History of the Bergamasco
in the United States*
Bergamasco get together at the Cherry Blossom Classic spring 1999
The Bergamasco: It is difficult to talk about a breed as old as the Bergamasco without mentioning the beginning origins. We will take a long journey back into time, when man was making the first step of progress towards the beginning of civilization. We will begin as we tell a story, Once upon a time...
During the stone age, a symbiotic relationship was formed between completely diverse species, man, dog and sheep. This relationship was extremely important for the future of human civilization and helped to shape human actions for many millennium thereafter.
The strong relationship and influence that the man, dog and sheep had on one another, created the conditions towards the evolution of each other.
The complex coat of the Bergamasco is of very old origin and has to be considered an adaptation of the habitat in which the dog originally lived. This area is found in the Asian Plateau, at the base of the Himalayans and the mountains between Iran and Turkey, the same place believed to be the beginning of the domestication of the sheep.
Throughout time various groups of people moved from this original habitat, searching for more abundant pastures to feed larger herds of sheep. These mountainous people continually moved Northwest through the mountains bringing them to the Hungarian Valley from where they entered Europe.
In Europe they went along the Alp and Pyrenees Mountains, they found conditions similar to their original habitat and began to settle in this place. As some people settled along this nomadic route, it is possible to find a group of breeds that have characteristics of the original Asiatic Dog.
The Coat
One of the more important characteristics is the coat and the main breeds of this group are The, Komondor and Puli in Hungary, The Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Briard and Pyrenees Sheepdog of France and The Catalan Sheepdog of Spain. As the dogs migrated north the Bearded Collie and the Bobtail can be found.
From the group of people that settled among the Alpine Mountains their dog is now called The Pastore de Bergamasco. This name is of recent origin and not truly correct. This type of dog was found in all of the Alps. It would be better to retain the original name, (Pastore delleAlphi). Pastore delle Alphi was the given name that this breed had till the end of last century.
The coat is very complex, because of the presence of three types of hair. The Bergamasco is the only dog that has three types of coat and this makes them different from all other breeds and particularly interesting in the viewpoint of historical evolution.
Types Of Coat:
- Undercoat, very fine, short and oily, that stays next to the skin making a protective, water resistant layer.
- Goat hair, coarse, strong, wiry similar to the goat, stays apart, keeps the woolly coat from twisting.
- Wooly Coat, fine, long and mats together, making the flat flocks.
The three types of hair are not equally distributed throughout the Bergamasco Sheepdog
The goat hair is found on the withers and extends back to approx. half of the body. On the back half of the body, chest and legs there is a lot of woolly coat, also some goat hair grows among the woolly coat in these areas. These two types of coats weave together to make, (flocks).
.Characteristics
The Bergamasco is a medium size dog, agile and elegant.
Height
Dog: 58-62 cm. (23-25 in) at the withers.
Bitch: 54-58 cm. (21-23 in) at the withers.
Weight
Dog: 32-35 kg.( 70-77 lb)
Bitch: 25-28 kg.( 55-62 lb)
Colour
Black, Various Shades of Grey with Black Patches (As the puppies mature, some black dogs become grey).
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** NOTE: This information has been contributed by, and is property of The Bergamasco Sheepdog Club of America, and is gratefully used here with permission.