The Swedish Vallhund (SV) is an ancient Swedish Spitz breed dating back over 1000 years to the time of the Vikings, when it may have been known as the “Vikingarnas Dog.” For centuries the SV had been kept as a farm dog and used for herding cattle. Historians believe that during the eight or ninth century the Vikings either brought the Swedish Vallhund to the coast of Wales or took the Pembroke Corgi back to Sweden and interbred them, hence the similarities between the two breeds. The historian, Clifford Hubbard, considered the Swedish Vallhund the older of the two.
The Swedish Vallhund is longer legged, shorter in body length and not as stocky as the Corgi. The SV was primarily used as an all-purpose farm dog. Their herding style is low to the ground and they herd by rounding up and nipping at the hocks.
In 1942, a member of the Swedish Kennel Club, Mr. Bjorn von Rosen, became involved. He had worked to save several old Swedish breeds from extinction and remembered the Swedish Vallhund from his boyhood. He placed an ad asking about them, to which Mr. K.G. Zettersten responded. By 1942, the breed was almost extinct. Working together, the men found a few of the old Swedish Vallhunds and began a breeding program. In 1943, the Swedish Kennel Club recognized the breed and the Swedish Vallhund was known as "Vallhund," which meant "herding dog." In 1964, with the Swedish standard revised, the breed became known as Vastgotaspets after the Swedish province Vastergotland in which the revived breeding originated. Swedish Vallhunds are sometimes also referred to as "Spitz of the West Goths." In 1974, the first Swedish Vallhund came to England, to Ryslip Kennels. In 1978, Nicky Gascoigne, a force in the introduction of this breed to England, worked with others to form the Swedish Vallhund Society, which received approval from the UK Kennel Club in 1980.
The first two USA Swedish Vallhunds were imported to California around early 1984 but were not bred at that time. Then in 1985, Marilyn Thell of Rhode Island, was visiting England and saw Swedish Vallhunds at Crufts. Being of Swedish descent, she wanted to know more about the Swedish Vallhund. After learning more about the breed's background, Marilyn brought two Swedish Vallhunds to the United States in July 1985. Two others followed shortly and the first litter of nine Swedish Vallhunds in the United States was whelped at Jonricker Kennel, September 4, 1986.
