The Great Pyrenees is one of the descendant breeds of the large, primarily white guardian dogs which are believed to have originated in central Asia. These dogs were key components in the lives of the nomadic tribes with whom they lived, generally used to protect the tribe's herds of horses, sheep and goats against predators and thieves.
As the tribes moved westward seeking more fertile pasturage, their dogs came with them. Today, we can almost trace the westward migrations by the breeds that settled into areas along the way: Akbash, Polish Sheepdog or Tatra Mountain Dog (Owczarek Podhalanski), Kuvasz, Komondor, Maremma, Chuvatch and Pomeranian Sheepdog.
Eventually these dogs reached the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. The large white dogs settled into the mountains and became the breed we know today as the Great Pyrenees. For centuries the Great Pyrenees have worked with the shepherds to protect the sheep flocks on the steep mountain slopes, in dense underbrush and high open pasture. They continued to be widely used for this purpose until the late 1800's when the Pyrenees population of large predators was eliminated.
Only through the efforts of a few key protectors of the breed did it survive through the early years of the 1900's and World War I. In 1932 the first Great Pyrenees were imported into the U.S.A. for the purpose of breeding. Heavy exporting of some of France's best dogs continued up until the outbreak of World War II. The breed was recognized by the AKC in 1933 at which time the breed's first American Standard was approved. The Standard, based heavily on the French Standard, was revised in 1935 and then stood unchanged for 55 years.
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