Breed Standard

 

General Appearance

Small, powerful, sturdily built working dog, with fairly long body. (Ratio of height at withers to length of body 2:3). The Swedish Vallhund is a most versatile breed and can be used for many activities including herding, search and rescue, obedience, agility, general farm work, trialing, hearing dog, most excellent companion, heel work/dancing to music and much more. They also make great family pets as they just love children.

Characteristics

Appearance and expression denote a watchful, alert, energetic dog.

Temperament

Friendly, active, eager to please.

Head and Skull

Rather long and a clean-cut, blunt wedge with almost flat skull and well defined stop. Viewed from above, shows an even wedge shape from skull to tip of nose. Muzzle, viewed from side, looks rather square, slightly shorter than skull. Lower jaw strong. Although a dark mask is acceptable, a well defined mask is highly desirable with lighter hair around eyes, on muzzle and under the throat, giving a distinct contrast to the upper mask. Tightly closed lips. Nose black.

Eyes

Medium size, oval, very dark brown.

Ears

Medium size, pointed, pricked, leather hard from base to tip, but fine, smooth-haired and mobile.

Mouth

Scissor bite – jaws strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws.

Neck

Long, strongly muscled with good reach.

Forequarters

Shoulder blades long and well laid. Upper arm slightly shorter than shoulder blade and set at a distinct angle. Upper arm lies close to ribs, but is still very mobile. Forearm, when viewed from front, slightly bent, just enough to give free action to chest’s lower part; straight when viewed from side. Legs well boned.

Body

Back level, well muscled, with short, strong loin. Chest long with good depth. Well sprung ribs. Viewed from front, chest oval, from side elliptical. Reaching two-fifths of length of forearm. When viewed from side the lowest point of chest is immediately behind back part of foreleg. Sternum visible but not excessively pointed. Croup broad and slightly sloping. Belly slightly tucked up. Harness markings should be clearly defined.

Hindquarters

Well angulated, well bent stifles and low hocks, thighs strongly muscled. Legs well boned.

Feet

Medium, short, oval, pointing straight forward with strong pads. Well knuckled up.

Tail  

Previously customarily docked or may be born tailless. Set on as a continuation of croup line. All variations of carriage and length permissible, including tailless. May be raised at attention.

Image courtesy of Joanne Stockbridge

Gait/Movement

Free and active, elbows fitting closely to sides, forelegs moving well forward without too much lift, in unison with powerful thrusting hind action.

Coat

Medium length, harsh, close and tight topcoat, undercoat abundant, soft, woolly.

Colour

Steel grey, greyish brown, greyish yellow, reddish yellow, reddish brown with darker guard hairs on back , neck, and sides of body. Lighter hair same shade of colour as mentioned above is desirable on muzzle, throat, chest, belly, buttocks, feet and hocks. Instead of these lighter shades, white markings are acceptable, but never in excess of one-third of total colour.

*Any colour other than the above, including white and blue or any non-standard colour, is highly undesirable.*

 

Size

Height at withers: dogs: 33-35 cms (13-133/4 ins); bitches: 31-33 cms (12-13 ins). The relation between height at withers and length of body should be 2:3. Weight 11.5-16 kgs (25-35 lbs).

 

Faults

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Note

Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.