Bergamasco Shepherd Dog

The Bergamasco's coat is its working kit: felted flocks across the hindquarters that took shape for Alpine weather, slow to form and never meant to be brushed out. The breed followed sheep on transhumance routes through northern Italy until war and the decline of seasonal droving took its job away, and Italian registrations still averaged under a hundred puppies a year through the 2010s. It is calm, watchful and independent rather than biddable. Breeders are few and litters spoken for early, and an owner should be ready to manage the coat through its awkward adolescent stage rather than shave it off.