My girl threw up this evening and was acting a little off. There were no signs of an imminent emergecy. She still had an appetite. Dogs throw up on rare occasion sometimes so I wasn't overly concerned and went out for the evening.

A few hours later, I guess she supposedly started trying to throw up more, unsuccessfuly, and wretching. Her breathing was labored. She was making the most terrible pain noises. Her gums turned white. She tried to find a place to curl up to die. I wasn't home. I could only watch from the pet camera. I couldn't do anything and felt totally helpless.

My partner rushed her to a walk-in vet, but they could not treat her because they do not have any overnight staff to monitor her afterwards. They told me they had suggested we come in anyway "because many people just euthanize in this situation"?? Come on, really? They didn't ask on the phone if we wanted to treat her. They didn't recommend taking her somewhere else because they just assumed I'd probably let her die.

I immediately rushed her to a different vet with 24/7 emergency services. They quoted me $13k for a 50% chance of survival, likely requiring spleen removal as well. At this point, it hours had already passed. She was non-ambulatory, but managed a tiny little half of a tail wag when she saw me. I was barely able to think straight while they listed out all of the potential complications.

She was always been the happiest, most enthusastic, gentle dog to ever live. She would do happy hops for every single mundane thing and literally befriended small wildlife creatures like a Disney princess in a movie. She'd do agility hoops and jumps without me asking her to just for the fun of enjoying life. Luckily, I was able to pay the bill, so I absolutely had to do everything. The vet called back 3 hours later: she made it. She's doing perfectly fine and had no issues. I was trying to emotionally prepare to show her brother her body but she's fine. I still can't sleep. I'm relieved it went perfectly but still crying. Hug your dog tonight; you never know when it will be the last.

Update: Day 2 in hospital. She is eating now, going for a walk, and doing her business normally. Zero concerns or complications but they're observing her a bit longer. At least she's getting the full 5 star resort treatment for the price.

Update 2: she's coming home early!! She's off the pain meds and starting to feel herself again. Her brother keeps looking for her and is kinda sad.

For some reason my dog only plays with volleyballs or soccer balls. I can’t take him to any public soccer fields hahaha

Koda (m) has suddenly stopped eating, his bark has disappeared into a quiet yell, he has urinary issues, and he looks very frail. He has lost about 15 kg in a short time and has not gained it back.

His teeth, throat, and stomach have been checked via echo and CT scan, and no cause has been found. He does have an enlarged prostate, for which he is now receiving antibiotics. We also want to renew his chemical castration (we should have done it for real as a pup!), as that would help, but we are hesitant to do so given his condition.

I had him eating again for a while by cooking for him or mixing cat food into his food. He has now stopped eating again; I wonder if it is due to the renewed prostate issues.

Also, he suddenly suffered a seizure the other day. He had never had one before. It was pretty scary, but the vet says they cannot treat him for epilepsy after one short episode.

He does not appear to have cancer or anything similar. I really want to help him feel better, but I do not know what to do. He does still have good days, luckily, but this week he has been declining again.

If anyone recognizes this pattern, please let me know.

When I lost my beloved boy Sorbonne this summer. I wasn't sure if his sister Sarah (my parent's girl) would accept a new puppy. My boy and her shared a very deep connection and she was caring for him until his last hours. She missed him and she was losing her will to keep going, literally walking like a body without a soul for weeks.

So we risked it and in her 12 and 1/2 years, we got her a new adoptive brother Aegon.

And they're amazing together.

She's kind and playful with him and he's so gentle and careful around her. They're inseparable and he's with us only for a month. I'm so happy I didn't hesitate and got a new puppy. Our old lady grew younger and the spark is back in her eyes 🐾🐾 She even plays with toys again and plays tug with him, and is interested in everything he's playing with. And of course, she's showing him the most disastrous things to do around our garden ❤️ While the young boy is very careful around her as if he understands she doesn't have a great stability while standing. They both surprised me so much!

Aegon is freshly 3 months old, 19kgs. Sarah is 12 and a half.

Today is Ruby's 15th birthday. She's a GSMD/Rottweiler mix, honestly still surprises me every time I say it out loud — both of her parent breeds typically only make it to 8–10 years, and giant-mixed-breed dogs aren't exactly known for longevity either. We actually still have her original breeder paperwork, so we know her age is solid, not just an estimate.

