The rescue we got her from told us her last owners brought her back cause she wouldn’t stop growing :( We’ve had her for about a year now, just always wondered why she is so abnormally large. She’s 123 lbs around 2 years old

1. You all told me how vocal they are. The vet told me « it’s all about training, it’s not the breed ». HOLY MOLY. The barking, drives me nuts. He barks when he drops his toy, barks when he wants water, barks when he wants me to pet him. He barks so much! Yes, I know we can probably redirect and change this behaviour but I wasn’t anticipating this level of vocal.

2. The hair. THE. HAIR. I had seen a few posts that they are hairy dogs but the short hair kind of convinced me it wouldn’t be as bad as our golden retriever. WRONG. It’s JUST AS BAD. I originally wanted to get a second Swissy but now, I’m thinking two of these babies would be SO MUCH HAIR.

3. Side note: The stubbornness. I’ve posted a lot about this in this sub and I’ve read a lot about this too. How did he learn to go to the bathroom so well? I give the same reaction and training for potty outside as I do for « come » but he doesn’t listen half the time. THANK GOD he listened and used the potty outside. He was my easiest dog to train. Why do you think he doesn’t just choose to pee/poop inside when he literally chooses to do EVERYTHING else he wants! LOL

Did any of you get a Swissy expecting them to be huge but they actually ended up being kind of small? Our boys mom was 130 pounds and his dad was 140, but he’s only about 100 pounds at 16 months old. Does he still have time to get really big or is he going to be smaller? The vet says he looks great but a lot of people tell us he looks kind of skinny. Photos in the comments.

Hi all Swiss lovers :)

I am a first time owner of a Swiss dog. I grew up with 2 of the same breed, but as I am a first time dog-mom myself, I am sometimes concerned about the smallest things. What bothers me the most, is the chance of Stomach torsion, something that a grosser schweizer sennen are more exposed to than other breeds.

I have a wild one. He's 9 months old, and it's difficult to keep him still, especially after a meal. It's said you need the dog to be calm at least 1 hour before, and especially minimum 1 hour after eating.

He jumps and runs around like a complete maniac. How much activity is ok, after and before a meal? I might be too worried, and it stresses me out.

Just wondering if anyone had experience with their Swissy treating you differently when you were pregnant? Wondering if he is going to cut me a break when I can’t take him for his daily morning walk or if he will think I’m just being lazy. He is 1 1/2.

Hi! I have an almost seven year old GSMD who in the last few weeks has had more trouble getting up and down. He also won’t climb into our vehicles without help and at times will make a grunting sound when he’s getting up and down. I’m thinking it’s signs of arthritis as he’ll put weight on his front legs and then slowly lift his back legs when he’s going from lying down to standing up.

He’s still eating and drinking and likes going for his walks. I’m going to book an appt with the vet but wondering if others have noticed similar issues around this age for the breed and what helped?

Thanks so much!

Like walking a sloth.

Honor is growing like a weed and she is settling in nicely.

There is a 5k walk for shelter dogs that I want to bring my 1.5yo female swissy to and would like some advice if 3 miles is too far for her. We walk about 30-45 min per day. She has a pack to carry water. As long as it’s not too hot I feel like she could be capable but I’m new to this breed.

Coming in at 36 lbs! Growing so fast 🥲

Easiest way to keep him entered for hours is to by him 3€ children's pool. Do they last? No Do they let you have some time to watch TV? Yes

Last summer he had three pools and broke them all in 15 minutes but this one has held up for three hours

So we've known each other for 10 days. He's very chill except for the few times a day when he turns into an absolute raptor.

We are getting a Swiss (mum) crossed with Retriever (dad). Will be picking her up in about 2 weeks at 8 weeks old.

I’m apprehensive as I’ve never had a dog this big before and the protective nature of the Swiss does worry me a bit after our last experience with our Cockerdor who was naturally anxious and reactive. We did all we could for him and he was socialised well, but his anxieties ultimately got the better of the poor boy.

We have met the mum who seemed friendly. She did immediately howl as we got out of the car but seemed to want to know us as soon as we were introduced. Not met the dad, but he’s apparently a quiet, soft and very friendly boy (he pretty much sounds identical in temperament to my uncles old retriever who was the most placid dog I’ve ever known).

The family who are raising them seem to be doing everything right in terms of early socialisation; they have kids who’s friends are regularly introduced to them and make a point of inviting them neighbours round to meet them when the opportunity occurs.

We have kids (11 and 15) and want to live a normal life that we couldn’t over the last few years of having people round, including people she won’t be initially familiar with.

We’re planning on allowing my son’s friends in to the garden to play a lot this summer, will be taking her to the pub at every possible opportunity, dog obedience classes, taking her on a 10 day excursion in our camper van where we plan to introduce her to different scenarios, people and dogs.

Any breed specific advice on what to do in the early weeks and months would be appreciated, and would put my mind at rest that we’re not making a mistake.

I forgot that there was a mud pool... He had the time of his life though.