To our knowledge, only one AKC breed standard calls for its dog to gait in a manner that “shaves the earth,” and that’s the smallest of the French herding breeds, the Pyrenean Shepherd. Their feet barely touch the ground, so flowing is this dog’s movement.
This description isn’t limited to the American breed standard. The international FCI standard reads, “Walking, the Pyrenean Sheepdog has a rather short stride. The trot, preferred pace of the Pyrenean Sheepdog should be free and vigorous. At a gentle trot, the head is carried fairly high, when the speed increases, the head is in line with the back. The feet are never raised high, the movement is flowing, the dog skims over the ground.” The Canadian Kennel Club’s standard also follows suit (which you can read here). It’s a fact. The breed is famous for its free-flowing movement.
We’ve read that the smooth-faced Pyrenean Sheepdog has a shorter stride than the long-coated variety, but we’d like to hear from Pyr Shep owners to validate this.
Image found on Pinterest and happily credited upon receipt of information
I have one very much like this….best dog in the world.
Attentive, affectionate, protective,, playful, far more intelligent than most owners and human handlers…..mine handles me very well.
that’s so .very poetic.
Yes, a correct Pyr Shep will shave the earth. They never lift their feet up very high when trotting. That being said, they are incredible mountain climbers. I’ve seen mine scale up a rock face. Their nails grow incredibly fast which is annoying in a breed that has double dew claws in the back! But it does aid in climbing mountains and running on ice and snow! They are incredible athletes and do things with their bodies I’ve never seen another breed do. Even running flat out they seem to float over the ground…mostly they’re a blur. I love that description in the standard and hope they never lose it. Too many other breeds have too big of movement that wastes energy that a herding dog needs.
Thank you for the insights, Melinda, there is nothing like adding helpful information to a post to make a picture clearer, we appreciate it!