Great Pyrenees history was made and the generations began when, on June 20th, 1933, Blanchette presented Mary and Francis Crane with the first Great Pyrenees litter born in the United States.

Ten puppies were whelped to the delight of the Cranes!

This litter was eagerly anticipated by the Cranes as well as puppy buyers who greatly admired Urdos at the dog shows and were desirous of an Urdos puppy.

However, the excitement of the milestone litter was quickly tempered by a very serious infection that Blanchette contracted when the puppies were only one week old. The infection rendered Blanchette incapable of nursing her litter and there was fear the litter could be lost.

The puppies were immediately removed from Blanchette to prevent the infection from afflicting the nursing puppies: for three of the puppies even this quick action was too late.

America's first Great Pyrenees puppies were fostered by the Cranes' Field Spaniel, Dinah. Seven Pyrenees puppies were nursed and nurtured by the Spaniel! The seven puppies were also bottle fed by the Cranes' and their friends and visitors.

A variety of visitors came to Basquaerie quite eager to see puppies of this newly established breed of dog. The visitors included puppy buyers, prominent breeders and exhibitors of other breeds, several dog show judges, newspaper society column writers, and professional dog writers.

The first Great Pyrenees puppy born in America was a big blaireau male.

To Prof. Will Monroe, who would later become President of the Great Pyrenees Club Of America, went the honor of selecting the "pick puppy from the first litter in America" to become his puppy.

The first Great Pyrenees puppy born in America, the big blaireau boy, was Monroe's pick puppy. The puppy was registered as Basque Of Basquaerie.

The Cranes decided their "keeper" would be a bitch puppy and she was registered as Belle Of Basquaerie. Belle would later be sold to Mr. C. A. Ackerman of San Francisco, California to launch the Great Pyrenees breed on the West Coast.

During a discussion with Mary Crane about her earliest days in the breed and her historic first litter, Mary told this writer there were often more "volunteers" available to help bottle feed the puppies than there were puppies to be fed!