland and
St. Bernard were ranked #44 and #45 respectively. Newfoundland moved up in the rankings from #53
in 2000. St. Bernard declined from #36 in the 2000 rankings, although in 2009 and 2010
registrations have held fast at #45. In the one year period alone from 2009-2010, the Great
Pyrenees experienced a drastic 7-point drop in registrations. Although AKC rankings are not a
true gauge of a breed's popularity, the change in the AKC rankings may reflect a realignment in
the sources of the dogs available to the general public. A large number of dogs coming from
shelters in the South and Midwest U.S., now available through rescue societies, and the
introduction of other breed registry services both play a part in the continuing decline in Great
Pyrenees' AKC registrations.