Many of the photographs shot by Russian photographer, Andy Seliverstoff, such as the one seen here, were widely shared over the Internet when his book, Little Kids and Their Big Dogs, was first published – and for good reason.  If you fell in love with those pictures, you’ll want to know that Seliverstoff has a second volume out called “Little Kids and Their Big Dogs: Volume 2,” and like the first one, all the dogs featured are purebred dogs. The image seen here, “Snow Day,” comes from that first book, but is available in many different formats such as prints, stationery, and home decor here.

In the photograph seen above, Seliverstoff captures a touching bond between a Briard and his young friend, but did you know that the Briard wasn’t called by that name until approximately 1809?  Before then, the breed was more commonly known as the Chien Berger de Brie, or Chien de Brie, but that name may be rooted in a quirk of colloquialism since the Briard may not have originated in the region of Brie. Some breed historians think that “Chien de Brie” may have been a mispronunciation of the name, “Chien d’Aubry” because said quickly, the two do sound similar. But why would the breed even be named Chien d’Aubry? Probably because of Aubry de Montdidier,  a French courier to King Charles V who was murdered by Richard de Macaire in 1371. The only witness to the crime was Aubry’s Briard, who, after the crime, followed de Macaire relentlessly, barking and growling all the while. You can read how things turned out for the Briard and de Macaire here, and will come to understand why the breed may have been referred to for a time as the Chien d’Aubry.