The Swedish Vallhund, also known as the ''Västgötaspets'' and Swedish cow dog, is a

breed of dog A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slight ...

native to Sweden. The breed's name, ''Vallhund'', when translated into English, means herding dog, as the Swedish Vallhund was originally bred as a drover and

herder A herder is a pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic or transhumant management of stock, or with common land grazing. ...

of cows over 1,000 years ago. In 1942, the dog came close to extinction, but careful breeding and publicity by Swedish national Bjorn von Rosen and K. G. Zettersten managed to revive the breed in popularity and save it from its likely end. In 1943, the Swedish Kennel Club recognized the Swedish Vallhund as a breed, and officially categorized the Swedish Vallhund as "the Västgötaspets" for

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

, the province in which their revival took place. Since then, the breed has been recognized by, and bred in, over ten countries and has gained some popularity. Swedish Vallhund agility

Physical features

The average height of the Swedish Vallhund, measured at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...

, is approximately 33 cm (12.9 in) for males and 31 cm (12.2 in) for females.The Swedish Vallhund Society (2016). ''Breed Standard'' nline Available at (Accessed 16 April 2016)

/ref> They are strong, with a long body. The ratio of height to body length is about 2:3. The head of the Vallhund is wedge-shaped, with dark brown oval eyes and pricked ears. They are born with every variance of tail length, from no tail at all to full length, therefore they are often mistaken for having been docked. (Tail docking is illegal in Sweden.)

Colour and coat

The

coat A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a ...

is short and harsh, with a tight topcoat and a soft, dense undercoat. The hair on the foreparts of the legs is slightly longer than that of the neck, chest and back parts of the hind legs.

Fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

color varies from grey, greyish brown and greyish yellow to reddish brown, with darker hair on the back, neck, and sides of the body. Lighter hair in the same shade of color as mentioned above can be seen on the muzzle, throat, chest, belly, buttocks, feet and hocks. They have lighter markings on their shoulders, also known as harness markings. Some dogs have white patches which appear, to a small extent, as a narrow blaze, neckstop or slight necklace, as well as having white markings on their fore and hindlegs and on the chest. The maximum is 30% white.

Health and lifespan

The Swedish Vallhund is generally a healthy dog. Its small stature contributes to its longevity, with an average lifespan of 15 years. Its pointy ears mean that—unlike dog breeds with long, hanging ears—ear problems are rare. This breed does well in hot climates because of its double layer coat, as long as the dog is provided cool shade and water. The breed does not do well in very deep snow because of its short legs. The Vallhund has an inherited type of

progressive retinal atrophy Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) is a group of genetic diseases seen in certain breeds of dogs and, more rarely, cats. Similar to retinitis pigmentosa in humans, it is characterized by the bilateral degeneration of the retina, causing progressive ...

disease in 34.9% of the population, which appears as mild to moderate night-blindness around the age of ten.

Activities

The Vallhund can compete in:

dog agility Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles. The handler ...

trials, obedience,

rally obedience Rally obedience (also known as Rally or Rally-O) is a dog sport based on obedience. It was originally devised by Charles L. "Bud" Kramer from the obedience practice of "doodling"—doing a variety of interesting warmup and freestyle exercises. Th ...

, showmanship,

flyball Flyball is a dog sport in which teams of dogs race against each other from the start to the finish line, over a line of hurdles, to a box that releases a tennis ball to be caught when the dog presses the spring-loaded pad, then back to their ha ...

tracking Tracking may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Tracking, in computer graphics, in match moving (insertion of graphics into footage) * Tracking, composing music with music tracker software * Eye tracking, measuring the position of t ...

, hiking, and

herding Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in ...

events.

Herding Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in ...

instincts and trainability can be measured at noncompetitive herding tests. Vallhunds that exhibit basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in herding trials.

History

The Swedish Vallhund is an ancient, national dog breed of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and may date back to the 8th or 9th century. Swedish Vallhunds originated in the county of

, which lies just south of lake

Vänern Vänern ( , also , ) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake of all Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in ...

. Here the small dog proved to be excellent for watching, guarding and herding. The breed dates to the Viking settlement of England and is thought to have played a part in the development of the modern

Welsh Corgi The Welsh Corgi ( or Corgi, plural Corgis, or occasionally the etymologically consistent Corgwn; ) is a small type of herding dog that originated in Wales. The name ''corgi'' is derived from the Welsh words and (which is mutated to ), meani ...

and the

Lancashire Heeler The Lancashire Heeler is a small breed of dog developed for use as a drover and herder of cattle. The Lancashire Heeler is listed by the Kennel Club (UK) as an endangered breed. Description Appearance The coat is harsh and smooth with a ...

. According to the

American Kennel Club The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Kenn ...

, another theory of the breed's origin is that during the eighth or ninth century "either the Swedish Vallhund was brought to Wales or the Corgi was taken to Sweden, hence the similarities between the two breeds". The Swedish Vallhund is related to larger

spitz Spitz (derived from the German word ''spitz'' 'pointed') is a type of domestic dog characterized by long, thick, and often white fur, and pointed ears and muzzles. The tail often curls over the dog's back or droops. While all of the breeds rese ...

dogs and

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

hunting dogs A hunting dog is a canine that hunts with or for hunters. There are several different types of hunting dog developed for various tasks and purposes. The major categories of hunting dog include hounds, terriers, dachshunds, cur type dogs, and g ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

. Large dogs of this spitz-type have been found buried with their masters in Stone-Age settlements in Scandinavia. The skeleton of a Swedish Vallhund is remarkably similar to that of the modern

Norwegian Elkhound The Norwegian Elkhound is one of the Northern Spitz-type breeds of dog and is the National Dog of Norway. The Elkhound has served as a hunter, guardian, herder, and defender. It is known for its courage in tracking and hunting elk and othe ...

, another breed of spitz dog. File:Västgötaspets1.jpg, Swedish Vallhund File:Västgötaspetsar.jpg, Two dogs out in the woods File:Västgötaspets2.jpg, Swedish Vallhund with long tail that is not curly File:Västgötaspets i badet.jpg, Swedish Vallhund in the lake, curly tail File:Apricot Vallhund Coat.jpeg, The Vallhund may have many coat variations

References

External links

* {{Swedish dogs FCI breeds Dog breeds originating in Sweden Herding dogs Rare dog breeds Spitz breeds