The mountain dogs of Switzerland were indispensable to farmers for centuries, and even their name bore this out: Sennenhund loosely translates to “Farmer’s Dogs.”  These canines were most likely bred to provide livestock protection, but as predators became increasingly scarce over time, their role morphed not only into driving cattle to market, but especially to pulling carts and wagons. Horses didn’t negotiate the mountainous terrain of the Alps very well, and so it was that the Bernese Mountain Dog became the primary draft animal of the region, particularly for small farmers.

It was fitting, then, that the first Berners to America were brought there by a farmer from Florence, Kansas, Isaac Schiess. This remarkable photograph from the AKC Library shows Mr. Schiess on board an ocean liner on January 18, 1926 with the first Bernese Mountain Dogs to come to the United States, a bitch named “Donna von der Rothohe” bred by Franz Schertenleib,  and a dog, “Poincare von Sumiwald” bred by Fr. Iseli. When Schiess couldn’t get the dogs registered with the AKC, they were registered with the Swiss Kennel Club which helped Mr. Scheiss in his efforts, probably because they wanted to establish and promote the breed abroad. Poincare and Donna did produce a litter,  but again the AKC refused to register the dogs.

Another pair of Berners were imported to America in 1936 by Glen Shadow of Ruston, Louisiana. His dogs were named “Fridy V. Haslenbach” and “Quell v. Tiergarten,” and when Mr. Shadow and other Bernese Mountain Dog fanciers again petitioned the AKC for recognition, the breed was granted full recognition in 1937 as a member of the Working Group.  It was one of Mr. Shadow’s dogs, “Quell v. Tiergarten,” aka “Quell” who became the first Bernese Mountain Dog registered with the AKC, with Fridy right behind.

The Berner Sennenhund became the most popular of the four Sennenhund breeds in Switzerland, and became the first to become well-established outside of its native country.

This image appears courtesy of the AKC