Pennco Pyreneans


.......our first puppy

Bright Star of Bergerie (Beta)
(1958 - 1967)
Ch Basquaerie Louis O'Montlouis
x Ursula de Fontenay




		"Beta" with playmate "Pepe"

The 1960's

brought us Bergerie Diable (Marshall)
(1960 - 1972)

who came to stay with us at 10 months and remained for 3 years, returning to Bergerie after obtaining his first C.C. Although hardly shown after he obtained Champion status, he made the record books in 1958 when he won Reserve Best in Show at Crufts at the age of 8 years.

		"Marshall" after his Crufts win

After Marshall went back to Bergerie we took on two puppies;

St Girons Fricourt (Lucky) (1963 - 1970) and St Girons Gizelle (Gigi) (1963 - 1974)




	"Gigi" & "Lucky"


and now the 1970's
	"Penny" & "Zeta"

	when after several unsuccessful matings "Illa" finally produced one puppy, this was out adored NEW "Penny" (being decimalisation year).

	Pennco Penelope Beta ("Penny") (1970 1979)
	who was eagerly adopted by "Zeta", and the two became inseparable






When the Bergerie Kennels closed its doors in 1973 and all the dogs were rehomed, Mr Prince refused to part with "Grant" (Bergerie Knur), who after winning Best in Show at Crufts in 1970 was probably the best known and most photographed Pyrenean in the world. At that time, as we only had bitches, our offer to give him a well deserved retirement was gratefully accepted.

He quickly settled into "family" life, and in the years that followed matured beyond all expectations. Many visitors, especially from abroad, were astounded to hear he was never again to be shown, but he enjoyed outings to various Fetes and Fun events where he was always the centre of attraction. It was a miserable holiday when we had to part with him on Christmas Eve in 1977 as the cancer from which he had been suffering for 18 months became too difficult to contain. We will never forget him.



		Bergerie Knur ("Grant") July 1967 to Dec. 1997


1978 was not a year we wish to remember......as having started the year with the loss of "Grant", we finished it not only with the death of "Nona" and all her puppies, but 48 hours after, we had to say farewll to her grand-mother "Illa" who was then coming up to 14 years of age.

We were then left with just "Penny" who was desolate at the loss of both her daughter and her mother, and it was thanks to June DuRance and Joan Lloyd-King that we were able to pull ourselves together and start 1979 with thoughts of dogs again. At that time June had four males, so she lent us "Alfie" (Chazan Alfredo) who was six years old, and as the Lloyd-Kings were trying to reduce the numbers in their Buckland Kennels prior to moving, we took on 18 month old "Layla" who, after a few years, decided she wanted to be a "one and only" and went to look after Kay Jones and family in Dorest.


	Chazan Alfredo ("Alfie") (1973 - 1985)	Buckland Layla of Pennco (1977 - 1989)

In 1985 having by then had to say goodby to "Alfie" at 12 years of age, and "Layla" being more then happy to remain with the Jones' in Dorset, we decided to try to get back to some of the original Bergerie lines. "Zara" had serious problems following matings which ended with her having a hysterectomy and "Caron" showed no signs of wanting any puppies, so we again took up Sheila Mackay's offer and mated Caron's sister "Donna" (Pennco Pendonna) to the Lewis's Lydaub Alabaster ("Beano"). She produced six puppies in October 1986, two of which were stillborn, but Pennco Petit Panda ("Panda") went to live with his "Mum", Pennco Penlionne all the way to Alaska to live with our long-standing friend Mary Robinson, and Pennco Penlouis ("Louis") and Pennco Penbonnet ("Bonnie"), the only bitch in the litter, stayed with us.


now into the 1990's

"Bonnie having decided that she did not want any puppies of her own, in 1992 we took on Lydaub Alphecca ("Jemma") but tragically lost her to bone cancer at 18 months of age. Still reeling from the shock, the Lewis's insisted we have her litter sister Shani - Lydaub Alluring. It was a case of "lightning can strike twice", as after only 20 weeks we had to make that dreadful decision to have her put peacefully to sleep when the internal tumour which up until then had never shown any signs, attacked one of her vital organs. They were two lovely little girls who we knew all too briefly, but are never forgotten.


