As I mentioned in my previous anti-caturday post, I’m totally a dog person. I have owned two dogs in my life, both have been Berger de Brie or Briards by breed.
Hippo the dog
They’re pretty big and hairy. They’re from France, from the same area that Brie cheese comes from. I fell for the breed the first time I met one and have long since decided that any house I live in will always have one of these in residence as well. But what’s cool about the Briard is that not only is it cuddly as heck, they’re also dead useful. In France, they’re still used as sheep herders but also the Gendarmes (police) use them for crowd control and other generally useful functions. During wartimes the dogs have been used for messengers as well as pulling dogs used to transport the wounded away from the heat of battle, its main job being to actually find the wounded from among the corpses. There is even the legend of a briard named Verbaux, whose owner – a knight named Aubry de Montdidier – was murdered in 1371 with Verbaux being the only witness to the crime. He supposedly led the king’s men to the place where the corpse had been buried. Then later when the murderer came to the king’s court for a visit, Verbaux attacked the man, indicating him for the murder. The king decreed a duel between Verbaux and his master’s murderer, which Verbaux won according to the legend.
Now tell me this isn’t the most adorable thing you’ve seen today (the more adorable one is the one who eventually moved in with us):
Taatu & Pyry
Recent Comments