Wow! eBook
Pyrenean Mastiff
Author(s): Christina De Lima-Netto (Author)
- Publisher: Kennel Club Books Inc
- Publication Date: 1 Mar. 2004
- Language: English
- Print length: 160 pages
- ISBN-10: 1593783639
- ISBN-13: 9781593783631
Book Description
As grand and wondrous as the Pyrenean mountains whence he comes, the Pyrenean Mastiff is an awe-inspiring guardian breed that remains one of Spain’s best kept secrets. The Pyrenean Mastiff is rugged enough to weather the outdoors, though he prefers to be indoors with his family, to whom he is fiercely devoted. Towering at over 32 inches at the shoulder, the adult Pyrenean Mastiff offers expert protection for home and property, given his natural aloofness to strangers. Additionally, owners will prize this noble breed’s calm, confident demeanor and its superior intelligence and bravery. The author provides a thorough history of the breed in its native Spain as well as in the US, where the breed has begun to win new admirers. In detailing the breed’s history, the author rightly credits Rafael Malo as the savior of the modern breed and the man responsible for promoting the breed internationally through his La Tajadera del Tío Roy kennel.
Editorial Reviews
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Throughout the history of our world, dogs have been one of the most diverse domestic animals, producing such vast differences as those between the minute Chihuahua and the giant mastiffs. Surprisingly, unlike other countries in which a certain degree of interest has been shown in determining the histories of native breeds, Spain today still lacks serious and profound archeo-zoological studies into the origins, sources and ages of its most emblematic breeds, among which the Pyrenean Mastiff is certainly to be counted. Perhaps we must turn to history itself, and the 800 years of Arabian dominance in the Iberian Peninsula, for an explanation of this shortcoming. Since the Middle Ages, the word “dog” has had pejorative and insulting undertones, and this has inevitably colored the basic concept of dogs and their importance to society. In order to explain the lack of interest in the origins of our canine breeds, however, we can perhaps also lay the blame on the equally significant socio-economic attitudes of Spain.
