[Standard
—
Medium length, harsh, close and tight topcoat,
undercoat abundant, soft, woolly]
Typical Spitz coat of medium length with a really harsh, close and tight top coat with an abundant, soft woolly undercoat usually of a lighter colour. The correct texture of the coat should be viewed in its utilitarian aspect, to provide protection from the elements and other environmental conditions tat the dog will experience under working conditions.
[Standard Steel grey,
greyish/brown, greyish /yellow, reddish/yellow, reddish/brown with darker guard
hairs on back neck and sides of body, lighter hair same shade of colour as
mentioned above is desirable on muzzle, throat, chest, belly, buttocks, feet and
hocks. Instead of these lighter shades, white markings are acceptable, but never
in excess of one-third of total colour.]
Most Vallhunds have coats in
wolf colours that are various shades of grey, but brownish, yellowish and
reddish tints are sometimes seen. Guard hairs from the top coat on the back,
neck and sides of body contribute to the shading of the coat. The standard
states darker guard hairs on the back and sides. This does not mean black guard
hairs. Steel grey (blue), red, brown and even grey Vallhunds do not have black
guard hairs, they have darker shadings than on the rest of the body. This is
correct and even welcomed by the astute breeder. The black colouring tends to be
dominant so if all Vallhunds had black shadings we could expect our dogs to get
blacker and this could lead to loss of colouring in future generations.
Lighter hair of the same
shade of colour as mentioned above is desirable on the muzzle, throat, chest
belly, buttocks, feet and hocks. Instead of these lighter shades, white markings
are acceptable but these are not considered attractive. The standard does not
stipulate where the white must be. However, the white should never exceed
one-third of the total body area.
Except for Vallhunds with more than 30 percent white in the coat, which is unacceptable to the Standard, colour should never be judged above conformation.
A well-defined mask on the
face is very desirable with “spectacles’ in light colours around the eyes.
Lighter hair on the muzzle and under the throat gives a distinct contrast to the
upper mask. Nevertheless it is quite acceptable for a dog not to have a mask.
They should also have clearly defined ‘harness markings’, which are the lighter markings around the top of the neck and across the shoulders.
Ausled And Kloval Kennels Working Together to Keep The Norsled Standard Of Excellence Alive in Australia. To contact the Swedish Vallhund Breeders visit the contact page on this swedish vallhund Website