KENAI
Entlebucher Mountain Dog

The breeds · herding

AKC Herding · UKC Guardian · FCI standard 47

Entlebucher Mountain Dog.

Drover. AKC standard: a medium-sized, compact, strongly muscled, elongated drover; Swiss farmers moved cows from pasture to pasture in the Alps with him; works alone or in harmony with his master. FCI 47: driving-, watch-, guard- and farm dog, today also a versatile working and family dog. UKC: primarily used by Alpine herdsmen to drive cattle. RKC: traditionally brought the cows down from the mountain pastures..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
40–65LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 50 to 65 lb; breed bitches 40 to 55 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayUp to 1 hour per day (RKC band). The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 17 to 21 in · bitches 16 to 20 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2023

No ideal printed, center blank. The UKC window is the widest.

Weight

dogs 50 to 65 lb · bitches 40 to 55 lb

Breed clubAKC

Neither the AKC standard, the UKC standard nor FCI 47 prints a weight. Single registry-page source.

Coat

Double coat: short, close fitting, harsh and shiny topcoat over a dense undercoat of varying color; wavy or soft coat tolerated but not preferred; absence of undercoat disqualifies. Tricolor: black with tan (fawn to mahogany) and white markings. FCI 47 and UKC agree.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2023

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · AKC standard: double coat, topcoat short, close fitting, harsh and shiny, undercoat dense (single coat disqualifies)

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2023

Derived from the coat description: short dense double coat = 4.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

Up to 1 hour per day (RKC band)

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band mapped: up to 1 hour = 60. The AKC breed page says at least an hour daily, so the two agree at about an hour; AKC rates energy 5 of 5.

Exercise need

RKC: up to 1 hour per day. AKC breed page: a quick, tough, high-energy dog that needs at least an hour of exercise daily; makes a good companion for runners, hikers and bikers. AKC standard: will remain an active, highly energetic dog for his entire lifetime; not a breed for the casual owner.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Energy

5 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · RKC: once a week, short coat, sheds. AKC breed page: minimal grooming, a wipe-down with a damp towel between baths, but the breed sheds quite a bit (stripping comb or bristle brush).

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band mapped: once a week = 2.

Grooming

RKC: once a week; short coat; sheds. AKC breed page: dense, short, shiny double coat that needs little more than a wipe-down; sheds quite a bit; trim nails monthly; check ears weekly.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Drover. AKC standard: a medium-sized, compact, strongly muscled, elongated drover; Swiss farmers moved cows from pasture to pasture in the Alps with him; works alone or in harmony with his master. FCI 47: driving-, watch-, guard- and farm dog, today also a versatile working and family dog. UKC: primarily used by Alpine herdsmen to drive cattle. RKC: traditionally brought the cows down from the mountain pastures.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2023

Four registries agree. No breed-club working description was reachable.

Primary game

Livestock, not game: cattle (cows moved between Alpine pastures). AKC standard: keen intelligence, speed and agility also made him useful for managing horses and hogs.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2023

Also used on

AKC standard: horses and hogs on the farm; competitive sports. FCI 47: watch and guard dog. AKC breed page: obedience, tracking, agility, herding and almost any other canine sport. No hunting use is stated in any source read.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2023

Search pattern

Single dog, drover rather than gatherer. AKC standard: a lively, high-spirited playmate who, given a job, becomes a serious, tireless, self-assured dog of commanding presence; ground-covering, free, fluid gait; too small a dog lacks power, too large lacks the agility wanted in a herding dog.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2023

Field trial standard

FCI classification: Group 2 Pinscher and Schnauzer-Molossoid breeds, Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs, Section 3, without working trial.

Breed clubFCI Standard No. 47, 2002

The FCI classification only; AKC herding tests are mentioned on the AKC page but no test standard was read.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

16.4% · 16.4% dysplastic of 574 OFA hip evaluations on record (all data, accessed Oct 9 2026); 81.2% normal; mild 13.9%, moderate 2.4%, severe 0.0%; breed rank 73

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA data is a voluntary registry: affected dogs are under-reported and evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, so true prevalence is likely higher. All-data figures are undated; n is the number of evaluations on record. Small n for the breed.

Elbow dysplasia

1.4% · 1.4% abnormal of 209 OFA elbow evaluations on record (all data, accessed Oct 9 2026); 98.6% normal; grade 1 1.0%, grade 2 0.5%; breed rank 135

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA data is a voluntary registry: affected dogs are under-reported and evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, so true prevalence is likely higher. All-data figures are undated; n is the number of evaluations on record. Small n for the breed.

Most common disorders

AKC breed page: Entlebucher urinary syndrome (a misplaced ureter), hip dysplasia, luxating patellas and some eye disorders. NEMDA: screening for hip dysplasia, patellar luxation and eye disease; less frequent issues without current tests are Entlebucher Urinary Syndrome, congenital heart issues, cruciate ligament tears and cancer. NEMDA runs a decennial North American breed health survey available to members.

Breed clubAKC

Lists of conditions, not prevalence figures. The AKC page prints Life Expectancy 11 to 13 years; that registry band is not used as a median.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 5; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 3; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 5; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 1; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 4.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 6 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Entlebucher, Entle, Entlebucher Sennenhund, Entlebuch Cattle Dog

Every breed, read the same way.

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Your entlebucher mountain dog, on the record.

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