Lydaub Alphecca ("Jemma") (1992 - 1993)		Lydaub Alluring ("Shani") (1992 - Jan 1994)


Our friends were wonderful, and we had many offers of puppies as the Pyrenean fraternity as a whole was as stunned as we were but as our thoughts at the time were that we could not face any more puppies, we decided to keep a look-out for a 'teenage' bitch. As fate often steps in and any decision is taken out of one's hands, as it were, it was after spending a weekend with Lorna & Tony Ireland that we came away with 9 week old "Della" - who became Arandora D'Lightful of Pennco.

"Bonnie" was delighted, as even though she had had no puppies of her own to 'mother', she had adored "Jemma" when she was small and she quickly 'adopted' "Della". "Louis" took a few weeks longer to convince that he really did not mind this new bouncy bundle of fluff, but then he was as smitten as his sister.


	Pennco Penlouis ("Louis") (1986 - 1998)		Arandora D'Lightful of Pennco ("Della") (1993 - 2000)
		Pennco Penbonnet ("Bonnie") (1986 - 1997)

Our Pennco Pyreneans have always been part of the family and showing has been secondary in their lives, but they have always enjoyed a modicum of success in the show rings and going back many years the names of “Penny”, “Zara” and “Layla” can still be found on many of the Open Show trophies, especially in the New Forest area. After moving to the west country, we continued our support for shows run by the various Canine Societies and Associations, and were again successful in obtaining many Best of Breed and Best Opposite sex awards, including Reserve Best of Breed at the Paignton Ch. Show for three years running with our Pennco Penbonnet. Both “Jemma” and “Shani” won many first prizes during their short lives, and even though “Della” was much happier at home or running free with her daughters, she did manage multiple firsts, and many B.O.B’s and B.O.S awards.

“Cassie”, who had attended regular Ringcraft classes since she was 12 weeks, took to the show ring like a duck to water – she enjoyed the excitement and meeting all the different dogs and people and as she always showed herself to full advantage, she won her first B.O.B. at 9 months of age to add to her many ‘firsts’: whilst her litter sister “Dee-Dee” was receiving more awards than we have room to list including Best Puppy at several Shows. We were concerned at the beginning of 1999, when “Cassie” began to show some unexplained symptoms which increased in intensity over several months so on Veterinary advice we had to make that dreadful decision to have her put peacefully to sleep. It seems we did the right thing at the right time as the post mortem revealed a large inoperable brain tumour.

Arandora D'Lightful of Pennco ("Della")
1993 - 2000

Our last photo of
"Cassie" with "Della"

Arandora Pencharissa of Pennco ("Cassie")
1996 - 1999

We hadn’t forgotten what it was like to lose youngsters who had everything in life to look forward too, but this latest upset devastated us all. “Della”, who had never been on her own since she was born wouldn’t leave us and for several days we were out in the car aimlessly driving rather than be at home. One of our trips took us up to the Gables Kennels where we had thoughts of ‘borrowing’ Della’s brother to keep her company until we had decided what we were going to do, but we came away with one of their young dogs – “Arandora U’Are My Lucky Star”. Lorna said at the time that he was only ‘on loan’ as she did not want to part with him but after three weeks, with his paws well established under all our tables, as it were, he made it clear that he had no intention of leaving and we didn’t want to part with him anyway.

Lorna, bless her for ‘saving our lives’ for the second time, said “Finn” could stay, so with Pennco added onto his name, he has become the ‘head of our household”, and as all those visiting are aware, he takes his duties very seriously. As he was 10 months old when he came to us, he had already had a taste of the show ring and had already qualified for Crufts the following year, so we were delighted when, the first time we showed him, he won BOB. He and “Della” soon became great friends and were rivals at local shows for the rest of 1999, one or other generally coming home with the B.O.B. or B.O.S. rosette.

now we come up to date with 2000 - the new century......

Like most, we started the Millennium year with all sorts of plans but we should have known better as throughout our lives “fate” always seems to step in when we least expect it and from then on there is no choice, although we didn’t expect such a shock as we received when our Vet gave us the news that the sprained joint we thought that “Della” was suffering from was, in fact, an advanced stage of bone cancer. We just couldn’t take it in until we saw the x-rays, and even then, as she seemed her usual bouncy self we found it difficult to believe when we were told she wouldn’t be with us five weeks from then - he was right, she was with us for just five weeks and one day…..

