Four Breeds of Sennenhund
The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog is considered the oldest of the Swiss breeds. It is the largest of the four Sennenhund breeds; all four have the same colors and markings but are different sizes.
Evolutionary hierarchy suggests breeds should genetically cluster into groups sharing recent common ancestry. A genetic clustering algorithm could not easily distinguish between the obviously related pairs of Greater Swiss Mountain Dog and the Bernese Mountain Dog.
The four breeds of Sennenhund, with the original breed name followed by the most popular English version of the breed name, and their size:
- Grosser Schweizer Sennenhund, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. Males range between 25.5 to 28.5 inches (65 to 72 cm) at the shoulder and females range between 23.5 to 27 in (60 to 69 cm) at the shoulder. There is no standard for weight in the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog; males tend to weigh between 100 to 140 lb (45 to 64 kg) and females weigh between 80 to 115 lb (36 to 52 kg).
- Berner Sennenhund, Bernese Mountain Dog. This is the only one of the four with a long coat; it is the second-largest with males at 25 to 27.5 in (63 to 70 cm) high and 90 to 130 lb (41 to 59 kg). Females are 23 to 26 in (58 to 66 cm) tall and weigh 75 to 100 lb (34 to 45 kg).
- Entlebucher Sennenhund, Entlebucher Mountain Dog. Males are 17 to 21 in (43 to 53 cm) tall, and females are 16 to 20 in (41 to 51 cm).
Read more about this topic: Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
Famous quotes containing the word breeds:
“If from the earth we came, it was an earth
That bore us as a part of all the things
It breeds and that was lewder than it is.
Our nature is her nature. Hence it comes,
Since by our nature we grow old, earth grows
The same. We parallel the mother’s death.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)