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Pyrenean Mountain Dogs
were bred as livestock guardians in France and the breed is one of the
oldest known pure breeds. They were favourites of the French court
in the days of Louis XIV and have been used as smugglers, pack-dogs and
guardians of the châteaux. More recently they have been used as
therapy dogs, seen active service in the US Army and starred in films.
They are gentle, majestic
and intelligent. They can have a soft far away "true
Pyrenean" expression one minute and a mischievous smile the
next. They are affectionate, loyal and love nothing more than to
be with their human family.
Grant had always wanted a
Pyrenean after seeing them at the National Dog Show. He was
entranced by those absolutely beautiful dogs and stated, "I'm going
to get one of those...."
It took 17 years but he got one
alright...
This one Pyrenean,
Chevy, introduced Grant and Pip to the world of dog showing, registering
a kennel name, importing dogs from overseas, breeding, importing more
dogs from overseas and consequently making friends with people from all
over the world.
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This one
Pyrenean is still the one that barks the most, climbs
the gate to get to the girls, pushes his way through the
door first and grumbles when they threaten to take his
bone off him.
This is
the same Pyrenean who, when playing, shredded their
son's pyjamas while he was still wearing them.
This one
Pyrenean is the one who took an instant dislike to
Newfies, simply because they are black. |
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This one Pyrenean doesn't go
in the kennels; never has and never will. "You can't
put me in there," he says, "that's where you put
dogs."
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But despite
Chevy's idiosyncrasies, Grant & Pip did get more Pyreneans
in the belief that they couldn't possibly all be like
Chevy. Fortunately they are not. The rest behave
like dogs.
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This is Eng Ch
Startrax Guildsman who is in the lines of the Felcore Pyreneans.
Grant and Pip are
grateful to Ian and Wendy Spencer-Brown of Startrax for
entrusting them with the dogs they have imported.
Felcore's
breeding programme began with Startrax lines, NZ Ch Startrax Amy
Jay (Imp UK) was the foundation bitch. Karray Charmer (Imp
UK) was the sire and this first litter produced a Best in Show
winner at the November 2000 Pyrenean Championship Show under
Keith Savage, a Pyrenean specialist from the UK. |
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