I am searching for a pyrenean sheepdog of the smooth face variety. I understand there is not anyone in the UK breeding them (i could be mistaken though). Does anyone know of a good breeder in europe? A long shot I know.

Sorry not that I know of, think only long hair variety are recognised in the UK so as I don't think they have smooth heads then I don't think you will find many who have an interest. Would not have thought it too difficult to find a breeder in Europe though why not contact one or two breed clubs, not sure what they are called but I suppose short coat.

Edit, it would seem they are called smooth haired, they apparently also come in 'goat haired' not sure what that is one would think wire.

It seems we only have the 'hairy faced' version here in the UK (for want of a better description)...
http://www.pyreneansheepdog.co.uk/breed-info/History.htm

The smooth-faced looks quite different - there's photos of both types here that illustrate this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrenean_Shepherd

Looking at Google images, the smooth-faced ones look much more like Border Collies than the other.

Just curious: are they two different breeds (and specifically bred for) or are they classified after birth?

They are two different breeds and have 2 different breed standards.

I did a bit of reading after my last post and found a French site where it states that "The Smooth-Faced variety of Pyrenean Shepherd is fully interbred with the Rough-Faced variety. Pups of both varieties occur in the same litters."  It's the Patricia Princehouse link for more history...

Also, I can find the KC breed standard for one described as 'long haired' which appears to include two types of coat length (long or semi-long) but I can't find any other breed standard - where do I find that?  Have you spoken with UK breeders about the smooth-faced variety?  Perhaps they can tell you if they pop up occasionally or put you in touch with their overseas contacts

I've never really heard of this breed before so thanks for putting it on my 'learn' list - I realise that this is probably the breed of dog I spotted in France once.  I saw a woman nr Carcassonne with 3 (full face hair) but lacked the language skills to ask her what they were!

Are they two separate breeds or one breed with two varieties of coat like the Weimaraner, St Bernard, Saluki etc that are shown together (in the UK at least)?

I know of a couple of these compete in Working Trials, but both had a hairy face.............

The FCI has them listed as two separate breeds here;

http://www.fci.be/nomenclature.aspx

The KC has the long haired standard;
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/146

but I can't find anything for the smooth faced version.

I had a look on the World Show results website, and the two types are separately classified -
Berger des Pyrénées à Face Rase = smooth face
Berger des Pyrénées à Poil Long = long haired

They do the same for Weimaraners too but in the UK Longs and shorts are shown together, also perhaps enthusiasts prefer the hairy type, same as say as say Podengos and Swiss dogs, only certain varieties appeal?