Appearance

The Bergamasco is a robust and rustic looking dog with a compact and well proportioned body. Their defining feature is its thick, trademark coat that is designed to protect it both from the weather and animal attacks. The coat is made up from three different types of hair that form mats or flocks, and it also drapes over the eyes to shield them from the sun reflecting off snow on the Alpine mountains. The color of the coat ranges from grey, black, fawn and white, and is often intermixed giving a mottled or speckled effect, which serves as a camouflage.

History

Breed historians believe Bergamascos originated in Asia more than 2,000 years ago. Phoenicians and Roman soldiers took the breed to the Italian Alps where shepherds from Italy’s Bergamo region discovered the obedient dogs could drive sheep into Switzerland to graze. When 20th-century technology reduced the need for sheepdogs in farming, the breed’s numbers slowly declined. Fortunately, its popularity as a house pet has renewed interest in raising Bergamascos.