Appenzeller Sennenhund

The Appenzeller Sennenhund is a Swiss breed of medium-sized working dog. It originates in the Appenzell region of north-eastern Switzerland, and is one of four regional breeds of Sennenhund or Swiss mountain dog, all of which are characterised by a distinctive tricolour coat.

History

The Appenzeller Sennenhund is the traditional working dog of the – Alpine cattle-herders and dairymenTemplate:R – of the Appenzell region of north-eastern Switzerland. The earliest written description of it is that of Friedrich von Tschudi in Das Thierleben der Alpenwelt, published in 1853.Template:R In the late nineteenth century Max Sieber, a forester who had seen the dogs at cattle shows in eastern Switzerland, asked the Template:Ill to recognise the breed;Template:R a commission was established with financing from the canton of St. GallenTemplate:R and the Appenzeller Sennenhund was recognised in either 1896Template:R or 1898.Template:R Eight of the dogs were shown at the international dog show in Winterthur in 1898; they were entered in a new Sennenhunde class.Template:R

In 1906 a breed society, the Appenzeller Sennenhunde Club, was established at the instigation of the cynologist Albert Heim, who in 1914 drew up the first full breed standard.Template:R The breed was definitively accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1954.Template:R

It has spread from Appenzell to other parts of Switzerland and to other European countries.Template:R A study published in 2004 found it to be the most-registered breed in the canton of Appenzell, with 259 out of a total of registrations in the canton, or about ; in the whole of Switzerland it accounted for 360 of a total of , or about of all dogs registered by the Schweizerische Kynologische Gesellschaft.Template:R

It is the only Swiss dog breed considered to be at risk by ProSpecieRara, which lists it as , 'endangered'. Numbers are stable but the gene pool is narrow; the association is in collaboration with the breed society, the , to broaden it.Template:R It is listed by the Canadian Kennel Club among the herding dogs, and is included in the Foundation Stock Service of the American Kennel Club.Template:R

Characteristics

File:Appenzellery 645.jpg

The two coat colourations, black and Havana brown

The Appenzeller Sennenhund is the third-largest of the Sennenhund or Swiss mountain dog group, which also includes the Grosser Schweizer Sennenhund, the Berner Sennenhund or Bernese Mountain Dog, and the Entlebucher Sennenhund. It is a medium-sized dog: dogs stand some at the withers, bitches about less;Template:R weights are in the range .Template:R

The coat is double, the top-coat thick, straight and glossy. It is always tricoloured: the principal colour may be either black or Havana brown, with white markings to the chest, face and feet, and reddish-brown areas between those and the base colour.Template:R

The tail is set high and is carried in a tight curl over the back when the animal is moving.Template:R The ears are set high and are triangular and fairly small; they hang close to the cheeks when the animal is at rest, and are raised and turned forward when it is alert.Template:R Among the faults that disqualify a dog from registration are a wall eye, a kinked tail, a single coat and a coat that is not three-coloured.Template:R Dogs may be expected to live for some years.Template:R

According to the breed standard, the Appenzeller Sennenhund is lively, high-spirited, athletic and suspicious of strangers.Template:R

Use

The Appenzeller Sennenhund was traditionally used by the Alpine cattle-herders and dairymen of the Appenzell region both to herd cattle and to guard property.Template:R It is often kept as a companion dog.Template:R