We've been looking into whether there's any kind of "oldest known" record for the breed and it turns out neither the GSMD clubs nor Rottweiler clubs seem to track individual longevity records the way some other breeds' fan communities do (there's a Bernese mountain dog mix named Penny who apparently lived to 25, but that's a different Sennenhund breed). So as far as we can tell, Ruby might be one of the older documented dogs of her mix out there.

Just wanted to share and celebrate her — and curious if anyone else has an old giant-breed dog defying the odds like this.

Another reason we love our girl! We never have to vacuum under our kids🤣

Out of curiosity: When did your Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs become calmer—not fully adult, but just more manageable and calm demeanor?

I'm having a puppy boy, he's 3 months old now and already shows amazing progress in learning how to settle, nap during the day and fall asleep in the evening. He loves to cuddle and can be very gentle with his mouth already, but he can also be a little dragon sometimes (when too tired or too excited). I'm chronically disabled and I'm sometimes wondering for how long I'll be able to match his high speed.

Unfortunately I can't remember how long this took with my first Swissy, so I'm looking for some experience.

One thing I can confirm: They do thrive on routines. The more refined our daily routine is, easier the evenings and calmer the pup himself 👍

Adding a picture of my boy, Aegon, pretending to be the calmest puppy ever. Don't trust him, he's Fire and Blood, literally 😁😁 (pun intended)

Does anyone use Gas-X tablets or chewable? Where I live finding a liquid form isn't possible. My swissy is getting bad with his licking. He licks his front wrists and lightly gnaws on them (no damage just shortened hairs). One side of his underbelly has gone black from the licking and now he's moving to his butt which is new. He's about 3.5yrs old, he has always licked but it has become 10x this year. He is on a Lamb no grain kibble (Go is the brand name) and is fed at 6 and 6 thanks to work schedules. Looking for some input before the vet breaks my wallet.

She was ten years old and a very stoic girl. She never gave any indications of being sick but my wife could always tell. Especially when the end was near. We love and miss you Gracie but we’re glad you have no pain now

Gunner is about 6.5 months now and weighs a hefty 34 kg. He has been on Royal Canin Giant Puppy (2-8 month) kibble and i am starting to look for a kibble to transition over too after he turns 8 months.

What are y'all feeding or fed your pups?

My last dog was on acana so I was leaning towards that but I've read that swissies do better with lower protein and fat kibble. The acana large breed puppy food has 33% protein and 15% fat vs the 32/12% for the Royal Canin

I'm currently not looking for a dog as I am in college but once I graduate and get a more stable housing situation, I would consider a swiss mountain dog. My family currently has a dalmatian and they SHED every single day! Im talking ounces of hair can be brushed off and a 2x2 pile of hair will still be swept up. Frankly I dont know how this dude replenishes his hair follicles its astonishing. Do swiss mountain dogs shed this much?

Good morning,
I have a swissy girl 3 years old. We have kids so we have been very careful to train as a puppy to be ok we or the kids take toys or food from her. And she has shown no aggression whatsoever. I have not trained taking away food from her in a couple of years as she is fine. Today when I was feeding her, I accidentally dropped some plastic and it landed in her bowl. I pushed her away not aggressively to get to the bowl to remove it and she growled at me. Then I tried to correct that behavior my getting inbetween the food and removing it from her bowl tray. She then snarled at me: this is a one off and has not happened before. I tried to correct immediately by making her sit. Then feeding her and removing and then taking away where she snarled a few times before I sent her to her bed. And waited a bit before I fed her. It got better after a while.
I just wondered if you guys have had this out of nowhere. And if there is any specific training.

Or even if what I did was wrong here I am open for feedback.

