The records of the breed only date back a hundred years, but it is thought that this native Swiss dog owes its ancestors to the mastiff dogs that came to Switzerland some two thousand years ago. Many of the dogs remained, and even though bred with local dogs, remained a large animal that was adapted for the work of sheep herding, draft work and guard duty. By the end of the 1800s they were nearly extinct, and so a group of interested breeders gathered together in the canton or state of Bern, and dedicated themselves to refining the breed... (continued below)
View Cart