MY LOVE FREDERICK...

...is a Great Pyrenees livestock guarding dog. I met him recently when I was having a retreat on a farm run by young nuns. Frederick minds a flock of sheep, and the two young nuns who care for him said, "He loves the sheep! He loves helpless animals who need his protection." And protect them he does! He zealously patrols the borders of the farm. Then, at nightfall when the nocturnal predators are awake and on the prowl looking for juicy bovine blood, Frederick stands and howls to the hills as a warning to any bloodthirsty beasts of prey. Were a hunting carnivore to break into the fold, Frederick could snap its neck and throw it up in the air before it could even touch his wooly wards.  

Before coming I had expressed interest in petting their guard dogs. But I had been warned not to try. So, I kept a distance from Frederick and the other Great Pyrenees who police the farm. I was, however, invited to see the puppies. When I was amongst the young pups, I felt a snout burrow into my back. It was Frederick! He nuzzled his head under my arm and started gazing into my eyes. His spectacularly large brown eyes which have a sheen of gold startled me, they were so serious and so beautiful.  

 

He was called after St Frederick, the Norbertine Saint. His flowing white coat reminded the sisters of the Norbertine habit which is the same color as Frederick's fur. The sisters have a large brood of dogs and puppies, they breed them for sale, and this is part of how their monastery gets the funds it needs. The sisters call their dogs after saints and when a prospective dog-owner comes to the farm or they treat people on retreat to a visit to the puppy pen, the sisters tell the visitors about the Saint that the dog or puppy is called after. It facilitates a conversation about a certain saint that may never otherwise have happened. 

I have been cautioned against calling animals human names and especially saints' names, because while a dog needs a name, a dog can never become a saint and thus giving them the name of a saint may seem pointless. But oh! There is a point to the sisters calling their beloved hounds after the saints. It allows a type of evangelism that touches the heart and leaves a paw-print on the soul. Had Great Pyrenees Frederick not been called after the dynamic St Frederick who was a trailblazer for the Norbertines in the 1100s, I doubt I'd ever have looked up St Frederick. I'm intimidated by the holiness of the Norbertine Saints, and would not have looked up the real Frederick had the Great Pyrenees mountain dog never been called after him.