Swedish Vallhund

Friendly and alert, vocal with a wide range of sounds.
A Swedish Vallhund
Photo: TS Eriksson
Adult weight
9.1–16 kg
20–35 lb
Lifespan
12–15 yrs
Class · Working
also Sport, Family

What it's like

In temperament the Vallhund is friendly, energetic and alert, with a herder's quick reactions. It is watchful with strangers and known for being vocal, using a wide range of barks and other sounds.

Day to day
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Needs daily brain work
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Bonded to its family
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Very vocal
Prey drive
Chases; needs managing
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Living with one

It has a coat of medium length. Most of the shedding comes when the seasons change. Plan on brushing a few times a week, plus daily brushing through the seasonal moult. It needs a moderate amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Swedish Vallhund is a medium dog, about the weight of a grown Cocker Spaniel. It is one of the lightest medium breeds.

The breed is long in the body and short in the leg, sturdy and muscular, with a wedge-shaped head and pricked ears. The harsh, close double coat is usually sable grey, greyish brown or reddish yellow, with darker hairs along the back and lighter markings on the shoulders that form a distinctive harness pattern. Unusually, the tail varies within the breed: puppies may be born with a full curled tail, a stub or no tail at all.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male Swedish Vallhund puppy is already as heavy as a grown Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight7
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
051015202m4m6m9m12m18m
051015202m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
2.3–4.0 kg 5.1–8.8 lb
2.6–4.5 kg 5.7–9.9 lb
3 months
3.1–5.5 kg 6.8–12.1 lb
3.3–5.8 kg 7.3–12.8 lb
4 months
4.4–7.7 kg 9.7–17.0 lb
4.5–7.8 kg 9.9–17.2 lb
5 months
5.5–9.6 kg 12.1–21.2 lb
5.4–9.4 kg 11.9–20.7 lb
6 months
6.3–11.1 kg 13.9–24.5 lb
6.1–10.7 kg 13.4–23.6 lb
7 months
7.0–12.2 kg 15.4–26.9 lb
6.7–11.7 kg 14.8–25.8 lb
8 months
7.4–13.0 kg 16.3–28.7 lb
7.1–12.5 kg 15.7–27.6 lb
9 months
7.8–13.7 kg 17.2–30.2 lb
7.5–13.1 kg 16.5–28.9 lb
10 months
8.1–14.1 kg 17.9–31.1 lb
7.8–13.6 kg 17.2–30.0 lb
11 months
8.3–14.5 kg 18.3–32.0 lb
8.0–14.0 kg 17.6–30.9 lb
12 months
8.5–14.8 kg 18.7–32.6 lb
8.2–14.4 kg 18.1–31.7 lb
15 months
8.8–15.4 kg 19.4–34.0 lb
8.7–15.2 kg 19.2–33.5 lb
18 months
9.1–16 kg 20–35 lb
9.0–15.7 kg 19.8–34.6 lb

Lifespan

No vet study has measured how long Swedish Vallhunds live yet. The 12–15 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The Swedish Vallhund is a herding heeler from Västergötland; whether Vikings took its ancestors to Britain or brought Corgi-type dogs back is unresolved, though modern research points to a Swedish origin. In the early 1940s an investigation prompted by Count Björn von Rosen found a few dogs of the old type on the Vara plain, and headmaster Zetterstén bred from them without losing their working ability4.

The Swedish Vallhund, called the Västgötaspets in Sweden after its home province, was recognised by the Swedish Kennel Club in the nineteen-forties, soon after the revival of the old farm type. Numbers stayed modest for decades. Dogs reached Britain in the nineteen-seventies, and the breed has since spread to other countries while remaining uncommon. It was a general farm dog. Its main work was driving cattle by nipping at their heels, and its low build is thought to help it duck flying hooves. It also kept down rats and warned of strangers.

Breed standard

The Swedish Vallhund is judged against standard no. 14, in group 5, Spitz and primitive types4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Swedish Vallhund figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.

Compare with related

Pembroke Welsh Corgi
Sheepdogs & cattledogs · Small
Norwegian Elkhound
Spitz & primitive · Medium
Icelandic Sheepdog
Spitz & primitive · Medium
Cirneco dell'Etna
Spitz & primitive · Medium
Or compare the Swedish Vallhund with any breed you choose
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Sources

Uncited on this page: Lifespan — no reviewed source yet, so it is a general reference figure rather than a published one.
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Parts of this page were written by AI ·