Re: [PyrNet-L] size

[Charlotte & Jack Perry <pyreau@erols.com>]

More than 25 years ago I  circulated a petition in favor of a GPCA vote
to see if we should have a size disqualification in our breed standard
(that one caused a huge uproar). At the same time a group of us started
measuring as many Pyrs as we could.  On the whole, I think that Great
Pyrenees in the US are taller than they were 20-25 years ago and that
breeders have come a long way to improve the breed in this country.

Unfortunately, I live in an area where there are quite a number of
irresponsible "breeders" who produce "livestock guarding Great
Pyrenees". Most of these dogs do not have any recognizable Pyr kennel
names in their pedigrees.  We see many of these dogs turning up in local
shelters or passing through our Club rescue. Besides having health and
temperamnet problems, almost without exception the dogs I have seen from
these breeders are much smaller than dogs bred by reputable breeders in
the area.  One of these 'breeders" asked my opinion of her male.  I
spent a lot of time explaining what I thought were his good and bad
features and why I would not use him for breeding (he was undersized and
had some serious structural faults).  A couple of years later I heard
this person bragging that her dog had sired hundreds of pups!