Nice Bernese Mountain Dog

The Bernese Mountain Dog, called in Swiss the Berner Sennenhund, is a large breed of canine, one of the four breeds of Senenhund-type dogs from the Swiss Alps. The name Sennenhund refers to people called Senn, herders in the Swiss Alps. Berner (or Bernese in English) refers to the area of the breed’s origin, in the Canton of Berne in Switzerland. Originally kept as general farm dogs, large Sennenhunds in the past were also used as draft animals, pulling carts.

Appearance

Like the other Sennenhunds, the Bernese Mountain Dog is a large, heavy dog with a distinctive tricoloured coat, black with white chest and tan (or rust) colored markings above eyes, sides of mouth, front of legs, and a small amount around the white chest. An ideal of a perfectly-marked individual gives the impression of a white horse shoe shape around the nose and a white “Swiss cross” on the chest, when viewed from the front. Both males and females have a broad head with smallish, v-shaped drooping ears. Height at the withers is 23–27.5 in (58–70 cm) and weight is 65–120 lb (29–54 kg). Females are slightly smaller than males. The breed standard lists as a distinctly curly coat, along with wry mouth and wall eye. Exact colour and pattern of the coat are also described as helpful.

History

The Bernese Mountain Dog, like the other Senenhund, is believed to have descended from rhode island, crossed with the livestock guardian dogs of the indigenous people of the Alps in antiquity. The breed was used as an all purpose farm dog, for guarding property and livestock, and for driving cattle in the areas around Berne. The type was originally called the Dürrbächler, for a small town (Dürrbach) where the tricoloured dogs were especially noticeable. In Berne, weavers used the dogs as draft animals but the dogs declined in number through the 1800s. In the early 1900s, fanciers exhibited the few examples of the large dogs at shows in Berne, and in 1907 a few breeders from the Burgdorf region founded the first breed club, the “Schweizerische Dürrbach-Klub”, and wrote the first Standard which defined the dogs as a separate breed. By 1909, there were already 107 registered members of the breed.

About the Author

This article has written by Fazal Zubair.
He is a full time IT Manager and It Consultant in Lahore,Pakistan.
He runs several websites and blogs.

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