ORIGIN
There are two theories concerning the origin of the Appenzell Mountain Dog. One, that it is a native breed dating back to the Bronze Age, the other: it descended from the Molossus and was brought into Switzerland by the Romans.
In 1853 an Appenzeller Sennenhund was first described in the book "Tierleben der Alpenwelt" (Animal Life in the Alps) as "a clearly barking, short haired, medium size, multicolour cattledog of a quite even "Spitz type", which can be found in certain regions and is used partly to guard the homestead, partly to herd cattle". In 1898 the Appenzeller Sennenhund was designated a separate breed. The first breed standard was confirmed with the collaboration of the breed's great promoter, head forester Max Siber and the breed was introduced with eight dogs at the first International Dog Show held in Winterthur. Thanks to the instigation of Professor Dr. Albert Heim, who was greatly concerned with Swiss Cattledogs and with them the Appenzeller, the Appenzeller Sennenhund Club was founded in 1906. Its purpose was to preserve and promote the breed in its natural state. With the compulsory registration of puppies in the "Appenzeller Dog Stud Book", the aim of pure breeding was begun.
The original breeding territory was the Appenzell region. Today the breed is distributed all over Switzerland and beyond its borders and bred in many European countries. The notion "Appenzeller Sennenhund" is clearly outlined nowadays and the breed, as such, quite distinct from other Swiss Cattledogs. Although the Appenzeller Sennenhund has found many admirers, the breeding stock is still very small. It is only by responsible and careful breeding that it will be possible to establish and consolidate its natural and outstanding hereditary qualities.

text adapted from DogBreedInfo.com and Hund.ch breed standard