To say we were stunned was putting it mildly, but this time we decided to act quickly. Lorna didn’t have any puppies, but Lydia Lewis had kept 2 bitches and a dog from a litter born in June. Our association with “Lydaub” is of very long standing as many of our past dogs came through her breeding, so Lydia’s offer of one of the bitch puppies was gratefully accepted. Just before Christmas “Tara” now “Lydaub Iced Diamond of Pennco” arrived. As he had been on his own for a couple of months, “Finn” was not too sure of the whirl-wind that had come to take over, but it didn’t take him long to realise that it was lovely to have a playmate again, and since then they have been inseparable.

"Tara" and "Finn" -

...now inseparable.

As Lydia is so occupied with her business and doesn’t get to many shows, we promised we would show “Tara” as much as possible, and at the end of her first week with us we took her to an Animal Charity Xmas Exemption show, when, out of 24 breeds, she won Best Puppy in Show. Since then she hasn’t looked back, and although shows were sparse during most of 2001, she followed in the footsteps of her ancestors and won at Open Shows – 7 Best Puppy in Breed; 1 Pastoral Puppy Group 3, 1 Pastoral Puppy Group 4; 5 Best of Breed and a Pastoral Group 4; 2 Best Opposite Sex in Breed; Multiple first prizes, and won the Junior Bitch class at her first Championship show which qualified her for Crufts 2002. We continued to support several local Exemption Shows, at which she won more first prizes; a Reserve Best in Show, and the day before her first birthday, another Best Puppy in Show.

"Tara" winning Best Puppy in Show		"Finn" winning Reserve Best in Show


Even though "Finn" would rather be at home, he is still quite happy to accompany "tara" and make up the numbers in the Pyrenean classes at our local shows where, if he puts his mind to it, he can still show that he has a winning streak, So far, since he has lived in Cornwall, he has won 11 Best of Breeds, 2 Best Opposite Sex and over 20 first prizes at Open shows, as well as Reserve Best in Show at a Charity Exemption show. So,......now we have reached the beginning of 2002 with "Pennco". Hopefully the "bad" times have passed and as we have had more than our share of intervening "fate" we hope we can look forward to many happy years with "Finn" and "Tara" Joyce and Patrick Stannard Sandycot Darite Liskeard Cornwall, PL14 5JS Tel/Fax : 01579 348860 email: JoyceStannard@aol.com


Photographs Courtesy of P.Bickle and E.B.Gray



The 1950's



The first two we knew...
(left)				(right)
Valeska de Fontenay (Topsy)				Ubitza de Fontenay (Bitza)
Ch President de Fontenay x				Roger de Fontenay x
Rita de Fontenay				Snow Lassie de Fontenay
(foundation dam of Pennco)				(a real 'gentle giant')


	"Penny" & "Nona" with 'grandma' "Illa"

	In 1974 "Penny" had a litter of 7 from which we kept

	Pennco Penavia ("Nona") 1974 - 1978

	but we tragically lost her, and her 13 puppies, owing to whelping complications at the end of 1978


"Illa", "Gigi", "Beta", "Lucky" - out for the day			"Lucky" at The Guide Dogs for the Blind Fete

into the 1980's

and before "Layla" went to live with the Jones's at the beginning of 1981, she produced a litter of 13 from which we kept ("Zara") - Pennco Penzara (1981 to 1991)
"Layla" and "Zara" challenging for B.O.B. at New Forest Show.

In 1996, with out two 'golden oldies' nearing the end of their lives, we thought it was about time we had another puppy so "Della" was mated to Lydaub Descriminator Titan ("Titan") and we were able to add "Cassie" ("Arandora Pencharissa of Pennco") to the family. We were very pleased when "Dee-Dee" came to the west country to live with our friends Roger & Diana and became (Arandora Pencarosa at Cumngo), so the two pups were able to grow up together under the watchful eye of their "Mum".

"Cassie" & "Dee-Dee" with "Della"		"Cassie" & "Dee-Dee" on their 1st birthday

"Finn" at 10 months winning his first best of Breed at the Tavistock Open Show.