The Sled Dogs of Basquaerie Great Pyrenees

Mary and Francis Crane

A Tribute

A History

THE SLED DOGS OF BASQUAERIE

An Original Article
by
Steve Berman

Mary Crane trained many of her early dogs to pull a sled

Pulling a sled was great winter exercise for the dogs of Basquaerie and a task reminiscent of the breed’s ability to do sled and draft work in their native France.

Mary expected her dogs to perform jobs similar to those they performed in their native land.

Just as the Pyrenees dogs in France would pull carts and sleds so too would the Pyrenees dogs of Basquaerie.

The winter snow that covered the trails at Basquaerie provided a great opportunity for Mary to harness a team of three Pyrenees to her sled and off she and the harnessed trio went across the sprawling, snow laden landscape.

The most adept of the sled team was Ch. Patou:

Patou loved to work

An early French import who was a true working Pyrenees in his homeland, Patou was usually the lead dog when a trio pulled the sled.

L to R: Patou, Blanchette, and Aspe are in harness and ready to pull at Basquaerie.

Collection of Steve and Mary Berman

Our now familiar Pyrenees bitch Blanchette was usually harnessed in the middle position and she, like Patou, was an excellent puller.

And harnessed in the third position may be Ch. Aspe du Pic du Jer, or our also familiar Ch. Urdos de Soum, among other Pyrenees taking their turn in harness.

This original article appeared on a website we designed and authored
as a Basquaerie Great Pyrenees tribute and memorial website.

Select pages from our Basquaerie website have been relocated to this website.