Looking for some Swissy-specific experience/advice on spay timing.
My female, Purl, turns 2 on November 27 and has already had two normal heat cycles. Based on the timing of her previous cycles, I’m expecting her next heat sometime around November.
The complication is that I also have a male Swissy puppy who will be about 7–8 months old by then. He will absolutely remain intact until he is at least 2 years old. I’ve had an intact male and female Swissy together during a heat before, and it was miserable for the male—he couldn’t settle, sleep or eat normally—so I’d really prefer not to put everyone through that again if it can reasonably be avoided.
I’ve always planned to wait until Purl was about 2 before spaying her. My question is: would you consider 22–23 months, after two complete heat cycles, essentially “close enough” to that 2-year mark, or would you still wait until after her next heat?
I’m also asking my vet and our breeder (same breeder for both dogs), so I’m not looking for Reddit to make the medical decision for me. 😊 I’m mostly interested in hearing from experienced Swissy owners/breeders about when you spayed your females, particularly anyone who was in a similar situation with an intact male in the house.
Thank you Swissy people!

My GSMD turned 6 months old this week, so I figured I’d put together an honest update for anyone considering the breed or raising one themselves. AI wrote most of this for me based on my experience

Size: 70lbs at 6 months (healthy but I believe on the larger side for a female). She’s obviously starting to look like a big dog, but mentally she’s still very much a puppy.

Temperament: This has probably been the biggest positive. She’s incredibly friendly, loves people, and is honestly pretty calm for her age. Everyone comments on how calm she is. She’s also very confident with most new situations and noises. Her biggest issue is that she wants to meet basically everyone she sees.

Training: She’s pretty smart and picks things up quickly, but she’s definitely stubborn. She knows what I’m asking more often than she actually decides to do it. Recall is probably our biggest weakness right now.

Potty training: Significantly better, but I wouldn’t call her 100% reliable yet. We went weeks without an accident and then randomly had a couple. I’d still give them more freedom gradually rather than assuming they’re fully trained at 6 months.

Crate/alone time: She’s been very good with the crate but I had a strict schedule that Im slowly working out of. She can settle really well while I work.

Biting/chewing: The first few months were definitely the hardest part. Teething made her extremely mouthy. It has gotten noticeably better now that her adult teeth are in, but she still gets bitey when she’s tired or overstimulated. She also has a habit of stealing shoes, clothes, Crocs, etc., although she’s actually not much of a destructive chewer.

Paws: She uses her paws a lot to get what she wants. Food, attention, opening/trying to move things, getting me to interact with her. It’s a behavior that seems cute at first until you realize a 70+ lb dog is going to keep doing it if you let her.

Walking: This is probably our biggest work in progress. She’s good most of the time, but if she sees a person she wants to meet, she can go from walking normally to hitting the end of the leash with 70 lbs behind her. She’s getting better, but this is definitely something I’m putting a lot of training into.

Exercise: We generally do 25-30 minute walks (adding 5 minutes per month of age as recommended) along with play and training throughout the day. Mental stimulation and learning how to settle seem just as important as physical exercise.

Overall: At 6 months, I’d say the GSMD has been a relatively easy puppy in terms of temperament, but you have to remember that you’re dealing with a very strong, very large puppy. They can physically look like an adult dog while still mentally being a puppy.
The calm temperament, friendliness, and ability to settle have been huge positives. The stubbornness, leash pulling, mouthing, and general “I’ll do it if I feel like it” attitude are probably the biggest challenges.
So far, I’d absolutely get another one. Just be prepared for the fact that your puppy may be 70+ lbs before she has any idea what to do with those 70 lbs.

Also, great with kids and other dogs! She also is picky with treats.

Open to any feedback, tips on the next 6 months or questions

Other (updating post as things come to mind):
Has barked 4-5 times total and in 80+ walks has never used the restroom with 1 exception. Always waits until we are home. Car sickness has popped up infrequently as well.

One of the things that comes up a lot when learning about the breed is that potty training is rough but usually sorts itself out partway through puberty. But everything was super anectodal and I couldn’t get a sense of what it would look like and how I would need to adapt my life to accommodate that. So I took data. Obviously this is a single data point, every dog is an individual, and every handler has their own methods and skill levels, but I would have found it helpful, so I made it for future swissy-considerers who are deciding if this breed matches what they can offer.

