History The Swiss Hound has very ancient origins. His presence in times of the Roman Helvetia is certified on a mosaic discovered in Avenches, by the representation of hounds corresponding to the varieties of Swiss hounds. In the XVth century he is sought after by the Italian dog lovers and, in the XVIIIth century, by the French for his exceptional aptitude to the difficult hunting of the hare. His native lines have certainly been influenced by hounds of French breeding brought back to Switzerland by mercenaries. In 1882, a standard was established for each of the 5 "types" of the Swiss Hounds. In 1909, those standards were revised and the total dissapearance of the hound of Thurgovie was noticed. The 22nd of January 1933, a single standard was established for the 4 varieties of the Swiss Hound. As to the ancient variety, the hound of the Jura type St. Hubert, it has today disapeared.
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GENERAL APPEARANCE *** Medium size, good conformation indicating strength and endurance; long muzzle and lean head with long ears giving him an air of nobility.
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BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT *** Lively and passionately keen on hunting; sensitive, docile and very attached to his master. HEAD *** Elongated, not too broad, occipital crest not too accentuated. NECK *** Elongated, elegant, muscular; skin slack at the throat but without noticeable dewlap.
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| CRANIAL
REGION ***
Skull : Elongated, narrow, lean, noble; rather
rounded; pronounced occiput; axes of skull and muzzle slightly
divergent. Stop : Defined without exaggeration.
FACIAL REGION*** Nose * Completely black, well developed; wide open nostrils. Muzzle * Of equal length to that of the skull, finely chiseled, narrow, neither square nor pointed; foreface straight or very slightly aquiline (Roman nose). Lips * Moderately developed, upper lips covering the lower jaw closely; corner of the lips slightly open. Jaws * Solid. Cheeks * Lean, zygomatic arches not prominent.. Teeth * Strong, complete and regular with scissor bite, i.e. the back sides of the upper incisors are in close contact with the front face of the lower incisors; teeth squarely implanted into the jaws, pincer bite accepted; absence of one or two premolars (PM 1 or PM 2) tolerated. The Molars M3 are not taken into consideration. Eyes * Dark or lighter brown corresponding to the colour of the coat, slightly oval, medium sized, soft expression; rims of eyelids well pigmented, fitting perfectly the shape of the eyeball. Ears * Set on below the eye level and towards back of the skull, never attached in their greatest width; in length, reaching at least the tip of the nose; ear conch not prominent; leathers narrow, drooping, folded and twisted, rounded at their tips, supple and covered with fine hair.
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| BODY***
Topline * All together, the neck, back, rump and tail should form
an harmonious and firm outline. Withers * Discreetly
defined, reachy neck. Back : Compact, level and straight. Loin
: Solid, muscular, supple. Croup * Slightly inclined, elongated;
back merging smoothly with the rump; not higher than the withers. Chest
* Deeper than wide, well let down and reaching at least the point
of the elbow; thoracic cage carried well back, with slightly sprung ribs.
Underline * Belly (abdomen) slightly tucked up towards
hindquarters. Flank * Quite full, a little tucked up but without
a whippety look.
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| TAIL
*** Set in prolongation of the rump, of medium length, elegant
tapered at its extremity which forms a slight upward curve; at rest or
in slow gaits, it hangs naturally without a distinctive curve; when the
dog is more attentive or is moving faster, it is carried higher than the
back line, but never falling over the back or curled up; well covered
with hair without any coarse hair underneath (brush tail).
HIND FEET *** Round shaped; toes tightly closed; pads rough and hard; nails solid and coloured according to the coat colour. GAIT / MOVEMENT *** Movement free, even and coordinate; extended strides; powerful impulsion from the hindquarters; the legs move parallel to the median plane of the body; vertical move of the withers regular and moderate; the back should remain level; very slight lateral oscillation of the head and neck. SKIN *** Fine, supple, well fitting to the body, of different colour in the four varieties:
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| LIMBS
*** Forequarters *** Seen on the whole, very muscular, but
without heaviness, lean; average bone structure; seen in profile,
forelegs vertical; seen from the front, straight and parallel; forefeet
pointing straight ahead Shoulders: Shoulder-blades long and oblique,
well attached to the chest wall. Ideal angle of the scapular-humeral
articulation: about 100 degrees. Upper-arm * A little
longer than the shoulder-blade, oblique, close to the body and muscular
without heaviness. Elbows * Naturally placed against
the thoracic wall. Forearms * Straight, strong and lean. Carpal
Joint (carpus) * Strong and wide.
