Entlebucher Mountain Dog
Entlebucher Mountain Dog is a muscular, long-backed cattle dog with short, sturdy legs. They are self-assured, determined and intelligent.
Daily Care
Grooming Tips
The Entlebucher has a short, thick, double coat. The coat is easy to care for, but it sheds. Brush the dog weekly with a rubber curry brush to remove dead hair. The Entle sheds a little more heavily in spring, so you may need to brush a little more often for a few weeks until he has lost all of his winter coat.
The rest is basic care. Trim the nails as needed, usually once a month. Brush the teeth frequently for good overall health and fresh breath. Check the ears weekly for dirt, redness or a bad odor that can indicate an infection. If the ears look dirty, wipe them out with a cotton ball dampened with a gentle ear cleaner recommended by your veterinarian.
Exercise Tips
Bred to herd cattle across the Swiss Alps for days on end, Entlebuchers have a virtually inexhaustible amount of energy. Therefore it is important that they are provided with at least an hour of vigorous exercise each day. It is also beneficial for these dogs to have a meaningful task to which they can devote themselves to.
Feeding Tips
Choosing which commercial food to give to your dog is a personal choice best made using recommendations from your vet or breeder. You should consider only a high-qualitydog foodformulated to your dog’s age and activity level.
A working dog requires a different formula than a sedentary house pet, and a puppy requires different nutrition than a senior pet. This is a breed who loves to eat and thus can be prone to becoming overweight if you don’t monitor his food intake closely.
If you choose to give treatsduring training, do so in moderation. Treats can be an important aid in training, but giving too many can cause obesity in any breed.
Health Tips
Entlebucher Mountain Dogs are fairly healthy dogs, with an average life span of 10 to 12 years. However, they have been extremely inbred.
Breed health concerns include hip dysplasia, hemolytic anemia, cataracts and progressive retinal atrophy (PRA). The NEMDA, in collaboration with other organizations, is working to eliminate these issues from the breed through responsible breeding, genetic testing and fact dissemination.
Trainability
Entlebucher’s are a highly intelligent species of dog and are extremely eager to please their masters. They are highly trainable and respond extremely well to positive reinforcement based training techniques. They are quite independent and capable of making decisions by themselves and require consistent leadership.
Faced with a lack of leadership, the Entlebucher Mountain Dog can often feel the need to assume a leadership role within its human pack which in turn can lead to various behavioral problems.
History
The Entlebucher (Entlebuch Mountain Dog/Entlebucher Cattle Dog) is the smallest of the four Swiss Sennenhund breeds.
The crossing of the Roman Mastiffs with the local Swiss working dogs during the time of the Roman invasion of Europe resulted in the Sennenhunds: theGreater Swiss Mountain Dog,Appenzeller Sennenhund, Entlebucher andBernese Mountain Dog.
It is generally accepted that the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog was the first of these breeds, and the other three developed from it. The Entlebucher was primarily used by Alpine herdsmen to drive cattle.
