Healthy adults typically weigh between 55 and 75 kilograms (121 and 165 lb). The Pyrenean Mountain Dog is a very large and heavily built breed of livestock guardian dog that, according to the Société Centrale Canine's breed standard, males stand from 70 to 82 centimetres (28 to 32 in) and females from 65 to 77 centimetres (26 to 30 in). White and badger Pyrenean Mountain Dog Appearance To combat the deterioration of the breed's show lines in their country, in 2011 the British Pyrenean Mountain Dog breed club released a brochure with instructions for show judges not to reward glamorous, heavy-bodied, short-muzzled examples of the breed over lean and muscular examples with weatherproof coats capable of performing their original role in high mountainous regions. This standard promoted the exaggeration of certain physical features at the expense of functional form and was later adopted by Britain's Kennel Club. In 1935, the American Kennel Club adopted a new breed standard that had a number of deviations from the French original that would not be permitted in France. The breed became a favourite in the show ring in both Canada and the United States. In the early 1930s, the Pyrenean Mountain Dog was imported into North America where it is known as the Great Pyrenees. In 1946 the Real Sociedad Canina de España recognised the large white livestock guardians on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees as the Pyrenean Mastiff with a slightly different breed standard. Senac-Lagrange established the first breed club, the Réunion des Amateurs de Chiens Pyrénées, and drew up the first breed standard for the breed in 1923 he also registered the breed as the Chien de Montagne des Pyrénées with the Société Centrale Canine in the same year. French aristocrat and dog authority Bernard Senac-Lagrange is credited with saving the breed from extinction at the beginning of the 20th century, touring the mountains to collect the finest specimens available to form a breeding base.

Local shepherds sold pups to eager tourists and it is from these pups the breed found its way to Britain and several were registered with The Kennel Club at the beginning of the century, although British interest in the large breed declined during the First World War.

With the extirpation of wolves from the Pyrenees, the popularity of the breed declined and by the beginning of the 20th century it was on the verge of extinction.

In the 1830s, Pyrenean Mountain Dogs were used as one of the foundation breeds in the creation of the Leonberger. It is sometimes claimed that French settlers brought these dogs with them to Canada and that they are among the forebears of the Newfoundland dog. They came to be used by the French nobility to guard their châteaux, particularly in the south of the country. In the seventeenth century, Madame de Maintenon and Louis, Dauphin of France, brought a dog of this type to the court of King Louis XIV, where they soon became in great demand, the King even naming it the Royal Dog of France. Genomic data places it within the same genetic clade as the Pharaoh Hound, Cirneco dell'Etna, and the Ibizan Hound. It is sometimes claimed that its forebears – and those of the Pyrenean Mastiff – were white livestock guardian dogs brought to the area from Asia in Roman times, and thus that it is related to Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog of Italy and the Kuvasz of Hungary. In France it is usually called the 'Patou'. The Pyrenean Mountain Dog is a traditional breed of the Pyrenees. Pyrenean Mountain Dog at the beginning of the 20th century The breed is known as the Great Pyrenees in the United States, where it is also used to protect flocks from various predators. The breed is widely used throughout France as a livestock guardian, particularly in the French Alps and Pyrenees, protecting flocks from predation by wolves and bears. It is recognised as a separate breed from the closely related Pyrenean Mastiff, which is from the Spanish side of the mountains. The breed comes from the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains that separate France and Spain. ( French: Chien de Montagne des Pyrénées) is a breed of livestock guardian dog from France, where it is commonly called the Patou. White with or without patches of black, badger, grey or tan on the head

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