Swedish Vallhund breed guide

Most Swedish Vallhunds should want to work with you, which AKC calls a hallmark of the breed. They do best with positive, reward-based training, since most just need to understand what you want.

AKC reminds owners it is a cattle-herding breed: strong willed, as it needs to be to do its job.

Swedish Vallhunds live 12 to 15 years. Responsible breeders screen for hip dysplasia and a genetic test for an eye issue called Swedish Vallhund retinopathy was developed in 2017, so breeders can identify carriers and avoid producing affected dogs.

Swedish Vallhunds need a good, down-to-the-skin brushing occasionally and a bath when dirty. They shed the undercoat twice a year and the snowdrifts of hair make you wonder how many dogs you have.

Exercise needs vary among individuals and some have more energy than others. It is not a breed meant to run all day, but as a working farm dog it needs regular exercise, such as one decent walk daily with some fetch.

Between the 8th and 11th centuries seaborn Vikings from Scandinavia raided, conquered and settled vast areas of Britain and traces of Viking influence remain in Scandinavian place names around the British Isles.

Another reminder is the Swedish Vallhund, thought to be a cross of Scandinavian spitz dogs with Welsh corgis and for centuries Swedish Vallhunds were rugged cattle dogs and all-purpose farmhands in western Sweden, though exactly when and where the breed developed is unknown.