La Plaine d'Astrée: The parade yearsent with time. . . . !!!!

 

After 14 years spent in Forez, today is the sixteenth spring that we have settled in the Enclave des Papes in Visan.

 

Our facilities have evolved, they have been expanded for the well-being of our Patous dogs.

 

Our Provencal environment always luxuriates in the middle of vineyards, fields of thyme and lavender, lulled by the song of cicadas, under the sun and the climate of the south of France. 

 

Our home is a Provençal farmhouse, located in the center of the breeding farm, making monitoring easier. Backing onto the house is the maternity ward with its cement enclosure for the Patous puppies.

 

All our retired Pyrenees Mountain dogs live in the house in complete freedom, in the company of our friends the cats, sheep and ponies. Taking full advantage of the green spaces and also a nap in the sun on the terrace of the house. This is the best place to observe our little canine offspring.

 

The Patous puppy parks are in fact facing the terrace. Made in large cemented enclosures, which facilitate cleanliness and hygiene. Everyone has a pleasant and very comfortable little chalet. Puppies, exhausted by incessant play, find a haven of tranquility and security there for the night.

 

Our breeding Patous live in packs, confined in two spacious “debate parks”, set in lush greenery. Inside the park on a large cemented area, insulated kennels of imposing dimensions are built. 

 

All year round, on days when the sun shines, all the Pyrenees Mountain dogs and Patous puppies are out in the big meadows.  Although they benefit from a lot of space in their enclosure, they fully appreciate this moment of walking. They can take advantage of all the new smells left by their peers. 

 

In 2008, with the arrival of the hot summer days, our breeding facility was equipped with a swimming pool-debating pool, for the well-being of our residents. In small groups, in complete freedom, our "Pyrenees Mountains" cool off and snort in invigorating water. Our living environment certainly deserves an additional star in the “guide” of services and comfort.

 

Water distribution, like electric lighting in pens and kennels, are omnipresent everywhere in livestock farming. A wastewater and effluent evacuation network completes our sanitary installation.

 

Finally for our safety, 900 meters of Bekaert grid fence two meters high, supported by metal posts, surrounds and protects our living environment and our Pyrenees Mountain dogs. Access is locked by a remote-controlled metal gate and gate, all under video surveillance.

 

We changed landscape during the winter of 2009 to 2010, with these magnificent and exceptional snow coats in Provence!!!!

 

We recorded 30 cm of snow. The wind formed snowdrifts of up to 80 cm, and our Patous farm found itself stranded and isolated for a few days. Since then, I reassure you the snow is rare and only for a few hours during one or two days....

 

In June 2011, we completely weeded our land in the southern part, only the large meadow to the north remains natural, we preferred in order to avoid any problem with spikelets and excessive maintenance. 

And we have further expanded our facilities by creating 3 new parks equipped with insulated niches. Our Patou breeding capacity is thus doubled.

 

Please note that our Patou dogs have shade at any time of the day in their large spaces.

 

In April 2016, we acquired our first sheep, "Etoile du Berger" arrived among the pack of the Plaine d'Astrée on April 1st, a day of happiness. Mowing is thus more natural and maintenance of the land easier. Then other sheep and ponies joined our Pyrenean pack.

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In December 2019 we built the kitchen for our Pyrenees Mountain dogs. Indeed, feeding our Patous dogs BARF RAW (Raw meat, whole prey), it was most important to have a place to safely store the goods. We have no less than 7 freezers, 1 huge professional fridge and 1 smaller fridge, as well as storage cupboards, mezzanine, stainless steel sink, and marble worktop.

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During 2020, with covid forcing us to stay at home and preventing us from going out to dog shows with our Patou dogs, we decided to build two new parks with large double kennels.

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Unfortunately, covid continues to be very present in 2021, and for the same reasons, we have built two new nurseries for our Patous puppies, fully tiled inside and out, heated, video surveillance, light and insulated. Large bay windows allow us to monitor our Pyrenees Mountain puppies from the windows of our house and to have a look at our Patous, patou'nets and white patou'nettes, badger or arrouye bears at all times.

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The saying “Paris cannot be done in a day” is totally valid for our field and there is no doubt that we still have very good projects for the well-being of all our companions and ourselves. We will not stop improving this magnificent property in the heart of Provence, which I invite you to visit and discover the living environment of our Patous dogs by appointment with great pleasure.