Breed Education

TRANSLATION: Mrs R. Binder / Original Version : (FR).

ORIGIN: Switzerland.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE OFFICIAL VALID STANDARD: 04.07.2011.

UTILIZATION: Companion and family dog.

FCI-CLASSIFICATION: Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Cattle Dogs). Section 1 Sheepdogs. Without working trial.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY: In the USA and Canada White Shepherd dogs have gradually become to be accepted as a distinct breed. The first dogs of this breed were imported to Switzerland in the early 70ies. The American male “Lobo”, whelped on 5th of March 1966, can be considered as the progenitor of the breed in Switzerland. The descendants of this male registered with the Swiss Stud Book (LOS) and other White Shepherd dogs imported from the USA and Canada, gradually multiplied. There now exists a big number of purebred over several generations White Shepherd dogs throughout Europe. These dogs have been registered as a new breed in the appendix of the Swiss Stud Book (LOS) since June 1991.

To know the history of the White Swiss Shepherd is to also know history of the German Shepherd Dog; as their histories are intertwined for a period of time. The breed standard for the White Swiss Shepherd call for a dog based on the type and coloration of sheepdogs found in the German state of Thuringia, which were known to come in white, and of a type in congruence to todays White Swiss Shepherd. The existence of the Thuringian dogs predate the formal conception of the German Shepherd dog breed, but were used in the creation of the German Shepherd. The breed standard for the White Swiss Shepherd describes a dog different than that of the German Shepherd Dog, and over the last 50 years the White Swiss Shepherd has honed its distinct type across its gene pool to align with its Thuringian origins that were predecessors to the GSD. Strong toplines without slope, higher head carriage, front and rear assemblies with more open angles, and a gait that is void of the typical superfluous reach than that of the German Shepherd Dog.

One of our goals as a custodian for the WSSD breed, is to ensure the future health of the breed by maintaining a health database of breed stock and determining applicable health testing to be done by breeders to ensure healthy progeny. This means keeping track of known abnormalities in the breed, as well as abnormalities in the breed that we share common ancestry with, the GSD. In order for a dog owner to receive a CHIC certificate (which for our breed is an indication of COMPLETE health testing) we require dogs be tested for all applicable genetic health anomalies that affect the White Swiss Shepherd Dog as well as monitor hearts and eyes. This breed is overall a healthy one, but no breed is completely free of health concerns.

Numbers and statistics below from the database of the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals

of the White Swiss Shepherd as of December 31, 2024

OFA HIP RATING OVER RECENT YEARS

(Format of results: Name of result/ Number of dogs with that result/ % of cumulative tested with that result)

Across the years 2021-2024, we do not see much change in overall health of our breed in the area of hip dysplasia, but admittedly four years of data is not a statistically significant amount of historical data to study. However, there are studies where using the OFA method for selecting breedstock for hip quality has NOT drastically improvement a breed’s hip quality over time. One such example tabulation of tens of thousands of dogs and decades of time in the Labrador Retriever. When the mean phenotype for hip conformation does not significantly improve over 50 years, perhaps other methods should be considered for screening, either in addition to, or instead of OFA for hip evaluations. See Article discussing the Labrador. WSSCA very much supports White Swiss Shepherd owners to consider using the services of PennHIP, Vet Scoring in Australia, or even INCOC in Finland. These other rating systems give ratings that are not subjective based on breed, sex like OFA. These other systems also give final ratings at one year of age when growth plates are just closed which is aligned with how the rest of the world handles radiographic clearances. These alternative rating systems also give ratings for each hip, rather than one rating that covers both hips. Rarely are hips bilaterally identical on conformation and for breeders to have a data for each hip can be useful information. Below is a brief summary of alternative methods of hip evaluations.

The World Canine Organization, formally known as The Fédération Cynologique Internationale, includes 98 members and contract partners that each issue their own pedigrees and train their own judges. The FCI makes sure that the pedigrees and judges are mutually recognized by all the FCI members. The FCI recognizes 354 breeds. Each of them is the ‘property’ of a specific country. The ‘owner’ countries of the breeds write the standard of these breeds (detailed description of the ideal type of the breed), in co-operation with the Standards and Scientific Commissions of the FCI. The WSSD is owned by, and its country of origin is, Switzerland. The White Swiss Shepherd Dog has been recognized definitive basis with the FCI since July 4, 2011. The FCI has a cooperative agreement called a “letter of understanding” with three countries; the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. These countries have different relationship terms than actual FCI member countries, which is why the WSSD is was not just automatically recognized as a distinct breed in all countries affiliated with the FCI. The three other countries’ organizations are: KC (The Kennel Club (England),AKC (American Kennel Club), and CKC (Canadian Kennel Club). The Kennel Club recognized the White Swiss Shepherd Dog in 2017. Only two other organizations with agreements with the FCI have not yet recognized this breed- the American Kennel Club and the Canadian Kennel Club.
The American Kennel Club has publicly stated that it does not have plans to accept the FCI White Swiss Shepherd as a breed within the American Kennel Club. As of this time, dogs eligible for registration into the official world studbook are to be registered with the Federación Canófila de Puerto Rico. FCPR is an FCI member country and owners can register litters and obtain export papers though this registry.