Natural History Museum: Berne, Switzerland

Entlebuch Cattle Dog

(Entlebucher Sennenhund) FCI-Standard No 47

Origin:
Switzerland

Date of Publication of the valid Original Standard:
January 31, 1994

Utilization:
Driving, watch, guard, house and farm dog. Today also a versatile working and agreeable family dog.

FCI-Classification:
Group 2 (Pinscher and Schnauzer type, Molossian type and Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs))
Section 3 (Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dog)
Without working trial

Brief historical summary

The "Entlebucher" is the smallest of the four Swiss Cattle Dogs. He originates from Entlebuch, a valley in the district of the Cantons Lucerne and Berne. The first description under the name "Entlibucherhund" dates from the year 1889, but for a considerable time after that date no difference was made between Appenzell and Entlebuch Cattle Dogs. In the year 1913 four examples of the small herding dog with congenital bobtail were exhibited at a dog show in Langenthal and introduced to Professor Albert Heim, that great patron of the Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dog breeds.
On account of the judges' reports, they were entered into the Swiss Canine Stud Book (SHSB) as the fourth Cattle Dog breed. However, the first Standard was only completed in 1927. After August 28th 1926, the date of the foundation of the Swiss Club of Entlebuch Cattle Dogs initiated by Dr.B.Kobler, this breed was promoted and continued as pure bred. As the small number of entries into the SHSB (Swiss Stud Book) shows, the breed developed only slowly.
The Entlebuch Cattle Dog received renewed impetus when, apart from his hereditary qualities as a lively, tireless driving dog, his outstanding suitability as an utility and companion dog was proved.
Today, still on a modest scale, this attractive tricoloured dog has found his admirers and enjoys increased popularity as a family dog.

General appearance

Only just medium sized, compactly made dog of slightly elongated shape. Tricolour like all Swiss Cattle and Mountain Dogs. Alert, clever and friendly facial expression

Important Proportions:
Ratio of height at withers to length of body = 8 : 10
Ratio of length of muzzle to length of skull = 9 : 10

Behaviour - Temperament:
Lively, high spirited, self-assured and fearless. Good tempered and devoted towards people familiar to him. Slightly suspicious of strangers. Cannot be bribed as a watch dog. Cheerful and capable of learning

Head:
In correct proportion to body, slightly wedge shaped, clean. Head planes of muzzle and cranial region more or less parallel

Cranial Region:
Crown of head rather flat, relatively broad. Broadest between set on of ears. Slightly tapering towards muzzle. Occipital bone barely visible. frontal furrow slightly pronounced
Stop: barely pronounced

Facial region:
Nose: black, protruding slightly over front edge of lips
Muzzle: strong, well chiselled, clearly set off from forehead and cheeks. Tapering evenly but not pointed
Slightly shorter than distance from stop to occiput. Bridge of nose straight
Cheeks: barely pronounced
Lips: barely pronounced, close fitting to jaw, with black pigmentation
Teeth: strong, regular and complete scissor bite. Even bite tolerated. Absence of one or two PM1 (premolars) tolerated.
Absence of M3 (Molar 3) not taken into consideration
Eyes: rather small, dark brown to hazel, roundish. Expression lively, friendly, alert. Eyelids well fitting. Black pigmentation on rims
Ears: not too big. Set on high and relatively wide. Firm well formed ear cartilage. Flaps pendant, triangular, well rounded at tip. In repose lying flat and close to head; when alert, slightly raised at set on and turned forward

Neck:
fairly short and thick set, strong and clean, merging smoothly with the body

Body:
strong, slightly elongated
Back: straight, firm, broad, relatively long
Rump: sloping slightly, relatively long
Chest: broad, deep, reaching to the elbows. Pronounced forechest. Ribs moderately rounded. Ribcage extended, roundish-oval in diameter
Lowerline and belly: slight tuck-up rear
Tail: set on in continuation of the gently sloping rump.

Either a naturally grown tail, desirably carried level with the back or slightly above or carried hanging down (Applicable as from the date when the rule forbidding the docking of tails enters in force)

Or a congenital bobtail (short tail).

Natural tail and bobtail equally acceptable

Limbs
Forequarters: Strongly muscled but not too heavy. Front legs placed neither too wide nor too close together; short, strurdy, straight, parallel and placed well under body
Shoulders: muscular, shoulder-blade long, slanting and well attached to the body
Upper-arm: length equal or slightly shorter than shoulder-blade. Angle to shoulder-blade about 110 - 120 degrees
Elbow: laying well onto the body
Forearm: relatively short, straight, well boned, lean
Pasterns: seen from front in straight continuation of the forearm. Seen from side, very slightly angulated. Relatively short
Front Feet: roundish, compact, with arched toes, pointing straight forward. Nails short and strong. Pads coarse and robust

Hindquarters:
well muscled thighs, broad and strong. Seen from behind, not too close together, straight and parallel
Upper thigh: fairly long. Forming a rather wide angle with the lower thigh at the stifle joint
Lower thigh: approximately equal length to upper thigh, clean
Hock joint: strong, set relatively low, well angulated
Hock: fairly short, sturdy, vertical and parallel in position. Dewclaws must be removed
Hind feet: as for front feet

Gait

Ground covering, free, fluid movement with strong drive from rear. Seen from front or rear, hindlegs track in-line with forelegs

Coat

Make up of Coat:
Double coat. Topcoat short, close fitting, harsh and shiny. Undercoat dense

Colour of Coat and Markings
Typically tricolour. Basic colour black with tan (fawn to rust red) and white markings which should be as symmetric as possible.
The tan markings are placed above the eyes, on cheeks, on muzzle and throat, on either side of chest and on all four legs. On these, the tan is situated between the black and the white. White markings: Distinct small white blaze which runs without interruption from top of head over bridge of nose and can wholly or partially cover muzzle. White from chin over throat without interruption to chest. White on all feet. Unaable but tolerated: small white patch on nape of neck (not more than half a hand's breadth).

Size

Height at withers:
Dogs 44 - 50 cm Up to 52 cm tolerated
Bitches 42 - 48 cm Up to 50 cm tolerated

Faults

Any departure from the foregoing points must be considered as a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree

Under or over size

Rounded skull

Short, too long or pointed muzzle, Roman Nose

Eyes too light, too deep set or protruding

Ectropion, entropion

Ears set on low, too small or too pointed. carried in fly-away position or folded ears

Bite over- or undershot

Absence of teeth other than 2 PM 1 (premolar 1). (Absence of M 3 not considered)

Back too short. Hollow or roach back

rising or slowly sloping croup

Chest too shallow or barrel shaped

kinky tail, tail carried over the back

Limbs too fine-boned, insufficiently or too strongly angulated. Incorrect position, cow hocked or bow-legged, too close together

Weak or broken down pasterns

Feet longish, splayed

Faults in markings

• interrupted blaze
• too big white patch on nape of neck
• white collar around the whole neck
• broken white on chest
• white reaching distinctly above pasterns ("boots")

Weakness in temperament, aggressiveness

Disqualifying faults:

yellow hawk eyes, wall eye, blue eyes

too long, soft coat

ring-tail

other than tricolour coat

basic colour other than black

N.B. Male dogs should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.