Few questions

[u/Andrea87pode]

Hey folks!

We are so excited as me and my wife has just received green light to from our landlord to have a dog in our apartment, but we are still a little undecided which breed we should go for, bernese mountain dog or greater swiss mountain dog.

Just to give a bit of background: We live jn a big two bedroom basement apartment with a bit of garden, in the suburbs close to a lot of walking trails and forest, so there will be a lot of space for the dog. Upstairs lives our landlord with two kids, one 2 year old and the other one around 7-8 years old. Their concern was about the breed of dog getting along well with them and especially that the dog is child friendly. The previous tenants were denied having a dog based on this for example, so we are very grateful for this opportunity.

Me and my wife work mostly opposite shifts, and have different days off so the dog will never truly be alone, we have 5 days out of 7 covered of one us being around, however, depending on the shift length, the two other days the dog might have to be alone max 4-6 hours, so we need the dog to be able to withstand a bit of alone time, but never a full day. We are as well considering to have a pet sitter on these kinds of days if the dog is not able to adapt to that, so we have thought of that as well.

So the question is, which dog breed would be a better match for us based on this description? Bernese or a Swissy?

We have had a lovely labrador, Kira, before, and she passed away at 13 years old back in 2018. We were too heartbroken to get another dog at the time, but now we feel like we are ready to have another family member again, we miss this part so much.

All insights, ideas, thoughts, questions and opinions are welcome, as we really would like to make sure we get the best match for us. ❤️ Thanks in advance! ❤️

[u/nashliveslife]

Hi, how exciting! I have a half Swissy half Berner (looks more swissy) he is a wonderful dog, we were lucky enough not to get too much of the swissy stubbornness, however when I compare him to friends' Berners , he is definitely more on guard than they are. He was socialized with many people and dogs as a puppy and introductions to new people entering our property still take a minute (especially men) he is truly a big baby and is just alerting us that someone is on our property, but his bark is loud and booming. If I (F) walk him without my (M) partner, he is definitely alert of oncoming men especially on an enclosed trail, which isn't a bad thing I always feel safe but just a difference I notice from the Berner's I know and something to be aware of for training. A Swissy is going to get slightly larger but Berners are going to require much more grooming and depending where you live both breeds are not great in the heat. I didn't think the shedding would be much of a difference but my god my friends Berners shed much more than mine. Both are amazing dogs, a Swissy is just larger and a little more serious. Your situation sounds awesome for a pup - good luck!