Pasterns (metacarpus) * Relatively short; seen from the front, in the vertical line of the forearm; seen in profile, slightly inclined. Forefeet * Of roundish shape; toes tight; pads rough and hard; nails solid and coloured according to colour of coat.
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| Hindquarters
***
Muscular but in harmonious relation with the forequarters; seen
from behind, straight and parallel. Upper thighs * Long,
oblique, muscular without being overdone. Angle of the coxal-femoral
articulation: about 110 degrees. Stifles (Knees) * Neither
turned out nor in. Angle of the femoral-tibial articulation: about 120
degrees. Lower thighs * Long, lean, muscles and tendons
apparent. Hock (metatarsals * No dewclaws (removal authorized).
Angle of the tibial-tarsal articulation: about 130 degrees.
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| Bernese
Hound ***
Black skin under black coat and white skin, slightly black mottled,
under white coat. Jura Hound (Bruno) * Black skin under
black coat, but lighter under tan coat. Lucerne Hound *
Black skin under black coat and lighter under blue speckling. Schwyz
Hound * Dark grey skin under orange coat and white flecked
with black under white coat.
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| COAT***
Nature of Hair : Short, dense and smooth. Colour * Bernese
Hound * White with black patches or black saddle; with light
to dark fawn markings over the eyes, on the cheeks, the inside of the
ears and around the anus; sometimes very slightly mottled. Jura Hound
Bruno * Fawn with black blanket, sometimes with black overlay; or
black with fawn markings over the eyes, at the cheeks, around the anus
and on the legs; sometimes a small white patch on the chest may be
speckled. Lucerne Hound "Blue" * Esulting from an
association of black hairs and white hairs, very heavily speckled, with
black patches or black saddle; with light to dark fawn markings above
the eyes, at the cheeks, on the chest, around the anus and on the legs;
a black blanket is admitted.
Schwyz Hound * White with either patches or saddle of
orange fawn; sometimes very slightly spotted; an orange fawn blanket is
admitted. Size Height at the withers : Male 49 to 59 cm ;
Female 47 to 57 cm.
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| FAULTS
*** Any departure from the foregoing points constitutes a fault.
It shall be penalized according to its seriousness and importance.
General appearance lacking distinction, heavy (coarse) or light. Important
disproportion between the length of the dog, the depth of chest and the
height at the whiskers. Skull to wide, too bulging or too flat. Muzzle
too short or too long, too square or too pointed. Absence of teeth other
than one or two premolars (PM 1 or PM 2). Foreface dished. Stop too
pronounced. Flews too accentuated. Eye light, hawk-eye, conjunctiva (haw)
apparent. Ear flat, thick, too short or set too high.Neck too short.
Excess dewlap. Thoracic cage not let down enough, not enough spring of
ribs or barrel shaped. Saddle or roach back. Rump too much sloping or
too short. Belly (abdomen) too tucked up, hollow flanks. Legs fine boned
or crooked. Shoulder too upright, upper arm too short. Down at pastern.
Insufficient angulation of hindquarters, cow hocked. Dewclaws on
hindquarters. Stern badly set, carried too high, deviated, curved,
coarse or feathered. Coat harsh or shaggy. Timid dog or fighter dog.
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| FAULTS
OF THE REPARTITION OF MARKINGS
AND COLOURS IN THE***
Bernese
Hound* Too many black spots in the white. Fawn colour on the outer
face of the ear lobe. Jura Hound (Bruno) * Self coloured coat.
Important white patch or important speckled white patch on the chest. Lucerne
Hound* Absence of "blue" speckle. Fawn colour on the outer
face of the ear lobe. Schwyz Hound* Too many orange spots in the
white. Self coloured coat.
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| ELIMINATING
FAULTS *** Lack of type. Size either over or under that fixed by
the standard. Nose entirely depigmented. Overshot or undershot mouth.
Ectropion or entropion (even operated). Rolled or ring tail, kink tail,
tail with vertebral deformity. Very timid or very aggressive behaviour.
Note *** Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
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Berner Laufhund 
