General:

WHITE SWISS SHEPHERD DOG
Berger Blanc Suisse / White Swiss Shepherd dog (FCI: 01.01.2003)

Country of origin: Switzerland

The history of the White Shepherd dog goes back a long time. Already in 116 BC Marcus Terrentius Varro, a Roman historian, described the White Shepherds. They guarded the hurd against wolves. The herders preferred white dogs because they could be clearly distinguished from the wolves, who mostly attacked at sundown.

The White shepherd is a direct descendant from the German shepherd. The first White shepherd that revealed at a show was the dog Greif, born in 1879. He was shown in 1882 and 1887 in Hannover. Two White shepherds who appeared on a show at the same time were the bitch Greifa in 1888 in Hamburg and the dog Greif II in Kassel. Breeder of those three dogs was baron von Knigge. The breeder Friedrich Sparwasser had a wolfcoloured bitch, named Lotte. Out of the relationship of Lotte and Greif came the bitch Lene. There is nothing mentioned about the colour of her fur. Lene was paired with Kastor and the famous dog Hektor Linksrhein was born. Hektor has been noticed by the German shepherd fanatics Arthur Meyer and troop captain Max E. von Stehpanitz during a show in Karlsruhe and they were lost. Von Stephanitz bought Hektor and gave him the name Horand von Grafrath. Horand was the first dog entered in het new pedigree of the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SV) which had been founded in april 1899. He is the ancestor of the German shepherds. Horands grandfather was the white Greif. Also Horands brother, named Luchs, has contributed a lot on the structure of this breed and passed the colour white on to many of his descendants. Horands son, the famous Champion von Schwaben continued the white line and one of his descendants, Berno v.d. Seewiese, born in 1913 was the first white German shepherd entered in the SV-book.

In 1912 Ann Tracey from New York imported a German shepherd from one of the most important kennels. Immediatly she became white puppies in her kennel. In 1917 the American Kennel Club registered the first white puppies from Tracey's kennel. Because of the increasing popularity of white shepherds there arised difficulties between the breeders of the white shepherds en those of the standard German shepherds. Genetical problems in the bloodlines of the German shepherds were blamed on the white shepherd. They thought that the white shepherds were responsable for the fading of the fur. This mistakenly, because the White shepherd has an excellent pigment. Around this time also in Germany began a campagne to banisch the white shepherd and in 1968 the American Kennel Club, in cooperation with the German Shepherd Club, disqualified the white shepherd during a show. The white shepherd nevertheless was still registered at the American Kennel Club. In 1970 white shepherd lovers from all over the US founded the White German Shheperd Club. After the USA the breed also preaded in Canaca and Mexico.

In the beginning of the eighties the breed returned to Europe and the restructure in Germany can begin again. In the Netherlands the breed is named American-Canadian White Shepherd. However, in connection with the recognition there has been risen a problem. To be able to be recognized only one country of origin can be accepted. An other condition is that the breed has been recognized by the land of origin. Nor the US nor Canada recognizes this breed (yet). From 1991 to 1999 Switzerland, Danmark, Austria and the Netherlands begun to register in a temporary Register as white shepherd. Then finaly in 2003 the FCI reconized the breed as white swiss shepherd dog.

General Appearance A powerful, well-muscled, medium-sized, white shepherd dog with erect ears, double coat or long double coat; rectangular shape; medium-sized bone and elegant, harmonius-flowing outline.

Utilization: Family and working companion dog with distinctive friendly nature to children, attentive watchdog, cheerful and quick to learn.

Head Strong, dry and finely chiselled, in natural proportion to the body. Seen from above and from the side, wedge-shaped to the nose tapering. Axes of skull and foreface parallel.
Skull: Only slightly rounded; indicated central furrow.
Stop: Distinct, but gently rising stop.
Nose: Normal shape, medium-sized; desirably black; snow nose (loss of pigment resulting in pink streak) tolerated.
Muzzle: Powerful and moderately long, nasal bridge and lower line of muzzle straight, to the nose slightly convergent.
Lips: Dry, closing tightly, black.
Teeth: Powerful and complete, scissors bite. The teeth must be set square to the jaw.
Eyes: Medium-sized, almond shaped, placed a little obliquely with well fitting black eye-rims. Colour dark-brown to black.
Ears: Set high, carried upright; erect ears parallel and directed forward; in the shape of an oblong, at the tip slightly rounded triangle; covered with short hair.
Neck: Medium-long and well muscled, broad set on at the body, without dewlap; the elegantly arched neckline runs, without disruption, from the moderately high carried head to the withers; the throatline should be gently sloping to the breastbone.

Body Strong, muscular, medium long.
Withers: Pronounced; merging well with the neck and back.
Back: Straight and level, strongly muscled.
Croup: Long and of medium breadth; set on approximately horizontal, then gently sloping to the rear.

Chest Not too broad; deep, about 50 % of the height at the withers, reaching to the elbows; oval; chest and ribcage well extending to the rear. Prominent forechest.

Abdomen and Flanks Slender, firm flanks; underline moderately tucked up.

Tail Bushy sabre tail, tapering to the tip; set on rather deep; at least reaching to the hock joint; at rest it hangs either straight down or with a slight saber-like curve in its last third part; in movement carried higher, but never higher than the topline.

Limbs
Forequarters: Straight, seen from the front; only moderately broad stance; seen in profile, well angulated.
Shoulder: Shoulderblade long and well laid back; well angulated; whole shoulder strongly muscled.
Upperarm: Straight, adequately long, strong muscles.
Forearm: Long, straight, sinewy.
Pastern: Firm and only slightly oblique.
Hindquarters: Seen from the rear straight and parallel; standing not too wide; seen from the side, adequate angulation.
Upper thigh: Medium long, strongly muscled.
Lower thigh: Medium long, oblique, with solid bone and well muscled.
Hockjoint: Powerful, well angulated.
Hock: Medium long, straight, sinewy; dewclaws must be removed.
Feet: Oval, hind feet a little longer than forefeet; toes tight and well arched; firm black pads; dark nails desired.

Gait Elastic-rhythmical sequence of steps with even drive and enduring; front legs reaching out far, with strong thrust; in trot particularly ground covering, fluent and easy.

Skin Without folds and wrinkles, lying smooth on the musculature, darkly pigmented.

Coat Medium length, dense, close lying double coat or long double coat; abundant undercoat covered with hard, straight protection hair, muzzle, face, ears and front of legs are covered with shorter hair; at the neck and the back of the legs the coa t is slightly longer. Slightly wavy, hard hair is permitted.

Colour White, pure white preferred.

Size and Weight
Dogs 60 - 66 cm ca. 30 - 40 kg
Bitches 55 - 61 cm ca. 25 - 35 kg

Lively, without nervousness, attentive and watchful; friendly to those he knows well, loyal and affectionate; easy to train and balanced; towards strangers aloof but not apprehensive or aggressive; approaches unknown environmental influences at first reserved/cautious, then inquisitive.