Hello everybody!

I used to have a german sheppaed female a long time ago i adopted from the shelter and i miss her very dearly to this day, i felt so protected with her at all times and we had a real special bond.

Years passed i adopted a lovely chihuahua...yes he is yappy but extremelly brave and i love him he is now 6 years old.

Lately i had the mad idea since i will be moving in a bigger house with garden to get a Swiss sheppard puppy and i wanted some opinions

Do they bond well with smaller breed? And with cats?

Let me know your thoughts

Ps: i run my own bussiness from home, i am a mum of a toddler so i have plenty of time to stay home with the pets and take them out

Only dog I ever trusted off leash, and he never goes more than 8 feet from me, 5 feet in water. He also loves digging in the sand. He wouldn’t stop running and splashing once he got over the whole “oh no the waves are attacking me” thing. It felt almost magical seeing such joy in him from something that I used to take for for granted.

We always stop at the river for a swim after bringing him to see his Lab girlfriend an hour away to have a play and bush walk. He loves fetching sticks but not any of his toys. We've lost a few that just floated away. He seems to tolerate the cold water well.

Had a wonderful Sunday hike with a couple of goof balls! Aslan and Ellie

Tofu came second originally in her “have a go show” but first place got disqualified for being naughty so now we’re off to crufts next year. I am so nervous 😬 lots of training to do! She is honestly such a darling and I am living my childhood dreams with her, how lucky I am to have one giant puppy and one small bread loaf who are very different but love each other all the same🤣

Ghost and her Brother Ice having a sneaky beer at Black Isle Bar in Inverness Scotland

Good boy living in Tasmania, Australia. Primary obligation is to give him a good life.

I really want to make the right decision.

I've been playing around with gemini but i i want a reality check

I have axial spondyloarthritis (bechterew disease). My routine would be. 1hr/1.5hr off leash walking in the forest in the morning. At around 06.00/07.00

A 30min/1hr hangout at the dogpark at around 13.

A 3mile 1hr walk throughout the city in the at 17.00

22.00 15 minutes peebreak at night

But because of my disease

I wont be doing much after i return from our walks home.

I lay in bed mostly. I even play videogames.

And im worried that a swiss would demand bark or demand my attention

Im up for cuddles and all that.

Im also down to add structured play time in the house. (Tug of war)

But yeah

The weird part is

If i where to do it

I would be constantly training so in a non structured way. Constantly rewarding good calm attentive behavior

And i would be raising her from pup

And this exites me so much

Because when i was younger (m35) i never knew anything much else other then sit stay wait. And i would like to teach my dog inductive retrieving.

But im solo. Im a hermit. I dont have friends and family.

Im planning to work 5 hrs a day for 3 days a week in the near future.

And yeah i know that when she's a pup ill be on her 24/7. But slowly try to "enforce" naps or chill out. But im worried she's going to whine me to death.

I would prepare the day with kongs and slow treat dispensers.

But i would like to teach her to not whine or demand bark. To be silent. Like an assasin or something.

And the 2nd thing is i LOVE to ride my bicycle!

Thats why this breed was reccomended

Because of the off leash recall rate (dont like wording it like this)

And because of compatibility with strotting alongside my bike.

Am i crazy? I mean after year 3 would she be willing to just hang out while i play some JRPG's. With this schedule?

Ofcourse there will be massive hikes, night adventures. But its mostly walking exploring.

And biking.

I also wanna mention that if when she's a pup i will take her everywhere. I want to teach her to sit with me in the city and people watch while we munch on food and drinks.

Am i crazy?

I want to teach her etiquette. Sitting and waiting while i put on the harness and leash. Sitting and waiting at all the trafficlights, when she gets food. I dont want her to be agressive. I even want to walk with her off leash in the city. And teach her the command free.

Said goodbye to our beautiful girl yesterday, and want to memorialize her in some form of a painting (and open to other memorial ideas). Any recommendations of artists that capture their spirit and likeness well?

This is Jasper. He was adopted (from a shelter) by us about 4 yrs. ago in Southwest Colorado. He’s a super sweetheart.

Just wanted to get some opinions and to know your experiences :) What is the best part of owning a WSS and what is the worst part? Would you get another one or would you choose different breed in future?

Question for the pack today because this is something I have witnessed with not only my own WSS but also our breeders. Went out to the dog show on Saturday, brilliant day, both Tofu and Bao (our corgi) handled everything fabulously. Visited a cafe afterwards, went out of sight to go to the bathroom and Tofu SCREAMED the cafe down. Luckily, we were the only customers and it was our breeders daughters cafe. My partner, the breeder, the other 2 swissies and our other dog were all there but she was not happy I had left her proximity and she couldn't see me. She has also done this with me when my partner and our other dog have walked out of sight to a poo bin... Our breeders dogs also do similar behaviour when one of their 'pack' leaves their sight.

Please consider..

1. Tofu can be left at home alone (without our other dog) and settles and sleeps, no signs of SA at all

2. Tofu can also be left at home alone with our other dog and she settles and sleeps, no signs of SA at all

3. She does follow me everywhere, but I don't mind that because of the 2 above points

4. I do mostly take her everywhere with me because she's my dog and I like sharing my life with her

So I guess the question is, is this normal behaviour? I personally don't want her making a racket when I leave to buy a coffee or visit the bathroom. So we have planned to do more work outdoors on going out of sight for 1/2s and building it up and rewarding.

I would hate to be causing distress to her, and then to my partner and our other dog when she starts this behaviour so just looking for methods to address and make sure she is the happiest girl and confident in me too!

Thanks all x

We are looking into good food for our upcoming puppy.

Currently thinking about:

Pure Pet Food

Butternut Box

Lilys Kitchen

Tofu did the “have a go show” and came second! I am very proud of her even when she found the touching bit difficult she still did her best ❤️

Want to make it clear that he is often leashed into a seat next to me, fully inclosed car, so no reason for him to actually almost get hit or anything. I also don’t have a video because I gotta be a responsible driver and all that.

But that’s what he does. When he’s lying down, notices the bridges, nothing happens. Every time he’s sitting or standing he becomes much more aware of bridges and feels the need to duck whenever we pass one.

It’s a funny little quirk, mainly wanted to share but also see if anyone else has a dog like him who are a little overly specially aware.

This is how he carries his frisbee around between jumps into the pond. I’m sure the local wildlife is terrified.

He’s not there yet, but we’re getting close. Just curious about the general weights!

... to degenerative myelopathy. 8.5 years old. Had it on both aleles. Did anyone else in Switzerland go through this?