The change in 1982

Did you Know? We talked about the standard and how the 1st standard was from 1946-1982 then it was revised in 1982. There was a huge shift in the direction of the breed in 1982 when this standard changed.

Below are some differences noted between the 1942 standard and the 1982 standard.

Some of the Changes Made: Height: 1946: 70-80 cm for males, females something smaller. 1982: Males minimum 77 cm ideally 81cm, females 72 cm ideally 75 cm. Body: 1946: height at the croup higher than the whithers 1982: Height at the croup and whithers should be the same Coat: 1946: Not long or wooly, markings do not need to be well defined 1982: Not wooly, average length measuring between 6-9 cm, mask and markings always well defined. Dewclaws: 1946: must be present 1982: none, singles or doubles with doubles preferred, allowed to be removed.

If you recall the Club Mastin del Pirineo de Espana (CMPE) was formed in 1977, as the interest in conserving the Pyrenean Mastiff grew across Spain, 2 men in the first 2 years of the 80s led to some important changes that redirected the efforts of the Pyrenean Mastiff. Their names were Juan Calvo Escanero and Don Rafael Paz Herrero. The 2 breed aficionados who also were very familiar with the breed before the Spanish Civil War became the biggest critics of the type described in the 1946 standard that happened to also be the line defended by CMPE in it's first years. They convinced the majority of those working on efforts of breed recovery that they were going down the wrong path. The "Mastiff" that they knew was a much more robust dog with a longer coat. At the time the RSCFRCE was doing revisions of standards so CMPE got to work on doing interviews and research to change the standard. Yogui was found and he became a prominent dog. Those who still defended the 1946 tried to claim Yoqui was a Great Pyrenees, if you look the last picture in this set I included some pictures of the Great Pyrenees from the 1980s and Yogui definitively doesn't look like that. One of the most important litters in 1982 was between Yogui and Dula and one of their most notable sons is Ostraspedrin Tajadera del Tio Roy (he is in the conservation post). This is when you start to see the shift towards the longer coat that we now have with the Pyrenean Mastiff.

This time period was the turning point for the breed where we began to see the shift towards the Pyrenean Mastiff we know today that connects us to the dogs of the past that were remembered by those who knew them.

Book Reference: El Nuevo Libro del Mastin Del Pirineo 2nd edition, Author Rafael Malo Alcrudo

See photos for details!

To be continued!