Sennenhunds, called Swiss mountain dogs or Swiss cattle dogs in English, are a type of

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

originating in the Swiss Alps. The Sennenhund are farm dogs of the general livestock guardian type. There are four breeds of Sennenhunds, all sporting a unique tricolor coat. While the two larger ones share a heavy build and a calm temperament, the two smaller ones are more agile. The breeds range from medium in size to very large. The name Sennenhund refers to people called ''Senn'' or ''Senner'', Swiss Alpine herdsmen and dairymen, and does not translate as "mountain" or "cattle".

Breeds

This table shows the relative sizes of the four breeds, with the original breed name followed by the most popular English version of the breed name. The four Sennenhund breeds are well known in Switzerland and the rest of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the Bernese Mountain Dog has become somewhat popular, while the other three breeds are promoted as rare to those seeking unique pets.

History

Although one writer believes that the Swiss mountain dog type derives from Roman molossus, the area from which the type originated never had Roman roads or towns. The word ''Senn'' or Senner is the term for Alpine herdsmen and dairymen (an Alpine meadow is called a ''Sennelager'') who tend other farmers' cattle and sometimes sheep; Sennenhund means "dog of the Senn". Sennenhunds were not just cattle dogs, but were kept as general farm dogs, working as

livestock guardian dog A livestock guardian dog (LGD) is a dog type bred for the purpose of protecting livestock from predators. Livestock guardian dogs stay with the group of animals they protect as a full-time member of the flock or herd. Their ability to guard ...

s and as

herding dog A herding dog, also known as a stock dog, shepherd dog, sheep dog or working dog, is a type of dog that either has been trained in herding or belongs to breeds that are developed for herding. Herding behavior All herding behavior is mo ...

s when necessary, as well as guarding the farmers' families, homes, herds and flocks. The guarding function was especially necessary in earlier times, when

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

and other large predators threatened livestock and people. The two larger Sennenhunds were also used for pulling carts. Today, with the reintroduction of wolves, research is being done on the use of these dogs to protect livestock. A Grosser Schweizer Sennenhund (left) and an Entlebucher Sennenhund (right) A red and white color once found in the Sennenhunds was said to be from crosses with the St. Bernard, a breed from the Alps also said to be descended from Roman the molossus. The Sennenhunds, especially the two larger breeds, began to disappear in the 1800s with the decline in need for butcher's dogs and carting dogs. The efforts of Alpine geologist and indigenous Swiss dog breeds advocate Albert Heim (1849-1937) brought various examples of Sennenhunds to an International Dog Show in 1908. At that point, Heim and other members of the Schweizerische Kynologische Gesellschaft (Swiss Kennel Club) began sorting out the dogs by what they judged to be representative

breed type In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athletic ...

s and naming the four breeds.

Similar breeds

The St. Bernard was one of the first dog breeds to be documented and differentiated from other large farm dogs of the area. Except for color and historical documentation, the St. Bernard is very similar to the two larger Sennenhunds. Official documents from the hospice in St. Bernard Pass concerning the dogs date back to 1707, with paintings and drawings of the dog dating even earlier. The breed was the very first breed entered into the Swiss Stud Book in 1884 and the breed standard was finally approved in 1887. The

Rottweiler The Rottweiler (, ) is a breed of domestic dog, regarded as medium-to-large or large. The dogs were known in German as , meaning Rottweil butchers' dogs, because their main use was to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered mea ...

shares similarities in its location of origin, use and history.

Tri-color coat

A tri-color coat is a pattern of some shade of black or brown, few shades of red that is often called tan, and some white. Some have tan markings above the eyes. Eumelanin and

phaeomelanin Melanin (; from el, μέλας, melas, black, dark) is a broad term for a group of natural pigments found in most organisms. Eumelanin is produced through a multistage chemical process known as melanogenesis, where the oxidation of the amino ...

pigmentation occurs on the same dog; "the back is black from eumelanin pigment being made and the belly is tan or red from phaeomelanin pigment being made".

Breed examples

Examples of the four Sennenhunds, showing the similarity of the breeds and the characteristic tri-color coat. File:Greater Swiss Mountain Dog 2018 (2).jpg, Grosser Schweizer Sennenhund (Greater Swiss Mountain Dog) File:Bernese Mountain DOg2.jpg, Berner Sennenhund (Bernese Mountain Dog) File:Dara essy.jpg, Appenzeller Sennenhund (Appenzeller Mountain Dog) File:Entlebucher.jpg, Entlebucher Sennenhund (Entlebucher Mountain Dog)

References

External links

Swiss dog breeds
from the Berne National History Museum

(in German) * ttp://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/agouti.html#tricolor Genetics of tricolour coats KG * The Senn (in German)
DMOZ links to more information about Sennenhund breeds
{{Authority control Dog types Dog breeds originating in Switzerland