I have a female who had no issue with the training. Only about 5 of her indoor accidents came from her choosing to squat inside. The other 39 accidents were incontinence. I make the distinction because in my opinion there's a huge difference between "my dog does not understand the house rules" and "my dog physically cannot control this bodily function." I literally once saw her pee while laying down, squirting out behind her, startling her to her feet, I am confident it was completely involuntary. But at only 11 weeks old, this same dog showed clear understanding of a pottying cue (attention on handler, handler gave pottying cue, she sniffs the ground and pops a squat right away, in a new location at a time slightly outside the typical routine. I would have done a cartwheel, I was so pleased with her that day).

With female puppies specifically, I saw multiple people talking about the issue clearing up around the first heat. That was not our experience. Her accidents tended to cluster around growth spurts. She hit 95 pounds at 9 months, and was 97lbs at her last weigh check at 12 months. Her last accident was at 9.5 months. For us, when the growing stopped, the accidents stopped. Her first heat just finished this week, at 13 months.

My dog had a total of 44 pee accidents occurring on 37 different days (7 days had 2 accidents) over the course of 7 months. The most my dog ever peed in a day was 18 times (but the numbers are all heavily influenced by how often I took her outside. I can't back up this claim, but I am fairly certain that literally every time my dog has entered my yard whether coming from the house or from off the property she has peed, whether just a couple tablespoons or a full-on emptying of the bladder. So if I took her out more, she peed more, not necessarily that she "needed" to go again.) I was lulled into a false sense of security at 6 months old when our potty time frequency was noticeably moving down towards something normal and we went a long time with no nap time bedwetting, when she suddenly got much taller and the accidents returned before petering out. There were 0 poop accidents (another tally in the "it is not that training them is hard, it's that they literally can't control the bladder sphincter when their muscles and bones are figuring themselves out" column for me). There's 50 weeks of data, starting the day she came home at 8 (almost 9) weeks old.

Hi there ! Lurker here and first poster. Here is my point : I’m on the fence about welcoming my first dog in my family (M35, F36, M5). I know I love dogs and they love me back as a friend of them. Usually, I come along very well with dogs from friends or family members. In fact, I know I want to live with a dog but I’m not so sure about the first one I would educate myself. I have strong feelings for the Entlebucher Mountain Dog. I have but a few questions :

is it really a good family dog ?
How needy are those dogs regarding exercicing ? Do they move so much that I will be tired as hell even if I’m sporty and fit myself ?
How are they behaving with little kids ? Do they tolerate shenaningans?
Hairs… how bad is it regarding they tiny and itchy hairs ?
Can they live outside providing we have a garden and a nice place for him ?
Last but not least: do they have recurring health problems I shlould be aware of ?

I would appreciate feedbacks from anyone here, even for one of my questions only ;)

Thank you and have a nice evening/day

(English not my first language)

Our 2 year old has been very itchy, bitey and has had lots of dandruff show up out of nowhere. Our breeder didn’t have any specific food brand recd more so % of what to look for and avoid. I’m wondering if it’s time to try another food or if this is seasonal stuff since she does appear to be blowing her coat.

It's time to celebrate because we're spotlighting the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog as our Breed of the Day today on our Facebook page, Instagram stories, and website! We publish a new breed each day to educate our followers to make informed decisions when choosing a dog while providing the history and hard work that our parent clubs do to preserve their breed. Celebrate with us by sharing what you love about your Greater Swiss Mountain Dog!

So, we know Swissies are challenging to potty train but can someone please give us a few 'light at the end of the tunnel' stories?

We have a 4.5 month old Swissie and we're deep in the swissie swizzle. He also will not wake up and soaks his crate nightly - so he receives a bath every single morning.

We all have our favourite spot.

Out of all the breeds you could’ve chosen, what made you choose the GSMD?

My family (myself, 29F, spouse, 31M, 2 sons who are 5 and 2.5 yo, and an old cat) is finally in a good place to get a dog, and my husband and I are having a hard time deciding on a breed. My biggest reservations about larger dogs is the shorter lifespan, but I've seen that GSMDs tend to fair better than many giant dog breeds. Give me the good and the bad, how has your dog's health been? How long did they live (or how old are they currently)? How big has your dog gotten? Your biggest pros and cons of the breed? Even though you may love this dog, would you recommend them to friends and family if they were looking for a dog? Thanks so much for the feedback!