The Great Swiss Mountain Dog is a large-sized cattle herding dog from the Swiss Alps. They are the largest and heaviest of the four breeds of Swiss Mountain Dog, which includes the Bernese Mountain Dog.
This is a breed of great stature. They are large, heavy-boned and immensely strong and yet extremely agile. They have broad heads, dark brown eyes and a gentle expression, high-set triangular ears, and a striking tricolour coat of black, white and tan. The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog is a happy dog, with a kind and enthusiastic nature. They are sociable and thrive on human company, craving attention and affection from their owners. They make wonderful family dogs which have a natural affinity with children, with which they will be very gentle. With their desire to be with their family, they will want to join their owners in all their activities and love nothing more than time spent outdoors having a quick romp with their family. They do not need an excessive amount of exercise and benefit from a couple of short walks and lots of playtime. They can be stubborn and determined, although their intelligence and readiness to please mean they can be easily trained. These large, handsome and gentle dogs are wonderfully confident and reliable making them wonderful family pets.
History
The Great Swiss Mountain Dog is the largest of the four Swiss mountain dogs, the others being the Appenzeller Sennenhund, the Bernese Mountain Dog, and the Entlebucher Mountain Dog. The Great Swiss Mountain Dog was developed to move livestock down from the mountains in the Swiss Alps, guard livestock and pull carts. Their ancestry is hard to trace but they may be derived from the original mastiff-type dogs of the Romans. Originally the Swiss mountain dogs were not regarded as distinct breeds until the Swiss Kennel Club set about classifying them as four distinct breeds in the 1900s.
