Pyrenean Shepherd

Quick, intense and tireless; reserved with strangers.
A Pyrenean Shepherd
Photo: Canarian
Adult weight
6.8–14 kg
15–30 lb
Lifespan
17–19 yrs
Class · Sport
also Working

What it's like

The breed is quick, intense and tireless, and forms a strong attachment to its own people while tending to stay reserved with strangers. Its speed and agility have made it a capable competitor in dog agility, far from its mountain origins.

Day to day
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Needs daily brain work
Handler demand
Needs an experienced owner
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
Around the home
Sensitivity
Needs a calm, predictable home
Voice
Very vocal
Prey drive
Chases; needs managing
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Living with one

It has a coat of medium length. It sheds through the year rather than in big seasonal moults. Plan on brushing a few times a week. It needs plenty of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Pyrenean Shepherd is a small dog, heavier than a Pug and lighter than a Cocker Spaniel. It is one of the heaviest small breeds.

It is a small, lean, wiry dog with a triangular head, almond-shaped eyes and a keen, alert expression. The coat may be fawn, grey, merle, brindle or black, sometimes with a little white. In the rough-faced variety the hair can twist into loose cords on the hindquarters, a texture often likened to goat's hair.

Varieties

FCI 141 / 138 divides this breed by coat and face. Pick the variety your dog is for a band that fits.
Variety
Weight
Height
Rough-faced
M 42–48 cm · F 40–46 cm6,7
Smooth-faced
M 40–54 cm · F 40–52 cm8,9

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male Pyrenean Shepherd puppy is already as heavy as a grown Jack Russell. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight11
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
0510152m4m6m9m12m18m
0510152m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
1.7–3.4 kg 3.7–7.5 lb
1.9–3.8 kg 4.2–8.4 lb
3 months
2.3–4.7 kg 5.1–10.4 lb
2.5–4.9 kg 5.5–10.8 lb
4 months
3.3–6.6 kg 7.3–14.6 lb
3.3–6.7 kg 7.3–14.8 lb
5 months
4.1–8.2 kg 9.0–18.1 lb
4.0–8.1 kg 8.8–17.9 lb
6 months
4.7–9.5 kg 10.4–20.9 lb
4.6–9.2 kg 10.1–20.3 lb
7 months
5.2–10.4 kg 11.5–22.9 lb
5.0–10.0 kg 11.0–22.0 lb
8 months
5.6–11.1 kg 12.3–24.5 lb
5.3–10.7 kg 11.7–23.6 lb
9 months
5.8–11.7 kg 12.8–25.8 lb
5.6–11.2 kg 12.3–24.7 lb
10 months
6.0–12.1 kg 13.2–26.7 lb
5.8–11.7 kg 12.8–25.8 lb
11 months
6.2–12.4 kg 13.7–27.3 lb
6.0–12.0 kg 13.2–26.5 lb
12 months
6.3–12.6 kg 13.9–27.8 lb
6.1–12.3 kg 13.4–27.1 lb
15 months
6.6–13.2 kg 14.6–29.1 lb
6.5–13.0 kg 14.3–28.7 lb
18 months
6.8–14 kg 15–30 lb
6.7–13.5 kg 14.8–29.8 lb

Lifespan

No vet study has measured how long Pyrenean Shepherds live yet. The 17–19 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The Pyrenean Shepherd is a sheepdog of the French Pyrenees, herding flocks that the larger Great Pyrenees guarded. Its smooth-faced variety, found mainly in the foothills, was "much appreciated by horse-dealers and cattle-drovers", Bernard Sénac-Lagrange wrote in 1927. Service in the First World War first made the breed known outside its mountains4,12.

The Pyrenean Shepherd stayed a working dog of the high valleys long after its service in the First World War drew attention to it. A breed club formed in France after the war drew up a standard based on the dogs still working with mountain shepherds. Two varieties are recognised. The rough-faced dog has a longer coat. The smooth-faced dog has short hair on the muzzle and face. The breed's job was to gather and move large flocks over steep, broken ground, working closely with its shepherd while larger guardian dogs dealt with predators.

Breed standard

Kennel clubs do not all register this breed the same way. One registry divides it into two varieties by coat, each with its own weight range.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Pyrenean Shepherd figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a small breed is most likely at the early end.

Compare with related

Pembroke Welsh Corgi
Sheepdogs & cattledogs · Small
Shetland Sheepdog
Sheepdogs & cattledogs · Small
Mudi
Sheepdogs & cattledogs · Medium
Pumi
Sheepdogs & cattledogs · Medium
Or compare the Pyrenean Shepherd with any breed you choose
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Sources

Uncited on this page: Lifespan — no reviewed source yet, so it is a general reference figure rather than a published one.
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