The old comes as a new breed

Meanwhile, at least some dog friends of this region had begun to take care of the Picards, especially Robert Fontaine, vice-president of the Club St.-Hubert du Nord, and C. Tournemine. In 1912, R. Fontaine briefly describes the Picard as follows: "He is a dog of medium size, maximum 60 cm tall, its color is either a black with white hair or it is darkly colored." The efforts of Robert Fontaine and his comrades-in-arms to finally give the Picard the recognition he had so far failed on the part of French cynology, i.e. to integrate him as an independent race within the French Bergers, were for the time being undone by the outbreak of the First World War. 

Numerous dogs, especially those owned by customs officers, came to Germany and served there to reconstruct the rough-haired variety of the German Shepherd. And the regions of the north, including Picardy, were besieged, so that due to the resulting food shortages, it was hardly possible to feed additional mouths. Numerous dogs also bled to death in military service at the front. 

Some French cynologist spawned the presumption that the Picard originated from Celtic dogs. The reason given is that rough-haired dogs of a similar type can be found everywhere along the migratory and spreading paths of the Celts. Examples include: The rough-haired Dutch shepherd dog, the Bouvier des Ardennes, the rough-haired Belgian Shepherd (Laekenois) and the French Picard, as well as other regional strokes of similar fur structure, which can be found further south in the Limousin, in Spain and in the Moroccan Rif Mountains. An interesting hypothesis, after all, which, however, remains guilty of reliable evidence.

Another prominent and influential fellow journalist, Paul Mégnin (son of the famous cynologist Pierre Mégnin and editor of the journal "L'eleveur"), joined them. Thanks to the combined efforts of this trio, the Picard could no longer be silenced.

On 21 January 1925, the Club Francais du Chien de Berger, under its president