Shepherds play a big role in the Christmas Story. The gospel writers of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John had human guardians in mind. As did the English hymn writers who penned “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night.”

Around here, we rely on the Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs to watch the flock at night. We have six of them: Remi, Rita, Rocky, Rosie, Ringo, and Rebel. My mom began naming her Great Pyrenees with two syllable “R” names and we have kept up the tradition.

The dogs are all brother/sister pairs. Each pair is about four years apart, giving us a robust guardian force. We train new puppies on basic commands of sit, come, down, etc, and basic socialization. The older dogs train the younger dogs on how to do their jobs.

The dogs work in pairs. One dog will stay back with the flock while the other will attack the predator. We don’t train them to do this; it is their instinct.

They practice the same formation to protect their humans, too. The dogs are strongly bonded to certain humans. For example the four older dogs are very protective of the kids. The younger two dogs are very protective of me.

The Great Pyrenees are working dogs that hail from the mountains of Spain and France. They have a kind, relaxed personality, unless they perceive a threat to their livestock or humans. They protect their flock from hawks who want to swoop in and carry off a new-born lamb. The dogs are constantly monitoring the ground for threats from predators, like coyotes, too. When they are not working, they nap and play with each other.

The humans, dogs, and beasts of the field wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.