Pyrenean Mastiff originally comes from Spain. The earliest indications of the breed can be found as long ago as the 14th century , when the king of Aragon, Ramino El Monjella, had a few black-and-white dogs, called Pyrenean Mastiffs. It is a very old breed which descended from Molossus type of dogs that Phoenicians had brought from trading trips to Spain around 300 BC. The closest relatives are pale mountain dog breeds. This is regardless of the fact that the Spanish Mastiff and Pyrenean Mastiff are structurally similar to each other. Great Pyrenees appear as a sophisticated version of the Pyrenean Mastiff, and these breeds separated during the time of Ludvig XIV, The Sun King, when Pyrenean Mastiff remained as a working dog.
Pyrenean Mastiff is seen to be called a shepherd dog. It can be that as well, but the more important has been the role of livestock guardian. The dog’s tails and ears were cut, so they weren’t torn off from fighting wolves and bears. This is now prohibited and the dogs are allowed to keep the long tails and floppy ears. In the beginning of the 20thcentury these dogs were licensed – only one Pyrenean Mastiff for every 200 sheep was permitted. The Pyrenean Mastiffs protected the sheep from the wolves and bears of the Pyrenees mountains. When the wolves became scarcer and scarcer in the mountains, during the times of the Spanish Civil War, these giant wolf fighters of the Pyrenees mountains disappeared almost completely. Just at the last minute the Spanish dog breeders rescued the remnants of this breed to make a new start for Pyrenean Mastiff.
Pictures: Mastin del Pirineo - Bodas de Plata…sudor, sonrisas y lágrimas
