FCI-Standard No 141

PYRENEAN SHEEPDOG
(Berger des Pyrénées)
TRANSLATION : Mrs. Peggy Davis.

ORIGIN : France.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 03.05.1990.

CLASSIFICATION FCI : Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Cattle Dogs)
Section 1 Sheepdogs
With working trial.

GENERAL APPEARANCE : Dog below a minimum size and weight denoting a maximum nervous energy. A facial expression always wide-awake, a clever and suspicious look together with a great liveliness of movements, give this dog a characteristic appearance equal to none other.
Faults : Heavy dog, not lively; thick musculature; ordinary expression; bad movement; short or restricted trot.

SIZE : Males : from 40 cm to 48 cm
Females : from 38 cm to 46 cm
A tolerance of 2 cm over size is tolerated in the subjects of perfect type.
Disqualifying faults : Size outside the limits.

HEAD : The skull is moderately developed, almost flat with a medial furrow slightly marked, rounding harmoniously on the sides and has a slightly pronounced occipital protuberance. The forepart slopes gently down to the muzzle and the stop is not apparent. The head in its general shape is triangular and recalls that of the brown bear.
Faults : Ogival skull; bulging forehead; head too short, too long or too narrow; stop pronounced; hair too abundant especially when it covers the eyes.

MUZZLE : Straight, rather a little short, with the predominance of the skull on the face quite obvious, slim without exaggeration and shaped like a wedge. The lips, not very thick, cover perfectly the lower jaw and do not show any apparent labial comissure. The mucous membranes of the lips and the palate are either black or strongly marked with black. The nose is black. The hair on the muzzle must be as it will be explained hereafter in the description of the coat (hair).
Faults : Muzzle square or rectangular, muzzle too long or too short; lack of pigmentation; hair too abundant, obstructing the eyes (see "hair".
Disqualifying faults : Nose other than absolutely black.

EYES : Black bordered eyelids, whatever the colour of the coat, enclosing expressive eyes, wide open and dark brown in colour. They must be neither prominent nor too deep set. Wall eyes or eyes with different coloured spots are allowed in dogs with harlequin coat or slate grey, of which they are nearly always a characteristic.
Faults : Eyes too small, too round, light or with a wild looking expression. Depigmented eyelids.
Disqualifying faults : Wall eye in dogs other than the harlequins or slate greys; pink spots on eyelids.

TEETH : The canines are strong, the dentition must be complete. The teeth of the upper jaw cover those of the lower jaw keeping contact. The pincer-bite is allowed.
Disqualifying faults : Under- or overshot mouth.

EARS : The ears must be quite short, moderately wide at the base and set not too close to each other on the top of the skull, nor too widely separated at either side of the head. They are generally cropped, but those not cropped, if they are well placed, are not considered as a fault. Qualities otherwise being equal, preference is given to the cropped and well carried ear. The lower part of the natural ear must be erect and mobile. Ideally, the upper third or the upper half of the ear must fall forward or to the side, in a symmetrical way for both ears.
Faults : Ears set too low, carried badly, thick, heavy, falling flat against the sides of the head, ears carried in asymmetrical fashion. Naturally erect ears constitute a serious fault.

NECK : Rather long, quite muscular, well set into the shoulders.
Faults : Neck set badly, thick or weak joining with the shoulders, or too long.

SHOULDERS : Quite long, moderately sloping; the point of the soulder-blade jutting out clearly from the topline.
Faults : Shoulder too straight or too short.

BODY : Bone structure is lean. The back is quite long, but well sustained; the loin short and slightly curved. It seems even more so because the dog's coat is often thicker on the rear and the rump. The rump is rather short and quite sloping, the flank only slightly let down, the ribs slightly rounded. The chest (brisket), moderately developed, comes down to the level of the elbows, rarely lower.
Faults : Heavy ensemble. Square dog. Topline horizontal, roach back.

TAIL : Well feathered, not very long, set rather low and forming a hook at its tip. When the dog is alert, the tail must not go over the line of the back. Many subjects are docked. Some have a naturally rudimentary tail, never having been docked.
Faults : Badly carried tail or without a hook at its tip.

FOREQUARTERS : Lean, sinewy, feathered with hairs; pastern joint pronounced.
Faults : Double dewclaw. Faulty position of legs.

HINDQUARTERS : The thigh is muscular, but only barely let down. The hocks are lean, placed low, well bent and sometimes a little close together, mainly in dogs born and bred in the mountains. The angulations are rather closed. The dogs with semi-long hair have the limbs without fringes.
The hindlegs may or may not have single or double dewclaws. The dewclaw being an ancient characteristic of the shepherd breeds, the subjects with dewclaws must be preferred.
Faults : Straight hocks, lack of suppleness in the joints.

FEET : Lean, quite flat, of an accentuated oval shape. The pads are dark, the nails small, hard and covered with hair which goes under the foot and in between the toes.
Faults : Thick feet; cat feet; long nails, white.

SKIN : Fine, often mottled with dark patches, whatever the colour of the coat.

COAT
HAIR : The hair long or semi-long, but always dense, almost flat or slightly wavy; thicker and more woolly on the rump and the thighs, its texture being like something in between goat's hair and sheep's wool. The muzzle hair is shorter at the moustache and the beard, and on its sides, as well as on the cheeks, the hair is brushed (tousled) front to back. The eyes must be apparent and not covered with hair.
Faults : Hair too abundant on the head, especially when it covers the eyes and on the muzzle when it looks like griffon moustaches. Bad texture. Curly and frizzy.
COLOUR : More or less dark fawn with a mingling of black hairs and sometimes a little white at the chest and on the feet; more or less light grey, often with white on the head, chest and on the feet; harlequin of varied tones.
The black coats, black with white markings, are not very widespread. The coats of pure colour are preferred.
Faults : Too many and too big white patches. Black coat with tan on the head and on the legs (called bas rouges = red socks).
Disqualifying faults : White coat.

GAIT/MOVEMENT : At the walk the Pyrenean Sheepdog has, through his conformation, a rather restricted gait; ambling is not penalized, but it is a gait often used by the working dogs aiming at extending the walk to follow the pace of the sheep, or used at the end of the day when feeling tired and which therefore is not acceptable in the show ring. The trot, preferred gait of our little sheepdog, must be true and vigorous; at the short trot the head is carried a bit high, at the extended trot the head is in line with the back; the feet are never lifted very much, the movement is flowing; he skims over the ground. The correct movement, pleasant to the eye, is given by the balance of the shoulder-hindquarters angulations.

FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.