Alpabfahrt Schüpfheim 2025 by Wilma vom Rickental

In September I took part in the Alpabfahrt Schüpfheim 2025. You may wonder what that is and why it was so important to me and Mum. Mum was so happy to be part of it that at one time she had tears rolling down her cheeks. You see, it is one of the special parades which celebrates the cows coming down from the Alps to the lower pasture for the winter. The cows are dressed up in flowers and headdresses with their wonderful bells and they parade through the streets. Along with the cows there is a bigger parade, with alphorns, bands and singers, all dressed in Swiss national dress. And then there’s us – the Entlebucher Sennenhunde – the dogs who worked to herd the cattle with their masters.

The Entlebuch Valley

We are the cattle herding dogs from the Entlebuch valley. It is such a special place that it is a designated UNESCO biosphere. Schüpfheim is a town in the Entlebuch valley, only a few kilometres along the road from Entlebuch itself. The Swiss Club for our breed takes part in the parade and I’m proud to say that not only am I Swiss by birth, but I’m also a member of the Swiss Club even though I live in England. That’s how we came to be taking part in the parade, along with around twenty dogs of my breed.

I may have barked

I have to admit to being somewhat stressed, but nothing was going to make me miss out. Unfortunately I barked quite a bit, but that can’t be helped. I was just proving what our voices have to be like to shout across the mountainsides when we need to. Except close up that can be a little too loud, as Mum keeps pointing out to me.

I had one funny moment when a man was trying to take a video down at our level and I stuck my nose right into his lens. I’d like to see the resulting footage, but I guess I’ll just have to imagine it.

There was a ten week old puppy as part of the parade and she did really well. One of the boys was pulling a cart and looked amazing too.

It is a day we’ll never forget and which will always be very special to us. Thank you to those who organised it for allowing us to take part – we were honoured.

Wilma vom Rickental