- Grey, greyish brown, greyish yellow, reddish yellow or reddish brown.
- Lighter hair in the same nuance of colour as mentioned above can be seen on muzzle, throat, chest, belly, buttocks, feet and hocks.
- Darker guard hairs visible on back, neck and sides of the body.
- Preferred: Lighter markings on shoulders, so called harness markings, and light cheek markings
- Permissible: White to a small extent as a narrow blaze, neck spot or slight necklace
- Permissible: White markings on chest, fore-and hindlegs
About the Swedish Vallhund
Origin: Sweden
- Typical life span
- 12-15 years
- Size
- Medium — from its typical weight
- Weight
- 9-16 kg
- Height
- Male
- 32-35 cm
- Female
- 29-33 cm
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI group
- Spitz and primitive types
- Origin
- Sweden
- Also called
- Spitz de Los Visigodos Vallhund Sueco
- Known hereditary risks
- Not researched yet
About
What is a Swedish Vallhund?
Small, powerful spitz-type herding dog with short legs, pointed ears, curled tail, and distinctive wolf-like markings. This ancient and fearless breed is often referred to as 'the Viking dog' and features a weather-resistant double coat.
Swedish Vallhund history and origins
Ancient Swedish breed dating back over 1,000 years to the Viking era, used as an all-purpose farm dog for herding cattle, vermin control, and guarding. Also called Västgötaspets, believed to share ancestry with the Welsh Corgi. Recognized by Swedish Kennel Club in 1943, AKC in 2007.
Swedish Vallhund appearance and size
Males typically stand 32-35 cm at the shoulder and females 29-33 cm.
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Herding Heeler
- Behaviour and temperament
“Watchful, energetic, fearless and alert”
Quoted from FCI standard n°14. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Medium
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “Herding Heeler” That is a working purpose, not a measured exercise requirement — an individual dog’s needs depend on its age, health and household.
- 4 of 5
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- 5 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 2 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- Not researched yet
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Swedish Vallhund
What you get with the Swedish Vallhund
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Herding Heeler”
- The standard describes the breed as: “Watchful, energetic, fearless and alert”
- Low grooming needs, fitting for a busy owner — the coat is “The coat is short on head and foreparts of the legs may be longer on neck, throat, chest…”
What you are taking on
- Expect a lot of shedding — “Top coat of moderate length, hard, tight and lying close to body, undercoat is soft and…”
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · Swedish Vallhund
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged preferred and permissible.
Coat
Top coat of moderate length, hard, tight and lying close to body, undercoat is soft and very dense.
The coat is short on head and foreparts of the legs may be longer on neck, throat, chest and back parts of the hind legs
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FCI standard n°14 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What the breed standard says
- Size
- “Height at the withers: Males: 33 cms (ideal height) Females: 31 cms (ideal height) A tolerance of 2 cms above or 1 cms below these heights is permitted”
- FCI states a tolerance around the figure.
Quoted from FCI standard n°14. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
What the standard penalises
What a judge marks the Swedish Vallhund down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Severe faults
Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.
- Short or rounded skull.
- Short muzzle.
- Lower jaw receding, narrow or weak jaw.
- Pincer bite.
- Lack of molars (M3 not taken into account).
- Roach back.
- Soft coat and stand off coat.
- Coat too short or too long.
- Lack of undercoat.
- White markings exceeding 30% of base colour.
- Height severely diverging from the ideal height
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Swedish Vallhund in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
What to ask for in a Swedish Vallhund
No breed-specific health panel has been written up for the Swedish Vallhund on this platform yet. That is a gap in our records, not a clean bill of health — ask the breeder which hereditary conditions their lines are tested for, and ask to see the results for both parents, dated and from a named laboratory.
Gallery
No photographs yet
This is where Swedish Vallhund owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.
A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.
Puppies
No puppies listed right now
No Swedish Vallhund breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.