The Swedish Vallhund is an energetic, fearless, friendly, and eager to please dog.  They are very sound in temperament and make a good performance and companion dog.

When judging the Swedish Vallhund, there are FIVE important things to remember:

Proportion
Balance
Outline
Temperament
Movement

Proportion is of utmost importance in SVs.  The correct relationship of height to length of body is 2:3. (from the prosternum to the end of the buttocks)

Balance and outline also play a large part in the total makeup of this herding breed.
The SV should be alert, noting where everything and everyone is. Temperment is a trait of this agile dog. 
The height of a SV dog should be from 12.5 – 13.5 inches and bitches 11.5 – 12.5 inches. 

The Swedish Vallhund has a smooth gait, with moderate angulation throughout.  Over-angulation is as faulty as too little.  They should be strong, well boned, well developed, with a solidly built, muscular body, thus making them an agile mover.

When judging a Vallhund, Judges are asked to approach the head from under the muzzle rather than from above. The head should be rather long and clean. When viewed from above, the head forms an even wedge from skull to tip of nose and is well filled-in under the eyes.  The skull should be broad, (almost flat) with a well defined stop. The top lines of the muzzle and skull are parallel. The Muzzle, square, with a full dentition of teeth in a scissors bite.

Eyes should be Medium, Oval and Dark Brown, with Black Rims.

Ears should be Medium, pointed, and prick, of firm leather. The outer edge of the ear is to be vertical to the ground.

The SV Neck should be long & muscular, flowing into a level topline.  The SV can be slow to mature, which affects the appearance of the length of leg and the arch of neck.

The Croup should be broad and slightly sloping.  The prosternum is visible and not excessively pronounced.

The SVs front should be slightly curved, the pasterns and feet are parallel. Slightly curved means neither perfectly straight nor bowed. Viewed from the side the forearms are straight.  The SV should have a sound gait with strong reach and drive. The SV feet should travel parallel to the line of motion with no tendency to swing out, cross over or interfere with each other.  Short, choppy movement and overly close or wide movement is faulty.

THE SV may be shown with a natural or docked Tail.  While the standard does not address tail carriage, the tail set and angle of the croup will affect it.

SVs should have a close-fitting hard coat of medium length and sable coloring. The double coat and the characteristic "harness markings" are essential features of this breed. Undercoat is soft and dense. The topcoat is so flat that it is almost impossible to stand it up. The undercoat is not so profuse as to disturb this weather resistant topcoat.

Dogs are to be shown in an untrimmed, natural state.

The SV comes in sable wolf coloring from light to dark. White in excess of one third of the dog's total color is a very serious fault. The harness markings are bands of light color running down the sides from the withers. In the Swedish Vallhund, “the mask” refers to the light and dark pattern on the head.